HBO Max Confirms Major Show Removals, Teases New Plan for Exiled Shows

HBO Max has officially confirmed its list of major show removals, and also teased a new plan for the exiled shows. In a press email, the network included Westworld, FBOY Island, and The Time Traveler’s Wife among the shows to be removed from the service. The company also revealed that it plans to license shows to other streaming services, so fans will still be able to enjoy them.

“As shared on previous earnings call and stated by senior executives, Warner Bros. Discovery continues to strategically assess how best to maximize audiences and monetization opportunities for its content,” HBO said in a statement. “The company has recently decided to license certain HBO and HBO Max original programming to third party FAST services to be part of a packaged offering which will drive new, expanded audiences for these series. As we prepare for this transition, these series will be coming off of the HBO Max service in the coming days.”

In addition to the three previously mentioned titles, Raised by Wolves, The Nevers, Legendary, Finding Magic Mike, and Head of the Class will also be removed. This batch is apparently already slated to appear on undesignated FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) services. A second batch of titles is also coming down. HBO Max says they are attempting to “expand the reach of the shows, including but not limited to licensing the series to third party FAST platforms.” This group includes Gordita Chronicles, Love Life, Made for Love, The Garcias, and Minx.

“Warner Bros. Discovery will announce additional details about its own long-term WBD FAST offering in 2023,” the company statement also read.

HBO also offered a brief comment from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. “We are incredibly proud of Westworld and the remarkable work of our cast and crew,” the pair said. “We are excited to have the opportunity to welcome a whole new audience to our show.” Notably, Westworld ran for four seasons on HBO, with the Season 4 ending earlier this year. The show had originally been greenlit for a fifth season, but those plans were scrapped.

Notably, it was later reported that, due to the nature of their contracts, the show’s cats would all still be paid for Season 5, even though it was not happening. Coincidentally, the Westworld Season 4 Blu-ray recently hit stores, and we here at PopCulture were lucky to get an early copy. Click here to read our review!