On the heels of HBO Max cutting shows like Minx and Love Life from its library, another two will no longer be available to subscribers to the service (which has not yet changed its name). Both Westworld and The Nevers are being pulled from the streamer, marking the end of easy access to one of HBO’s highest-profile shows of the last decade and the official cancellation of The Nevers after half of Season 1.
Westworld and The Nevers will be removed from HBO Max, according to Deadline, and are expected to be moved to different Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, although that has yet to be officially confirmed. The outlet reports that after CEO David Zaslav spoke about the FAST channel space (a.k.a. free ad-supported streaming TV), both shows may become available again in that way. The cuts are presumably to save money by no longer needing to pay residuals to actors, as was the case for other cut projects in August.
Although these two series are far from the first to be pulled from HBO Max, they stand out as dramas that originally aired on HBO rather than releasing on the streaming service as originals, unlike Minx (which was just cancelled as it approached finishing production on Season 2), Love Life (which ranked among our top HBO Max shows), and the inclusive The Gordita Chronicles, to the displeasure of fans. Cutting high-profile HBO shows is a pretty big surprise.
Of course, this is hardly the first surprise on the Westworld front in 2022. Despite its status as a critical and award-winning success (albeit expensive and dwindling in popularity), Westworld was cancelled back in November after four seasons. There had been plans for five seasons before the unexpected cancellation. Actor Luke Hemsworth even got the bad news on his birthday. The cast was still set to make a fair amount of money, however. At its height, Westworld was arguably HBO’s most talked-about drama in the last decade not featuring dragons (although it did feature the Game of Thrones executive producers in Season 3).
News of the removal of The Nevers comes between the first half of Season 1 in 2021 and the second half, which was expected in 2023 but had not yet found a home in the 2023 TV premiere schedule. While it’s not yet clear where the second half of the first and now only season will release, Deadline further reports that the storyline was planned so that it can end with Season 1B. The show made history for HBO Max shortly after its premiere.
At the time of writing on December 12, the full run of Westworld and first half of The Nevers Season 1 are still available streaming, so now is the time to check out an HBO Max subscription if you want to watch them before they’re pulled from the streamer. These shows are just the latest of many projects to lose their spots in the HBO Max library, with a whole list of original movies and shows that have been removed. Only time will tell if more high-profile shows or movies are removed and when they’ll become available again.
