How HBO transformed television

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

HBO gave us some of the most iconic television shows of our time: Sex and the City. The Sopranos. Game of Thrones. But is the era of HBO coming to a close?

Earlier this year, HBO's parent company, Warner Media, merged with Discovery. By next year, the new Warner Bros. Discovery will combine HBO Max with Discovery Plus into an as-yet unnamed umbrella streaming service. The merger raises questions about what's next for the HBO brand – including whether or not "HBO" will still mean "quality TV" once the dust settles.

Guest host Elise Hu talks to Charles Pulliam-Moore, who covers TV and film for The Verge, about HBO's legacy, how it paved the way for prestige TV, and what changes at the company could mean for what kind of television we'll see.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just a quick heads up, this episode includes a reference to sexual assault,
0:03.9	and some language that some listeners may find offensive.
0:10.9	Hey y'all, you're listening to It's Been A Minute from NPR.
0:13.5	I'm Elise Hugh, your guest host.
0:15.6	Today I'm joined by Charles Pulle and Moore, TV and Filmwriter for The Verge.
0:20.2	And we started our conversation with a little icebreaker.
0:24.2	We're gonna play you some theme songs.
0:27.0	You can just kind of riff based on what you're hearing, okay?
0:29.5	Oh, okay.
0:30.4	All right.
0:33.8	What is the say to you?
0:35.9	Goodness, this is peak 90s.
0:38.3	We're wearing tutu's outside of ballet recitals.
0:42.5	Oh my goodness, the city is the fifth character in sex and city.
0:47.5	Beautiful. All right, next one.
0:51.5	I'm getting New Jersey, I'm getting therapy,
0:55.9	and you know, a lot of conflicted emotions.
0:59.3	I'm getting ill-fitting suits.
1:01.0	Terrible suits.
1:01.8	It's the sopranos.
1:02.9	Yes.
1:06.8	Okay, next one.
	...

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