Why It's Better to Own Than to Rent

6:00 AM PDT 10/9/2012 by Lacey Rose

What do "Louie," "The Walking Dead" and "Royal Pains" have in common? All were homegrown by their cable networks' own studios, with FX leading an aggressive charge.

When Louis CK won his writing Emmy for Louie on Sept. 23, the first one he thanked was FX Networks president John Landgraf "for giving me this show." The accolade was more than the usual executive suck-up. The fact that Louie even made it on the air is a testament to a Landgraf-pioneered strategy that has allowed small-budget, niche comedies to thrive on basic cable.