“Succession” and “Barry” They ended on the same day and this marks the end of an era. In the case of “Barry”, the series created and performed by actor Bill Hader, is an appeal to the humanity of the monsters that we carry inside. “Succession”, on the other hand, revisited the American dream in the dubious figure of Tom Wambsgans (the character played by actor Matthew MacFadyen), the guy who came from below and rose through the ranks thanks to his devotion to power and his marriage to Shiv, the heir to the powerful Roy family. An ending that lacked heart. Like the rich, who also cry but are consoled by some company.
Standard-bearers of creative freedom, own times and the “fuck off” to the algorithm, both series were emblematic of the mode of production that had HBO (today HBO max, shortly, MAX to dry) during decades. A style that now says goodbye giving way to a new world of entertainment, governed by another type of content that is more digestible, innocuous and marathonable.
“Succession” Is Not A Hit Series But A Phenomenon that dominated the conversation on the networks for four seasons, because its cultural significance is indisputable. Why do we need to be close to a family dominated by ambition, selfishness, stupidity and madness? Because if we take away the cashmere sweaters from the Roys, the Tom Ford shirts, the Loro Piana outfits, the Persol glasses or those suits made on Saville Row and lined with Hermès scarves; we can find King Lear, Hamlet and our own miseries too.
It is worth remembering, however, that the Roy family’s style of dress inaugurated a whole fashion trend called “quiet luxury” (or calm luxury), in which elegance goes more through quality than what it looks like. it is used that because of coarse ostentation.
The series is called “Succession”, we have never been fooled. Some will remember that its first season started off simmering with patriarch Logan Roy on the verge of death and his children gouging out their eyes like crows. Brian Cox’s sublime performance made us believe that old man was immortal and to a large extent it was true. The last image they gave us of him was getting on a plane to finish off a merger, but we never saw his body.
Like his youngest son, Roman, we can’t believe he’s in the coffin during his funeral. The funny thing is that something similar happens to us with HBO, the brand that was the emblem of an era. Even his motto expressed it: “It’s not television, it’s HBO.”
An open ending for HBO
Can a platform that created true cultural phenomena for decades be in trouble? The answer is yes, because the end of two wonders like “Successsion” and “Barry” are the farewell to a way of producing and consuming entertainment.
After the pandemic euphoria caused by a global audience locked in their homes, platforms have proliferated until they have reached what appears to be their ceiling. How many are we going to pay and to see what? It is the question that everyone asks.
The “parripollo” theory was repeated in the industry, but only the first one who had the idea broke it. Netflix, the first global streaming operator, He stung at the tip and no one from the competition could emulate him. After an auspicious start, the proliferation of supply, the service deficit, the economic crisis and the return to face-to-face activities took their toll on a model that sought to tie film production to home consumption and no platform was spared from the fall.
Paramount+ can’t find the way back Prime Video wonders what to do without “Mrs Maisel”, Disney+ lives on “The Mandalorian” and Marvel but fails to stick with local fiction, with the exception of “The Manager.” HBO, creator of emblematic products such as “The Sopranos”, “Game of Thrones” or “The Wire” was no exception.
After the launch of HBO Max in style, the platform was prepared to break the business thanks to its alliance with Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of giants like the Harry Potter franchise. With the promise of original products of the highest category such as “Mare of Easttown” with Kate Winslet, “Hacks”, “House of the Dragon”, “Euphoria” or the phenomenon of this year “The Last of Us”, the prognosis was unbeatable. . However, today she seems to be holding on to her teeth so as not to fall. Without “Succession”, it only remains to hope that the highly anticipated season of “True Detective”, starring Jodie Foster, saves the second half of the year.
The merger with Warner was complicated from the start and the interface of the platform was never very friendly, but no one expected the wave of layoffs and rethinking of the business that is taking place today. After the disaster of the never released “Batgirl” and the cancellation of confirmed second seasons such as “Minx”, they also dropped “uncomfortable” material for the signal, such as the national series “Entre Hombres”. Its CEO, David Zaslav, did not explain. The reality is that this merger led to the presentation of a new platform, which has just started operating in the United States, under the name of MAX, making the HBO brand disappear. I mean, HBO is dead. Isn’t this the real “Succession”?
MAX will have content from Warner, TNT, the old HBO, Discovery, Animal Planet and CNN among others. It is said that it will arrive in the second half of 2023 in Argentina. Meanwhile, it was launched in the United States with a subscription model that includes plans with and without advertising, ranging from $9.99 per month (with a profusion of ads) to $19.99 free of ads, with excellent image resolution and the ability to view on multiple devices at once.
The new platform had major problems on launch day, many users could not connect and vented their frustration on the networks. Therefore, the change in management and programming was added to technical inconveniences that always lead to negative results.
Before the NEWS query, the company did not provide data on the arrival of MAX, nor figures regarding viewings of its series. Official rankings of the platform show that the most viewed in the last week was “The Extortion”, a Warner production starring Guillermo Francella. Surprisingly, “Succession” ranks fourth.
It’s hard to trust corporate information since we saw how the Roy brothers digitalized the presidential elections through their ATN network. Sometimes reality is the best fiction.
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