I don't remember hearing about it here, although search seems to indicate there were a few mentions, but since I just watched it recently and there's a new thread, I figured I'd hype it up some:
The Great Pretender is an anime on Netflix - it is basically Leverage the TV show done in the style of Cowboy Bebop and I thought it was phenomenal. The animation is fantastic, the music is great, it's funny, it's just all around a very well done show. The end credits even uses Freddie Mercury.
Only the first two thirds of the series are out currently, but it's split up into "cases" and the current episodes are the first three cases, with the last third of the episodes being the fourth case. So you can watch what is currently available without being left hanging. And the last case should be released relatively soon, likely in about a month if the timing is similar to the first section.
I was planning on watching this at some point anyway but you now have my attention.
Yeah like I'd heard of NIVXIUM or however the fuck it's spelled when the story broke but basically all I knew was "Weird-ass sex cult" so I just shrugged and said "So... a cult then?", smirked because wow I was so clever, and moved on.
It's just... so much more fucked up than that though.
It's a lot more disjointed than Hill House. There's some things that aren't explained well or at all, some things that could be set up or resolved a little better. But I feel like it had just as much heart in the storytelling and production. My wife cried at the end of Episode 7, and again now that we've finished it. It probably just needed one more solid pass at the scripts.
Which is disappointing, a little. I don't think we'll watch it again even if I think I'll pick up stuff I missed.
I enjoyed Bly Manor but it's definitely no Hill House. The creepy bits aren't as creepy, Flora is way more annoying than any of the Hill House children, the big surprise was a lot more obvious, and the best episode of the season is nowhere near as strong as the long-cut episode of season 1. I did like Hanna, Owen, and Jamie more than any Hill House character, though. I'd drink wine around a campfire with them. All of the Hill House cast were pretty miserable.
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RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
I don't remember hearing about it here, although search seems to indicate there were a few mentions, but since I just watched it recently and there's a new thread, I figured I'd hype it up some:
The Great Pretender is an anime on Netflix - it is basically Leverage the TV show done in the style of Cowboy Bebop and I thought it was phenomenal. The animation is fantastic, the music is great, it's funny, it's just all around a very well done show. The end credits even uses Freddie Mercury.
Only the first two thirds of the series are out currently, but it's split up into "cases" and the current episodes are the first three cases, with the last third of the episodes being the fourth case. So you can watch what is currently available without being left hanging. And the last case should be released relatively soon, likely in about a month if the timing is similar to the first section.
I enjoyed Bly Manor but it's definitely no Hill House. The creepy bits aren't as creepy, Flora is way more annoying than any of the Hill House children, the big surprise was a lot more obvious, and the best episode of the season is nowhere near as strong as the long-cut episode of season 1. I did like Hanna, Owen, and Jamie more than any Hill House character, though. I'd drink wine around a campfire with them. All of the Hill House cast were pretty miserable.
Owen is wonderful and I would totally be his bestie and have terrible pun wars with him.
Flora is twee as fuck and I would like her to get eaten by a ghost.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
People blew up about how fucked up Tiger King was but I'm watching The Vow and I don't get how I heard nothing about this.
This is so much more horrifying.
I guess maybe "Irredeemable asshole uses cult to coerce as many women as possible into sex" is less shocking?
People blew up Tiger King because of how unbelievably absurd the events covered were. It wasn't that viewers were horrified, it was more disbelief at how bizarre and convoluted the story of a tiger zoo owner vs a tiger sanctuary owner and activist got, with Joe Exotic as this brazenly outrageous buffoon. In short, Tiger King was an absurdist comedy that minimized talking about the abused tigers or Joe Exotic's racism so it could focus on things like "Joe obsessively fumes over and antagonizes Carole Baskins, Joe walks into the gift shop and bluntly announces to the customers somebody's arm just got bitten off, Joe gets into politics, Joe talks about his husband's testicles at said husband's funeral, Joe makes weird country music videos, etc."
In contrast, The Vow is focused on something super fucked up and hard to make memes about. I plan to watch it, but the most I've heard about it is "that one actress from Smallville was in a sex cult, how crazy is that?"
Tiger King is also on Netflix while The Vow is on HBO, and I'd say Netlfix has a much higher market saturation.
The NXVIUM one is cult that Cally from the BSG reboot was in, right?
Yes, that’s NVXIVXIUM.
Also Chloe from Smallville. There were a couple other actors associated or rumored to be associated as well, it seems they tried to get in with the acting scene in Vancouver IIRC, in order to help with recruiting.
The NXVIUM one is cult that Cally from the BSG reboot was in, right?
Yes, that’s NVXIVXIUM.
Also Chloe from Smallville. There were a couple other actors associated or rumored to be associated as well, it seems they tried to get in with the acting scene in Vancouver IIRC, in order to help with recruiting.
Chloe was a leader! I think Grace Park from BSG was also in for a bit but got out (I could be thinking of someone else). There was a good podcast about it that came out around the start of the year (I think? I remember listening to it at work). It was the first I had heard of them and it was pretty horrific. They definitely preyed on the Vancouver acting scene.
The NXVIUM one is cult that Cally from the BSG reboot was in, right?
Yes, that’s NVXIVXIUM.
Also Chloe from Smallville. There were a couple other actors associated or rumored to be associated as well, it seems they tried to get in with the acting scene in Vancouver IIRC, in order to help with recruiting.
Chloe was a leader! I think Grace Park from BSG was also in for a bit but got out (I could be thinking of someone else). There was a good podcast about it that came out around the start of the year (I think? I remember listening to it at work). It was the first I had heard of them and it was pretty horrific. They definitely preyed on the Vancouver acting scene.
So there was NZXVIVINUM the self-improvement MLM cult, then there was the sex cult. I remember Park’s name being affiliated, and presumably she was brought in through Nikki Clyne. It wasn’t real clear how deeply she got involved or whether shr went past the weird MLM level.
Recently jumped into Upload (Amazon) on a lark, surprisingly enjoyable even though it’s basically just a ripoff of that Black Mirror episode.
I want to check out a next season. But man the show has a tonal problem where everything is gigantic dystopian nightmare that features a lot of things it deems is futuristic but is already here. I loved the arnold palmer joke though.
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Recently jumped into Upload (Amazon) on a lark, surprisingly enjoyable even though it’s basically just a ripoff of that Black Mirror episode.
I liked Upload, but it was more because of Andy Allo and Robbie Amell than the story itself. That said, it was interesting enough and I'll watch season 2.
I liked Upload also - even though it was tonally all over the place.
We just started Bly Manor and are really enjoying it so far.
We also watched Utopia on Prime and didn't really enjoy it. The first episode or two have some compelling stuff but it devolves into absolute non-sense pretty quickly.
I'm about halfway through Bly House and I just absolutely cannot get past the "perfectly splendid" nonsense.
To be fair, she's about as insufferable as a lot of kids I've met.
But her being believable doesn't mean i want to watch her.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
There's no reason for Dexter to come back, at all. There's nothing they can try to salvage that won't be hackneyed, forced, or just as bad as season 8. And if they can't get certain actors back because they're on other shows, it's going to be even shittier.
Milady and I flailed around for a bit after finishing Ozark (which I very much enjoyed), and attempted two miniseries on HBO. The first was "I Know This Much is True," an overly depressing drama where Mark Ruffalo plays two brothers who are both very miserable in different ways. I thought it started out pretty strong, and Ruffalo's acting was great in my opinion, but after a few hours the show's constant barrage of terrible things happening to the protagonists numbs you out of any feeling toward them, and by the end of its six episodes I was thoroughly disengaged. I'm down for depressing art, but this show took it to a point of absurdity, where it became impossible to relate to. It seemed as though the director/writer mostly just wanted you to increasingly pity the main characters for six hours straight, but ended up accomplishing the opposite through overindulgence in misery with nothing to provide much-needed contrast. Not recommended.
Then we tried "The Third Day," a new horror miniseries with Jude Law, because we both like Jude Law. It sucked, though; not even worth finishing in this case. Law basically just makes a "shocked and appalled" face for hours on end, and the writing is godawful. The cinematography goes way overboard too, constantly overusing blur effects, bright lights and other tricks that I think are meant to be disorienting but are mostly just annoying. It's especially unnecessary in light of the fact that there are a lot of visually appealing scenes; if someone had told whoever filmed/produced it to just chill out a bit and keep things simple it would have looked much better IMO. After the third episode, where every fifteen minutes was another shocking revelation, each of which felt sillier than the last and each of which left Law with a bigger face, we gave up.
Also on the subject of Jude Law, prior to Ozark we had watched "The New Pope," a thoroughly unneeded and, in my opinion, unworthy followup to "The Young Pope." I liked The Young Pope a lot; it constantly verged on over the top melodrama without crossing the line, or when it dud cross that line it did so in an entertaining way. The sequel series jumps way over said line, and does so in a much more boring way, so it manages to lose most of its entertainment value and its emotional value at the same time. Malkovich's character is a self-pity party whose main effect is that of a soporific. Overall it felt like the director, Paolo Sorrentino, got way too full of himself and self-indulged with no restraint. There were some good moments, mostly in the last couple episodes of the show, but I wouldn't recommend it to fans of the original series.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
Da fuq?
I could alllllmost see trying to bring back the show with a new cast, and maybe not fuck it so hard next time. But it's coming back with Michael C. Hall? So what, we're gonna focus on his life as a serial killing lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, or some shit?
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
Da fuq?
I could alllllmost see trying to bring back the show with a new cast, and maybe not fuck it so hard next time. But it's coming back with Michael C. Hall? So what, we're gonna focus on his life as a serial killing lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, or some shit?
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
Da fuq?
I could alllllmost see trying to bring back the show with a new cast, and maybe not fuck it so hard next time. But it's coming back with Michael C. Hall? So what, we're gonna focus on his life as a serial killing lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, or some shit?
Maybe it’s a reboot, and they’re starting over ?
First episode opens with Hall sitting on a stool in a blank room:
"Hi, I'm Michael C. Hall!
I'm so glad that you heard we've made a brand new show and have decided to check it out. As you probably know it's called "Dexter" and it's totally new.
What's that? What about the other show called Dexter? *chuckle* There was no other show called Dexter.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
I loved marvel netflix. I tolerated iron fist. It wasn't bad, other tv is worse, but it wasn't good either .
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
Forget Iron Fist.
He was behind the utter dumpster fire that was Inhumans.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
Forget Iron Fist.
He was behind the utter dumpster fire that was Inhumans.
Ugh, inhumans. Give me 19 seasons of iron fist over that bs inhumans show.
I honestly wouldn't even be mad if the Dexter revival pulled the "it was all just a dream/hallucination" trick and retconned everything back to the end of season 4.
Everybody hating on Flora in Bly should keep in mind this spoiler that isn't revealed until the end of the season.
She is periodically being possessed by a twee British nanny. Her acting like a twee weirdo is an intentional choice, since a twee weirdo is using her like a puppet and doing her best impression of an 8 year old.
I think she did a wonderful job, given what she was asked to do, especially next to the lead Dani, who was awful all season.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Showtime is apparently bringing back Dexter, as if we needed more proof that 2020 is the worst.
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
The first 4 seasons of Dexter are all right. I say alright, they can be argued good and bad, some stuff happens that makes you go 'nooooo why'. But after a certain event happens that you could consider a conclusion to the series, the show just completely goes off the rails. And by off the rails, I mean the books go into a territory where they just introduce the supernatural, and that probably would have been better than the last seasons of this show.
Was it the head writer who hated Carpenter? Michael C Hall was married to her, and then they had a bad divorce. And he was an executive producer, and I thought that explained literally everything about the final seasons with their characters. It seemed downright retaliatory.
I'm just saying, the show fell apart in season 5, which aired at the end of 2010, and the divorce finalized early 2011.
edit: oh my god. I think vince masuka totally would have something to say about
I would be surprised if it was anywhere except Showtime since they were the ones who originally aired it.
It would be like Game of Thrones ending up on Netflix
I was about to point out that older HBO stuff is on Prime...but apparently that deal ended? When did this happen? Google is giving me pages suggesting it was in 2018, but I’m nearly 100% certain Treme was still on there as of last October.
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
I would be surprised if it was anywhere except Showtime since they were the ones who originally aired it.
It would be like Game of Thrones ending up on Netflix
I was about to point out that older HBO stuff is on Prime...but apparently that deal ended? When did this happen? Google is giving me pages suggesting it was in 2018, but I’m nearly 100% certain Treme was still on there as of last October.
I would imagine that HBO has been letting contracts lapse so that their content can primarily be used as a reason for people to subscribe to HBO Max in much the same way Disney did for Disney+.
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I was planning on watching this at some point anyway but you now have my attention.
It's just... so much more fucked up than that though.
No spoilers, just thoughts:
Which is disappointing, a little. I don't think we'll watch it again even if I think I'll pick up stuff I missed.
Yup, this is good stuff. Thanks for recommending!
Owen is wonderful and I would totally be his bestie and have terrible pun wars with him.
Flora is twee as fuck and I would like her to get eaten by a ghost.
Tiger King is also on Netflix while The Vow is on HBO, and I'd say Netlfix has a much higher market saturation.
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
Yes, that’s NVXIVXIUM.
Also Chloe from Smallville. There were a couple other actors associated or rumored to be associated as well, it seems they tried to get in with the acting scene in Vancouver IIRC, in order to help with recruiting.
Chloe was a leader! I think Grace Park from BSG was also in for a bit but got out (I could be thinking of someone else). There was a good podcast about it that came out around the start of the year (I think? I remember listening to it at work). It was the first I had heard of them and it was pretty horrific. They definitely preyed on the Vancouver acting scene.
So there was NZXVIVINUM the self-improvement MLM cult, then there was the sex cult. I remember Park’s name being affiliated, and presumably she was brought in through Nikki Clyne. It wasn’t real clear how deeply she got involved or whether shr went past the weird MLM level.
I want to check out a next season. But man the show has a tonal problem where everything is gigantic dystopian nightmare that features a lot of things it deems is futuristic but is already here. I loved the arnold palmer joke though.
I liked Upload, but it was more because of Andy Allo and Robbie Amell than the story itself. That said, it was interesting enough and I'll watch season 2.
We just started Bly Manor and are really enjoying it so far.
We also watched Utopia on Prime and didn't really enjoy it. The first episode or two have some compelling stuff but it devolves into absolute non-sense pretty quickly.
To be fair, she's about as insufferable as a lot of kids I've met.
But her being believable doesn't mean i want to watch her.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I never watched it but weren't thr first few seasons good? And then it went downhill like everything.
I'm not saying it'll be good but the Chris rock saw looks good and that's something we totally don't need.
Then we tried "The Third Day," a new horror miniseries with Jude Law, because we both like Jude Law. It sucked, though; not even worth finishing in this case. Law basically just makes a "shocked and appalled" face for hours on end, and the writing is godawful. The cinematography goes way overboard too, constantly overusing blur effects, bright lights and other tricks that I think are meant to be disorienting but are mostly just annoying. It's especially unnecessary in light of the fact that there are a lot of visually appealing scenes; if someone had told whoever filmed/produced it to just chill out a bit and keep things simple it would have looked much better IMO. After the third episode, where every fifteen minutes was another shocking revelation, each of which felt sillier than the last and each of which left Law with a bigger face, we gave up.
Also on the subject of Jude Law, prior to Ozark we had watched "The New Pope," a thoroughly unneeded and, in my opinion, unworthy followup to "The Young Pope." I liked The Young Pope a lot; it constantly verged on over the top melodrama without crossing the line, or when it dud cross that line it did so in an entertaining way. The sequel series jumps way over said line, and does so in a much more boring way, so it manages to lose most of its entertainment value and its emotional value at the same time. Malkovich's character is a self-pity party whose main effect is that of a soporific. Overall it felt like the director, Paolo Sorrentino, got way too full of himself and self-indulged with no restraint. There were some good moments, mostly in the last couple episodes of the show, but I wouldn't recommend it to fans of the original series.
Da fuq?
I could alllllmost see trying to bring back the show with a new cast, and maybe not fuck it so hard next time. But it's coming back with Michael C. Hall? So what, we're gonna focus on his life as a serial killing lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, or some shit?
Maybe it’s a reboot, and they’re starting over ?
First episode opens with Hall sitting on a stool in a blank room:
"Hi, I'm Michael C. Hall!
I'm so glad that you heard we've made a brand new show and have decided to check it out. As you probably know it's called "Dexter" and it's totally new.
What's that? What about the other show called Dexter? *chuckle* There was no other show called Dexter.
Look at me.
Look into my fucking eyes.
There. Was. No. Other. Dexter.
...
Ok great, hope you enjoy the show!"
The only way it can ever be justified is if they just retcon that entire last season and fix Deb and bring her back because Deb was the best part about the show and fucking hell the head writer hated her.
Not like "everything". The Simpsons went downhill but it's serviceable. Once hack Scott Buck got his sole hands on it circa season 5 after the glory of the Trinity Killer, it took a fucking massive nose dive off a cliff into some of the worst dreck imaginable, and the final season assassinated the character of Deb, who was previously one of the best things about the show.
Scott Buck also was involved in the Netflix Iron Fist, if more evidence of him clearly being a pedestrian who wandered into an office and stumbled into a job writing actual TV shows was required.
I loved marvel netflix. I tolerated iron fist. It wasn't bad, other tv is worse, but it wasn't good either .
Forget Iron Fist.
He was behind the utter dumpster fire that was Inhumans.
Ugh, inhumans. Give me 19 seasons of iron fist over that bs inhumans show.
Which should be ok! Just, like, be a fuckin' writer, guy!
But I guess he wants to be Vince Gilligan. It's just... he's absolutely not Vince Gilligan and he's never going to be.
The first 4 seasons of Dexter are all right. I say alright, they can be argued good and bad, some stuff happens that makes you go 'nooooo why'. But after a certain event happens that you could consider a conclusion to the series, the show just completely goes off the rails. And by off the rails, I mean the books go into a territory where they just introduce the supernatural, and that probably would have been better than the last seasons of this show.
Was it the head writer who hated Carpenter? Michael C Hall was married to her, and then they had a bad divorce. And he was an executive producer, and I thought that explained literally everything about the final seasons with their characters. It seemed downright retaliatory.
I'm just saying, the show fell apart in season 5, which aired at the end of 2010, and the divorce finalized early 2011.
edit: oh my god. I think vince masuka totally would have something to say about
Best Masuka scene ever.
It would be like Game of Thrones ending up on Netflix
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I was about to point out that older HBO stuff is on Prime...but apparently that deal ended? When did this happen? Google is giving me pages suggesting it was in 2018, but I’m nearly 100% certain Treme was still on there as of last October.
I would imagine that HBO has been letting contracts lapse so that their content can primarily be used as a reason for people to subscribe to HBO Max in much the same way Disney did for Disney+.