One of the most intriguing mysteries of our time is exactly what goes on in the boardrooms of television producers — specifically, how they arrive at the decisions they do. Is there a dartboard involved? Do they play a game of “Yes And” until everyone at the table has added something to the next project? Do they throw a bunch of scripts up in the air and approve the ones that land right-side up? Who’s to say?
Whatever they get up to, it’s safe to say that their process is the very definition of a Hail Mary, because there’s no way the folks that greenlit Succession, the rousing dramedy series from Jesse Armstrong, consciously decided that hedging their bets on The Idol, Sam Levinson’s latest claim to infamy, was a smart move.
Indeed, those of us who have been turning to HBO for our television content this last while were hit with some dangerous whiplash recently, as the May 28 season finale of Succession was quickly followed by The Idol‘s pilot the week after, promptly launching viewers from the mercy of one end of the creative spectrum to the other, and let’s just say that calling The Idol a show that exists on the creative spectrum is awfully generous.
The only logical explanation we have is that the folks over at Max were all but certain that everything in their lineup would pale in comparison to the awards-season mogul that Succession was, so they doubled down on the situation and aired The Idol just so they wouldn’t have to deal with Levinson for the next little while; such a tactic would certainly be in line with that of dropping “HBO” from the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max.
Succession and The Idol are available to stream on Max.
Published: Jun 12, 2023 10:42 am