HBO Max Series Saved After Being Kicked Off The Network
The formerly canceled HBO Max series, Generation, has now been revived on Tubi.
Ever since the merger with Discovery, HBO Max has been removing shows even as Warner Bros. cancels the release of high-profile content such as the Batgirl movie that was all but finished. One beloved HBO Max show named Generation was canceled in September 2021 and later removed from the platform entirely in August 2022 after the merger. Fans of Generation were wondering if they would ever be able to stream the beloved show again, and the show’s executive producer Ben Barnz recently tweeted that the show has found “a new home” on Tubi, the free, ad-supported streaming network.
One reason that HBO Max fans were sad to lose Generation is that the show feels like a dramedy that touches on more modern issues that most shows won’t go near. The general premise of the show is that we follow an ensemble cast of high school students growing up in a relatively conservative community. That becomes important as different characters grapple with matters of sex and sexuality that would shock many members of that community even as it titillates many of the viewers of the program.
For series creators Zelda Barnz and her father Daniel Barnz, HBO Max canceling Generation and removing it from the platform was a very bitter pill to swallow. In particular, Zelda was motivated to create the show by the fact that most of the characters in movies or on television didn’t really represent her or the people she knew growing up. Creating Generation with her dad helped her to explore some of her own interests and issues in a creative way, all while creating a show likelier to resonate with audiences that, like her, don’t really see themselves in most of the characters that ever appear onscreen.
In that sense, HBO Max giving Generation the boot after the merger might actually help the show reach more audiences than ever now that the show landed on Tubi. Whereas HBO Max is a streaming platform that costs $9.99 a month, Tubi is completely free. If the ultimate goal of the creators is to reach as many young people as possible with their show, then it will now be easier for those without much spare cash for paid streaming platforms to discover what Generation is all about.
However, the bad news is that the odds of the show ever getting renewed for another season or even a spinoff series are slimmer than ever. When HBO Max initially canceled Generation but left it on the platform, there was always a chance that enough people streaming it or enough fans creating campaigns for renewal could bring the series back. While Tubi has been branching out into original content of its own, most of it is very cheap, and it’s unlikely they would want to invest enough money into a prestige teen dramedy to revive it, especially after the series was already removed from HBO Max for, presumably, not getting that many viewers in the first place.
