Forget HBO, Max is now going to be The One To Watch for… AMC?
Select AMC originals will be available on Max for two months
Aux News HBO
Young people may not understand this, but there was once a time when the HBO brand was primarily associated with prestigious, quality programming that was ostensibly so special that it required a premium fee to access. Then, when the HBO Max streaming service launched, it elevated everything in its library to the level of HBO—Game Of Thrones was next to Bugs Bunny cartoons, which were next to The Sopranos, which was next to ancient footage from the Turner Classic Movies vault. But then David Zaslav, famous hater of movies, took over and promptly devalued the HBO brand by removing it from the streaming service’s name and by allowing once-valuable HBO originals to be licensed out to Netflix.
Now, Max is so disinterested in being associated with HBO that it’s going to start streaming shows from a totally different network: AMC. Dubbed a “programming pop-up,” from September 1 to October 31 there will be a new section on Max called “AMC+ Picks on Max” with selected shows from the AMC library available at no extra cost and with no advertising for Max subscribers. (By the way, the name is presumably meant to indicate that these are “picks” from AMC+ that are now “on Max,” and not that AMC+ is picking on Max, as in pulling its hair or repeating everything it says in a mocking tone, but it could also mean that.)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there will be “more than 200 episodes from seven different” AMC shows available on “AMC+ Picks on Max,” including Interview With A Vampire, Dark Winds, Gangs Of London, Fear The Walking Dead, Killing Eve, A Discovery Of Witches, and Ride With Norman Reedus.
THR says that the “financial terms” of this deal “were not disclosed,” but clearly Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery are able to make some kinds of deals at the moment, just not deals with the writers and actors who actually make shows and movies. But things are probably going fine at WBD, and there’s no reason to think it’s buckling under the pressure of the righteousness of the dual-strike just because it’s selling HBO originals to Netflix and (probably) paying to put AMC originals on its streaming platform and delaying one of its biggest movies of the year into 2024.
40 Comments
Anyone else having the “Load more comments” button not work?
Me!
Yes. Thought it was just me. I’m also having issues starring comments. Oh well.
Yes. I also can’t star anything. I also can’t load pending comments. It’s quite vexing.
Can’t star comments or load more comments. Now what am I going to do for the rest of the day?
Ditto.
Where can I watch mad men????
PSA: If you catch any of the AMC+ programming on HBO and think about subscribing, wait until Black Friday or Christmas/New Years. For the past few years they’ve always run specials where it’s like $24 for the year.FWIW, I’ve enjoyed having AMC+. It’s not the most content, but there is good stuff there. Your subscription gets you AMC programming, but also Sundance channel, Shudder and some BBC America stuff. Content on AMC+ that I recommend if it comes to HBO: The Little Drummer Girl, Upright, Happy Valley, Kevin can Fuck Himself, Lucky Hank.
We just started watching KCFH and it’s so fucking good!
Happy Valley is incredible. Also some good scandi-noirs on there as well, been watching Dark Winds too.
Yeah, Wisting is very good.
Yeah, enjoyed that one.
I’d add in Dispatches from Elsewhere. Be a smart way for them to capitalize on Winning Time and Shrinking.
Shudder alone costs almost as much as AMC+ plus Shudder.I got the cheap year deal a couple years ago, and while it’s worth it at that price, the app was soooooo bad. Like total shit.I currently have a two months for half price deal through the Amazon Prime app. It seems much better.I’d add Gangs of London and Dark Winds to the recommendations.This season of Dark Winds kinda reminds me of Fargo, except Zahn McClarnon is chasing the remorseless killer, who may not be so completely remorseless after all.And speaking of AMC’s shitty software, kinja completely sucks now.
Oh the AMC+ app is complete dogshit. Has been for years. I’ve just sort of gotten used to it, but it is something that people should know going in. I can’t believe they haven’t fixed it yet, because it’s not like there’s some big mystery about how to create a basic interface/saved queue/keep watching home screen.
Yeah, I’d do it again at that price, but only at around that price.
Speaking again of shitty software, how did you do italics in your post? The formatting button doesn’t work for me (or apparently others) anymore.The “Load more comments” button and “Aa” formatting button do nothing. The “Pending” button disappears, but does nothing else.I thought maybe it was just me, but I’ve been seeing others complain now.
I use the standard keyboard shortcuts for italics, bold, and underlining. So CTR i for me turns italics on, then type what I want, then CTR i to turn it off. I’ve not had a problem with “Load More” (yet), but I have seen the amazing disappearing Pending button. This place is wild.
Doh! I haven’t used those in long enough that it never crossed my mind.
Sure, they can get he selections from AMC, but they still can’t get me Dream On.
Truth. It’s a travesty. Maybe they don’t have the rights to all those clips anymore?
If I remember correctly, the clips were from movies in the public domain. I think the issue was, that the show came out before HBO had any type of video licensing deals in place.
The clips may or may not have been in the public domain. They may just have been in Warner Bros. library for nothing. Not sure. But maybe you’re right.
Oh, no doubt it suffers from the same issue Muppet Babies does with not having the rights to clips, but this isn’t the only classic HBO show they for some reason don’t carry. There’s also Tales from the Crypt.
Agree! The lack of Tales from the Crypt is criminal.I mean, they also don’t have “First and Ten”, but I don’t think people much care.But “Dream On” and “Tales” absolutely need to be there. Or at least they need to license “Tales” to Shudder or something.
People keep beating this drum about Zaslav devaluing the brand by removing “HBO” from the name, but I’ve always thought there was much more damage being done by having all the shitty Max Originals on a service with HBO’s name. (Imagine if FBoy Island started with the classic static+hum.)Makes a ton of sense to me to sequester all the good stuff behind an “HBO” wall in the app and let Max be its own all-encompassing thing.
But can I watch Mad Men???
But can I watch Mad Men???
Snark aside, if you have Max, those are, mostly, pretty good shows, if you haven’t seen them.
I can finally get caught up on Remember WENN!
I stopped watching AMC when they cancelled Into the Badlands but kept the shambling corpse of Walking Dead going.
I seriously cannot believe that show is still going. Is it some sort of meta joke about zombieism?
Seriously I thought the first season was good but stopped watching a few episodes into the second because it was already getting kind of meh.
I’ve never watched it; I’m just surprised it’s still going, with no endgame or apparent cultural impact any more. From what I’ve heard, this is every season:First half: “Yay! We a found a group of survivors who are welcoming and with whom we feel safe and can rebuild civilisation!”Second half: “Oh no! Turns out the niceness and welcomeness of these people was all facade and they’re evil! MAYBE IT’S THE HUMANS WHO ARE THE REAL MONSTER, EH?”
“I’ve never watched it; I’m just surprised it’s still going, with no endgame or apparent cultural impact any more.”
Because this is the first TV show you’ve ever heard of???
same. Also I wanted everyone to die.
no halt and catch fire?
“there’s no reason to think it’s buckling under the pressure of the righteousness of the dual-strike just because it’s selling HBO originals to Netflix and (probably) paying to put AMC originals on its streaming platform”
1) The selling of HBO originals to Netflix predates the strikes by a LONG time.2) Why on earth would you think that Max is paying AMC to air their content? Are you the stupidest person around?
“Now, Max is so disinterested in being associated with HBO”
Disinterested: not influenced by considerations of personal advantage.The word you’re looking for is UNinterested. But hey, you’re the journalist, right?
So, test run for buying out AMC+.Again, too many streamers, not enough eyeballs, actually paying a logical model for the ‘indefinite availability’ system makes sense. Offer a buyout option for much more popular titles to save money if they’re that interested. This isn’t really that hard to do, it’s just that the powers that be don’t like being told ‘no’ ever, under any circumstances. I’m mildly interested but after the PSA, I’ll likely wait for the black Friday super saver.
Interview With The Vampire was great and I hope more people watch it once it is on Max. The audience should grow for that show considering how well done the adaptation is while updating the material in a way that stays true to the spirit of the novels.