HBO Max Removes 36 Streaming Titles, Over 200 Episodes of Sesame Street

UPDATE 8/19: Yesterday we thought it was only Elmo we’d be seeing less of on HBO Max, but it turns out he’s being joined by the rest of the Sesame Street cast.

As the Muppets fan site ToughPigs reports(Opens in a new window), over 200 classic episodes of Sesame Street have now disappeared from HBO Max without warning. There were more than 250 episodes available to watch, but now just 29 remain, taken from season one, five, and seven.

You may remember Sesame Street found its new home on HBO way back in 2015.

Original Story 8/18:
The streaming carnage continues on HBO Max, which will remove 36 titles from its platform as early as this week.

The move, first reported by Variety(Opens in a new window), is part of the fallout surrounding the upcoming consolidation of HBO Max and Discovery+ into a combined service.

“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+,” HBO Max tells Variety. “That will include the removal of some content from both platforms.”

Culling lesser-watched programs, as Variety points out, makes way for new content and helps Warner Bros. Discovery save on residuals—union-negotiated payments received by writers, actors, directors, etc., when their movie, TV show, or online production airs in reruns or is used in a different medium.

HBO Max has already(Opens in a new window) removed several series like Vinyl, Camping, Mrs. Fletcher, Run, and Here and Now, as well as At Home With Amy Sedaris.

Moving forward, 20 original HBO Max shows—including teen drama Generation, animated anthology Infinity Train, and holiday-themed reality show 12 Dates of Christmas—will leave the platform. There is no word yet on a date for the dump, but you may want to consider making time ASAP to catch up with Aquaman: Kind of Atlantis, The Fungies!, Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness, and Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs before they disappear forever.

News of Warner Bros. Discovery thinning out its library isn’t exactly a surprise: CEO David Zaslav, whose post-pandemic approach to entertainment focuses on theatrical releases over streaming originals, recently shelved DC Comics movie Batgirl and Scoob! sequel Holiday Haunt—both produced exclusively for HBO Max.