HBO resident comedian John Oliver shot parent company Warner Bros. Discovery last week tonight, poking fun at the recent wave of content takedowns that has moved HBO Max from a powerhouse in the live-streaming scene to a Hollywood laughingstock. The company, which has removed a number of HBO Max originals for no justified reason, recently admitted that it had halted the almost-completed Batgirl movie as part of a tax scheme. As a result, it seems likely that any seemingly inexplicable move the company makes, perhaps aimed at getting some kind of tax credit, through a loophole associated with the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery. The word is that this loophole expires at the end of August 2022.
This gag came as part of a longer segment in which Oliver discussed Sarah Palin’s current candidacy for the US House of Representatives. Despite (or perhaps because of) her name recognition in and out of Alaska, voter turnout in last week’s primaries indicated there was a chance Palin (and thus the Republican Party) might lose the seat, and Oliver noted Palin’s reputation in her setting. She herself and her brand before anything else.
Even a conservative Alaskan publisher said, ‘Sarah knows how to work with an audience, but it’s Sarah, you,’ which frankly sounds like the title of a comedy starring Kat Dennings that has already quietly disappeared from HBO Max. HBO Max: It’s Not TV — It’s a series of tax write-offs to please Wall Street.”
You can see the joke below.
John Oliver snapped another shot of his new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery to remove shows from HBO Max without warning all in the name of tax cuts… pic.twitter.com/53dPr4uVwn
– Jay (@Jay_3085) August 22 2022
The company has removed a number of HBO Max Originals such as American pickle And the infinity train, not only from the live streaming service but also from YouTube, where free episodes of some TV shows have been posted. They also removed over 200 episodes of Sesame Street, which existed as part of Sesame Workshop’s broader package deal with HBO. while the Sesame Street The episodes are still available to stream on the PBS website, and their removal is likely a sign that WBD will not re-sign the Sesame deal, potentially jeopardizing the future of the long-running educational series.
infinity train Available to purchase video on demand platforms like Amazon Prime, prices for out-of-print DVD versions have skyrocketed since the removal, with sellers asking for hundreds of dollars on eBay. Tell Warner Bros. customer service representatives. Discovery users found that most of these removals are temporary, but they haven’t provided a clear plan for when the changes can be reversed.
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