Fans of HBO Are Going to Be Disappointed in the New Programming Announced by 'Max'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | April 12, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | April 12, 2023 |

Max officially announced its rebranding from HBO/HBO Max today, and if the new slate of content the network is teasing is an indication of the network’s future, it is not promising. With Barry and Succession ending this year, here’s a sampling of what our $16 a month will be going toward:

— Max and executive producer Chuck Lorre are developing a new comedy series derived from The Big Bang Theory. Plot details are currently under wraps.

— A drama series based on the films in New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring Universe.

— A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, a Game of Thrones prequel set 1,000 years before the events of GoT, based on George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg novels.

— A Harry Potter television series, which will be a faithful adaptation of the book series by author and executive producer, J.K. Rowling. “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”

— A series called Survive the Raft that “explores what happens when strangers from all walks of life come together to live and work at sea,” which sounds like a Below Deck rip-off.

— An animated series based on Gremlins, which will premiere on May 23rd.

— A reality competition series this summer called Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge:

— Love and Translation, a reality series that embarks “on an exciting adventure to find love, where three American men and twelve international women are traveling from across the world to live on a remote paradise island together.

— Chip and Joanna Gaines will host Fixer Upper: The Hotel.

— The hosts of Smartless go on the road, which I begrudgingly admit looks fun.

— For those of us who still want to watch programming we expect to see on HBO, there are at least two shows we can look forward to, including Jodie Foster’s True Detective: Night Country, which is about an investigation into eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Alaska who vanish without a trace.

— Kate Winslet stars in The Regime, which tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel.

— Finally, the new Max app will launch on May 23rd. “Max is the destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and best-in-class programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle, and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more.”

Late Addition: The Sympathizer from Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name looks great. “It’s an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.”