A List Of Likely Safe HBO Shows And Unsafe HBO Max Shows, As WB Cleans House

It is absolute chaos at WB, DC and HBO right now, as the recent unthinkable cancellation of a nearly-finished Batgirl movie appears to have only been the tip of the iceberg as new management rolls into town.

Reportedly, WB is about to cut 70% of the production staff at HBO Max, with the aim that they simply do not want more scripted HBO Max-only content, as the service aims to fold up HBO, HBO Max and Discovery Plus into one streaming service.

Even if some shows may survive, it seems like there are about to be a whole lot of cancellations as WB cleaves through its Max lineup. But one problem, you may not know what is a more likely to be safe as “core” HBO show, and what’s technically an HBO Max original, which is much more likely to be on the chopping block.

I have tried to go through most major HBO and HBO Max shows to sort this out, though we may have some firm info on cancellations by the end of the day. This isn’t everything, and it’s not like everything on the HBO Max list is doomed (Peacemaker allegedly is safe), but we’ll have to see how this unprecedented situation unfolds.

HBO Originals (Presumably Safe)

• Succession
• House of the Dragon (upcoming)
• The Last of Us (upcoming)
• Euphoria
• True Detective
• Barry
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• The Righteous Gemstones
• Westworld
• The White Lotus
• The Nevers
• Industry
• The Gilded Age

HBO Max Originals (Presumably Not Safe)

• Our Flag Means Death
• Gossip Girl
• Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
• Hacks
• Warrior
• Titans
• Doom Patrol
• Harley Quinn
• Peacemaker (but James Gunn has said season 2 is safe)
• The Penguin Batman Spin-Off (upcoming)
• Arkham Batman Spin-Off (upcoming)
• Minx
• Rap Sh!t
• Tokyo Vice
• Fboy Island
• And Just Like That
• The Sex Lives of College Girls
• The Flight Attendant

It is unclear what may happen to shows that are already filming or have even finished filming new seasons. You may think that would mean they’d be allowed to air, but as Batgirl showed, in an extreme cost-cutting era, new WB management may take the tax writedown of cancelling even a finished production rather than release it, so it’s hard to think of anything that’s 100% safe here. Even on the HBO side, I have to wonder if there are going to be cuts, as I don’t know if it’s guarantee the lack of a “Max” label means safe haven. Wild times. More to come, and we may have a different, more dire list later today.

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