Tuesday this week was a pretty jaw-dropping day for a fan and subscriber to HBO’s Max streaming service like yours truly.

On the one hand, HBO And Max. chef Casey Bloys hosted a press event where he previewed a ton of exciting HBO shows – updates on Euphoria and the state of Game of Thrones franchise of the upcoming Harry Potter television series. It was enough to get you excited for what the network has in store for 2025 and beyond. HBO and Max also released a sizzling coil who teased new seasons of masterpieces like The White Lotus And The last of us.

On the other hand, also on Tuesday, Max publishes something unwanted and unexpected: the trailer for a new series that seems to be perhaps the stupidest reality TV series of all time.

The series, Human vs. Hamsterdebuts November 21 and features an eight-episode competition that delivers exactly what the title promises: teams of humans taking on pet hamsters in large-scale challenges that test the participants’ speed, strength and agility. The team that wins the most hamster challenges enters an obstacle course that they must escape before the hamsters do to win (a prize that presumably includes regaining the dignity they gave up to participate in a show like this).

Clearly, this type of series is emblematic of the increase in, shall we say, more populist content at Max — content that stands in stark contrast to HBO’s legacy of acclaimed, thought-provoking series like The Sopranos And Succession. That’s always the way things go, I suppose, when you have a bean counter loaded with artists; a group wants the freedom to create, while the suit will do whatever it takes to produce more and more.

Under the leadership of CEO David Zaslav, the house of Game of Thrones is also now attached to a banner where it’s shit Human vs. Hamster sits side by side with The Big Bang Theory as well as originals like Industry And The right gemstones. In other words, Zaslav has decided to risk devaluing HBO’s once-iconic brand in a never-ending race for scale — not to mention the fact that this means the network once synonymous with boundary-pushing television is now the home of a competition series. where humans compete with fucking hamsters.

It’s as if the big boss of HBO had decided to open a McDonald’s in a 3 Michelin star restaurant. All I know is that while Zaz is busy with HBO and Max, he better keep his hands off my beloved. Gomorrahor I’ll unsubscribe faster than a cute hamster can clear an obstacle course.