[adrotate banner=”1″]Skinemax might be going the way of the dinosaur! Cinemax, that premium network best known for being the place to find late night softcore films, is getting a bit of a rebranding. As far as HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo is concerned, the Skinemax label will be done away with thanks to a plethora of original series. He even wants to terminate the nickname permanently!

Cinemax has seen an increase in original programming lately – including cool series Strike Back, Banshee, and The Girl’s Guide to Depravity. More are on the way, and it’s all part of a push by HBO to define Cinemax with its own brand. Cinemax has basically not done anything, yet somehow still got a large audience. Whether this was due to the softcore programming or something else is not dealt with. But HBO wants to turn Cinemax into another cash cow, so out goes the softcore and in comes the original shows.

Later Lombardo does relent that there will probably still be a bit of softcore. Why there isn’t a dedicated softcore premium channel from Cinemax/HBO I do not know. Cinemax does have a huge selection of softcore on their VOD. With the decline of DVDs and video stores, and the rise of VOD, a lot of traditional movie markets are in flux. Just how things are going to shake out is unknown at this time, but if Cinemax stops buying as many softcore films, there probably just won’t be as many softcore films, because as far as I know, Cinemax is one of the biggest domestic markets (overseas is a whole different ball game!) Other premium channels do have their own collections of softcore, but Cinemax was by far the best known purveyor. The changing shape of watching movies has played havoc with how some studios get profits, and stories I’ve heard lean towards streaming as not guaranteeing anywhere near the old numbers through DVD presales. But things evolve so quickly now, a new way to earn lots of money might show up realtively quickly, and things will get turned on its ear again.

Luckily I still have a whole bag of DVRed softcore flicks I need to get around to writing reviews for, so even if Cinemax gets blasted into the sun, I’ll have some content. But who will weep if we don’t get any more Bikini Girls from the Lost Planet, Sexual Quest, or Birthday Sex? Me, I will weep. The best part of these articles are the commentors confused that people enjoy softcore films and don’t just want to watch hardcore porn. It’s almost as if they don’t realize that they are completely separate types of cinema. While a bunch of softcore is trash, there are many good softcore films being made that rival mainstream tv with plots and concepts. Some of the work of MRG has been amazing for what issues the films is dealing with in addition to having all the required sex sequences. That is not something I want to go away, and hopefully money and ratings will convince Cinemax to integrate things more and keep softcore healthy. The last thing we need is softcore producing nothing but films like Torchlight Pictures, which were 3 minutes of plot and 70 minutes of boring softcore scenes. Won’t somebody please think of the softcore?

via Variety