If you haven’t noticed, the TV industry is scrambling for content right now amid the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes—and that includes streaming services. For its part, HBO was already strapped for cash before the first of the strikes began in May, and it’s now made an unprecedented licensing agreement with Netflix to allow some of its content to stream on the rival platform.
One such offering is HBO’s flagship miniseries Band of Brothers, which premiered in 2001 and — along with The Sopranos and Deadwood — helped launch the Golden Age of TV on cable.
The miniseries was created and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who collaborated on the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan. The show is based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book of same name.
Spielberg and Hanks apparently read the book while making Private Ryan and considered it such a vital narrative that they convinced HBO to spend about $125 million to adapt the material into a show — the most expensive series ever produced at that time. Erik Jendresen served as the showrunner, with Spielberg giving final approval to each episode.
The series scored rave reviews from critics and viewers, before winning seven Primetime Emmy awards and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film.
And it seems HBO’s gamble is still paying off, as the miniseries recently debuted on Netflix as the sixth most-watched show among United States viewers.
How long will it take to watch all of Band of Brothers?
Not long. Being that it’s a miniseries, the entire saga comprises only 10 episodes and a companion behind-the-scenes documentary — but no further seasons. That said, the individual episodes range from 49 to 70 minutes, so there aren’t any especially short chapters to ease your streaming schedule.
The miniseries dramatizes the true history of so-called “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. The story tracks the group of soldiers from jump training all the way through their major actions in Europe until the end of World War II. Heavily based on Ambrose’s writing, the series uses the author’s research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans to tell its story. Interview excerpts of survivors are employed at the beginning of each episode, but the vets are not identified by name until the finale.
Band of Brothers is one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and if you haven’t seen it by now, lucky you! It’s just as harrowing as when it premiered more than 20 years ago, and its lessons have lost none of their potency.
Whether on Netflix or Max, formerly HBO Max, do yourself a favor and seek this one out. It was right here that many of us realized in the early days of the 21st century that TV could be just as powerful as film.
