Max Is Anything But That

By ROB PATTERSON

I wonder at times why things in entertainment that have proven to be quite worthy and working rather well can’t just be largely left alone. But here in the modern world, new means better. Too often there seems to be a tendency to change to keep up with the times and buff things up to give them a shiny sense of newness. That doesn’t always equate with better.

Such is the case with Max, the rebranding and reconfiguration of HBO. Maybe it’s just me, but, just for starters, I don’t much care for the name. And it seems fitting to how I feel about the change and the results that Max was taken from what was HBO’s much-lesser stepsister channel Cinemax.

HBO was the gold standard in cable channels and then streaming TV. It was the first premium cable channel dive headlong into original programming. It pioneered standup comedy specials that helped launch many comics to greater stardom. HBO’s original documentaries were largely excellent and I believe helped raise the bar on that film genre. The channel led the way in cable in bringing boxing to a new and classier level of quality – washing away the proverbial and real cigar smoke and pungent sweat – alongside other fine sports programming. And, again, HBO’s documentaries about sports were so interesting that someone like me, who is a very casual viewer of sports, still watched many of them. Last but hardly least, the network tended to offer a fairly good slate of recent movies after their theatrical run.

That’s how I felt about HBO for decades. And my esteem is backed up by how, year after year, HBO outshone every other broadcast, cable or streaming networks at the Emmy Awards. Its current count of 190 Primetime Emmys makes it the most-awarded channel ever in that category. As recently as the 2022 Emmys. HBO led the pack again with 38 Primetime statuettes. Not so in 2023, and I do not expect Max to win anywhere near a sweep in the future when the awards come around again not long after I write this, or likely ever again.

It’s sad and irksome to witness an entity recognized by me and its industry for excellence get reshuffled and renamed in the name of progress, yet descend from its peak position as far as quality and appeal. To wit, sometime in mid-2023 I stopped subscribing to Max after clicking onto it too many times and finding little if anything that compelled me to watch it.

Which is ironic indeed, as it was HBO that caused me to hook back up to cable TV in 1999 after I cut it off in the early ’90s, when I’d sit in my easy chair and click my remote through the various channels going nope, nope, nope … Around the same time, Bruce Springsteen released his song “57 Channels (With Nothing On).”

But then my friend Chip, who started watching “The Sopranos” and taping the episodes, loaned the tapes to me. By episode three I was so hooked I wanted to see the next one as soon as I could. So I turned premium cable with HBO back on. And was rewarded by the glories of not only “The Sopranos,” but also “The Wire,” as well as the channel’s bounty of other fine shows and excellent docs – quality programming that lifted HBO above all other networks.

The Max rebrand and reshuffle seems destined to lower what was HBO to the level of all the other channels. They are abandoning the HBO policy of keeping every original production available. And I don’t like the new interface. Nonetheless an offer of returning at $1.99 per month (with ads) for the next half year wooed me back, if only to watch the new Albert Brooks doc (see Picks below). Then I screened the doc “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God,” and couldn’t even finish the account of a minuscule group of rather unlikable fools – small potatoes also tasteless and lacking much if any nutritional value. Not a good sign.

I expect a future business school study of this gaffe. If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it. (The “New Coke”lesson). Instead, all HBO needed, if anything, was to be made even better.

Populist Picks

TV Documentary: “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” – Brooks first won me over big time in 1972 with his debut as a director with his short film “The Famous Comedians School” on the PBS series, “The Great American Dream Machine.” (Delighted to see my fave bit from it, the Danny Thomas spit take, included in this doc.) And has gone on as an actor, writer and director to create a wonderful body of work that not just pushed the envelope but expended the boundaries of postmodern comedy. He forged a path for Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman and the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to follow. Directed by Rob Reiner, Brooks’ best buddy since high school, this warm and illuminating film features justly glowing praise from a marquee lineup of fellow comics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 96 (out of 100). Hence it’s a must-see for anyone who values contemporary comedy.

Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email robpatterson054@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2024

Populist.com