R.I.P. Quality Max Originals

The latest step in David Zazlov's quest to equate his cheap reality television shows with high quality prestige television materialized today with Warner Bros.' latest strategy shift when it comes to their streaming content. It appears that starting in 2025 (excluding this year's Dune: Prophecy and The Penguin) all the major tentpole IP series that were meant to be Max originals will instead be HBO originals that are also released on Max.

This may seem like a small semantic difference but it does signal a two-fold problematic shift in strategy. First, it appears that impending HBO programming will now be essentially locked to their major franchises like The Last of Us, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, DC comics adaptations under DC Studios, and Welcome to Derry (a prequel to IT). HBO earned its reputation on the backs of shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, and Deadwood, all of which were original programming that are widely considered to be some of the best television ever made. At the same time, shows like Game of Thrones or The Leftovers were risks at the time they came out originally because they were not the franchises they are today. This risk-averse model that has been steadily infecting Hollywood like a plague is very short-sighted. What happens if audiences tire of the faithful Harry Potter adaptation or Welcome to Derry doesn't click or the bubble bursts on the comic book movie? This places them in the position where they have no solid content on HBO or on Max to drive viewership.

The other big issue this presents is that it signals the end of non-Discovery Max original programming. Tokyo Vice and The Girls on the Bus have both been cancelled, a good amount of Max originals have been removed from the service as tax write-offs, and the only originals that get promoted on the app itself are the ones that feel like they belong on HGTV or Food Network. Outside of Our Flag Means Death and Hacks, none of the shows have the staying power of the competition and that includes the DC shows like Peacemaker and Doom Patrol. Rather than using Max as an incubator for the next generation of prestige television writers, they appear to just be using franchises to drive people to HBO and Max as the streaming home while keeping non-scripted Max originals to keep people subscribed during the downtimes.

All of that said, there is the potential that this could be considered a prudent move if the streaming bubble bursts at some point in the near future. This could be Warner Bros. moving their investments out of streaming in prep for that market's decline. If this is the case and I, a nobody without industry connections, have seen that as a possibility, is it also possible that the bean counters at the other studios could see this move the same way and start pulling out of their streaming investments as well? Could this just speed up the decline or collapse of streaming? It's certainly possible, though based on Zazlov's moves since taking the helm it is probably equally likely that Warner Bros. is making a misguided decision.