FX marks the spot

Early episodes of FX's Iraq war drama ''Over There" contain scenes almost too graphic for television. A captured American soldier's feet appear to melt when acid is splashed on them by the enemy. An Iraqi man's legs continue to walk a few steps after his torso is completely blown off. Birds pick at the remains of two Iraqis shot at an American roadblock.

Coproduced by Steven Bochco, the show will become one of the darkest programs on television when it debuts Wednesday night, and one of the most talked about.

It's a perfect fit, in other words, for a basic cable network on the rise.

Once known for its ''M*A*S*H" reruns, FX, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has made a name for itself with edgy dramatic series. This month ''The Shield," about tough LA detectives who play by their own rules, earned two Emmy nominations. Other shows with loyal followings include the often outrageous ''Nip/Tuck," about two doctors running a Miami plastic surgery practice, and ''Rescue Me," which follows a company of New York City firemen post-9/11.

''There's a nice buzz about FX these days," says Bochco, cocreator of ''Hill Street Blues" and ''NYPD Blue."

''They really are doing interesting work. And they've become known for granting creative freedom."

John Landgraf, FX Networks' president and general manager, says the network is attempting to reflect ''contemporary reality, from America's narcissism on 'Nip/Tuck' to civil liberties, race, and poverty on 'The Shield' to 9/11 on 'Rescue Me.'

''There are probably people offended by all of our shows," he adds. ''But we're not trying to appeal to the broadest swath of people. We're a little network that's very far up the dial. We are trying to inspire passion by telling truthful stories."

Since arriving at the network 17 months ago from Jersey Television, the production company that created Comedy Central's offbeat ''Reno 911!," Landgraf has pushed FX to become more aggressive in developing original programming. FX's schedule is still largely dominated by syndicated reruns of shows such as ''King of the Hill" and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Last month, FX launched ''30 Days," a documentary series from Morgan Spurlock (director of the Oscar-nominated ''Super Size Me") about what happens when one person steps into another's drastically different lifestyle for a month. ''Thief," a drama that stars Andre Braugher and focuses on the lives of a group of New Orleans crooks, will premiere in early 2006. The upcoming ''Over There" is the first fictional television show to ever dramatize a war while it's still raging.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 4, the network will launch its first original comedies. ''Starved" centers on four New Yorkers with eating disorders. ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is the story of four friends managing a bar.

The moves by Landgraf -- who was promoted in May from entertainment president to network president -- haven't gone unnoticed in the creative community.

Spurlock, the 34-year-old creator and executive producer of ''30 Days," turned to Landgraf after the broadcast networks rejected the filmmaker's pitch to examine serious social issues via a documentary series. Spurlock's proposal included the idea of filming himself as he struggled to live on minimum wage in Ohio for a month.

''One broadcast-network executive said to me, 'Hold on. So who wins?' " recalls Spurlock. ''I said, 'You do. The viewer. Every week.' He said, 'Well, it was nice meeting you.' "

Brainstorming with Landgraf was a different experience, Spurlock adds. ''From the minute the words starting coming out of my mouth, he said, 'Yes. That's exactly what we're looking for.' "

During its first season, which ended last week, ''30 Days" had a homophobic man live with a gay man and a Christian move in with a Muslim family. The mother of a college student became a binge drinker. And a former athlete started taking steroids.

The program, which has not yet been renewed, averaged 1.5 million viewers per episode. For a new show on an up-and-coming cable network, those numbers aren't bad. FX's top show, ''Nip/Tuck," averages 3.8 million viewers.

FX approached Shawn Ryan to produce ''The Shield" three years ago, after Ryan's proposal for the series was sent to the network by its corporate sibling Fox Television Studios.

''I got a call from the people at Fox TV telling me that FX wanted to make a pilot," recalls Ryan. ''I said, 'You mean that cable network that shows 'M*A*S*H' repeats?"

Ryan was even more surprised after meeting with FX executives, who insisted he produce the show.

''Every instinct in my body said 'Say no.' But my mouth said, 'OK,' " says Ryan, who was a 35-year-old writer for CBS's ''Nash Bridges" at the time. ''I was a working writer, but a low-level one. It's not like the networks were banging on my door to work with me."

Since ''The Shield" debuted in March, 2002, FX's improved stature has allowed it to draw top talent, Ryan adds, referring to last season when -- in a coup for FX -- Glenn Close agreed to star in ''The Shield" as Captain Monica Rawling.

''It was a leap of faith for her," says Ryan. ''In television, unlike movies, you don't see all the scripts in advance. You don't know all the directors you'll be working with. She had to trust us."

This month, Close was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series. Her castmate CCH Pounder was nominated in the supporting actress category.

Despite its reputation, however, FX has only won one Emmy Award. In 2002, ''The Shield's" Michael Chiklis won for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

Next season on ''The Shield," Close will not appear, FX said, because the actress wants to remain near her family in New York. The show, which is FX's second most popular with an average of 3.2 million viewers, is filmed in Los Angeles.

To be sure, not everyone is pleased with FX's makeover. Some people argue that the basic cable network goes too far.

''I call FX irresponsible," says Randy Sharp, director of special projects at the Mississippi-based American Family Association, a conservative organization that monitors American culture. ''In today's society, how many kids go to bed at 10? Mine do. But many kids don't and many of them have televisions in their bedrooms.

''It's very discouraging that consumers are required to pay for content on basic cable that they may not want," he says.

FX has had some failures in its effort to establish an identity. Howard Stern's ''Son of the Beach," (a ''Baywatch" parody that debuted in 2000), ''The X-Show" (a comedic talk show for men that premiered in 1999) and ''Toughman" (a 1999 amateur boxing show) have all been canceled, as has ''Lucky," a 2003 comedy about compulsive gamblers in Las Vegas starring John Corbett of ''Sex and the City."

FX, which continues to air NASCAR races, is no longer as focused on the male demographic. ''We don't want to be Spike TV," says Landgraf, who notes that ''Nip/Tuck" has a 60 percent female audience and ''Rescue Me" has a 45 percent female audience.

It's unclear whether ''Over There," which focuses on male and female soldiers as well as their families back home, will appeal to both genders. But Bochco says he has already been criticized for dramatizing a war in progress.

''Some people might be disturbed by it -- I understand that," he says. ''But we have some very legitimate stories to tell. We screened this for some veterans of Iraq. I met five guys who lost their limbs. . . . They said people ought to be seeing this stuff so they can understand what we're going through."

Despite any looming controversy, Landgraf is pushing forward with his mission to redefine the network. ''We'll produce 100 episodes of original TV this year," he says. ''We can't find a way to satisfy everyone's opinion. When you do that, you start to sand off the edges of your work.

''And like a fine handcrafted table, those edges are what make quality."

Suzanne Ryan can be reached at sryan@globe.com