HBO Max, formerly Max (and before that, HBO Now, HBO GO, and HBO What’s Up?!), reverted to its classic branding yesterday, redirecting Max.com users to the HBO Max domain with an updated app and a darker, more prestige-y color palette. After a brief, ill-fated attempt to broaden its appeal by leaning into Discovery+ content, HBO CEO Casey Bloys clearly convinced Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav that the strategy wasn’t working. And you just know Bloys had to make Zaslav think it was Zaslav’s idea all along, because he strikes you as exactly the kind of boss who only gets on board if he thinks he’s steering the ship.
The point is, HBO Max is going back to what it does best: delivering premium content to a more discerning audience, the kind that isn’t looking for 1000-Lb Roomies, an actual TLC show currently sitting at #3 on the HBO Max platform. And yet, on the same day the rebrand was announced, the streamer made two decisions that sent wildly mixed signals.
First, it canceled Duster after one season. That was expected. Despite a solid cast and decent premise, Duster was a dud, and not just a dud but the kind of low-rent buddy action-drama that doesn’t align with HBO Max’s renewed vision. It was greenlit back when the mandate was to cast a wide net, and it feels very much like something USA Network would have aired in 2010. Broader isn’t always better, especially when your audience expects more.
That cancellation made sense. But then HBO Max went and greenlit a spin-off of one of the broadest, laugh-track-laden sitcoms of the 21st century: The Big Bang Theory. The new show, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, marks the third spin-off in the franchise, following Young Sheldon and George and Mandy Get Married.
Granted, while the characters originate from Big Bang Theory, the premise here is more high-concept, mixing sci-fi and fantasy into the sitcom format. Set after the events of the original series, SFtStU follows comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) as he attempts to fix reality after breaking a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, inadvertently triggering a multiverse Armageddon. He’s joined by his girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), geologist pal Bert (Brian Posehn), and quantum physicist and general pain in the ass Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie). Together, they encounter alternate-universe versions of familiar characters from the Big Bang world.
OK, putting aside the fact that we’re all a little multiverse’d out, there might still be some potential in a multi-genre show — I’m burned out on superheroes, but I couldn’t be more excited for Damon Lindelof’s Lanterns. That said, SFtStU is still a Chuck Lorre project, and to my knowledge, Lorre has never created a show that wasn’t aimed squarely at the mainstream. From Dharma & Greg to Two and a Half Men to his recent and dismal attempt at an HBO-style dramedy, Bookie, Lorre’s wheelhouse has never exactly been prestige television.
Add Zak Penn to the mix — he’s on board as a writer and producer. You may know him best as the writer of … Last Action Hero, Fantastic Four, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Elektra. So, not exactly the kind of résumé that screams “visionary.” He should fit right in with Chuck Lorre.
