10 Things We Learned About HBO’s Upcoming Programming At TCA 2017

HBO had originally slated Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds to premiere on Mother’s Day. However, following the unexpected and tragic deaths of both Fisher and Reynolds, the network moved the series up to January 7. According to HBO’s TCA panel, the documentary has already been watched over 3 million times, reaching early numbers similar to Alex Gibney’s Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.

Stream ‘Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynold’ on HBO Go and HBO Now

That’s a compliment, by the way. Diana B. Henriques, the author of the book of the same name, joked that she will not be taking investment advice from Robert De Niro. Why? Because she says he’s so convincing as Bernie Madoff. Both Henriques and De Niro were asked if they thought the man known for his billion dollar Ponzi scheme was a sociopath. The Wizard of Lies author said “yes” immediately, but De Niro took time with his answer. “The only thing that I feel strongly is that his kids didn’t know and his wife didn’t know what he did,” De Niro said. The Wizard of Lies premieres in May.

Executive producer Judd Apatow and series creator and star Pete Holmes discussed what differentiates Crashing from other shows about comedy. According to Holmes, the series portrays the early stages of a stand up comedian’s life when they’re stumbling through comedy. “You do badly for five years,” Holmes said, quoting advice Bill Burr once gave him. Crashing is supposed to look at those first five inexperienced years, the New York comedy scene, and what it’s like to pursue your dream in a city that “doesn’t want or need you.” Holmes explained that his character is an incredibly innocent, Jack McBrayer type. “I’m kind of playing a 2007 version of himself,” he said. Crashing premieres February 19.

Crashing will mark Apatow’s third currently running show, following HBO’s Girls and Netflix’s Love. Girls and Crashing follow more traditional formats with new episodes released each week. Love, on the other hand, is released a season at a time like most Netflix shows. When asked about the differing formats of these three series, Apatow said his HBO’s shows are written in an episodic format, whereas Love is created to be more like a long movie.

Stream ‘Girls’ on HBO Go and HBO Now

Stream ‘Love’ on Netflix

Premiering sometime in the spring, The Defiant Ones is looking to be HBO’s next ambitious docu-series. Featuring interviews from Dr. Dre, Bono, Eminen, Nas, Ice Cube, Gwen Stefani, Stevie Nicks, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen, and more, the four-part series tells the story of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, two figures who have helped shape the music industry. After agreeing to the project, which was originally a documentary just pegged to Iovine’s life, the record producer left the project. However, he returned once director Allen Hughes restructured the documentary to focus on both Iovine and Dre.

If you’re a fan of HBO’s documentaries, you may want to get out your calendars. We now have premiere dates for seven of HBO’s upcoming docs. Here are those dates:

• Becoming Warren Buffett premieres January 30
• Beware the Slenderman premieres January 23
• Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison premieres February 6
• Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis premieres February 13
• Unlocking the Cage premieres February 20
• Tickled premieres February 27
• Cries from Syria premieres March 13

The network will also premiere Abortion: Stories Women Tell; Brillo Box; For the Love of Baltimore; If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast; Mommy Dead and Dearest; The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble; and Rock and a Hard Place. However, HBO has yet to give premiere dates for these titles.

Scheduled for a 2018 premiere, Barry follows a hitman who decides to become an actor after following his intended target to an acting class. This series will mark the first time the former Saturday Night Live cast member and Documentary Now! star and creator will direct. Alec Berg (Silicon Valley) is also a co-creator of the series, and the series will also feature performances from Sarah Goldberg (Hindsight), Glenn Fleshler (True Detective), and Henry Winkler (Arrested Development).

When asked where the idea for The Young Pope came from, the series’ director Paolo Sorrentino said he interviewed many Church experts in preparation for the series. From those interviews he found many believed the next selected pope will likely be highly conservative to counter the more liberal Pope Francis. Sorrentino and Jude Law, who was also at the panel, revealed The Young Pope was largely about the solitude and loneliness that comes with power. Law agreed to the role for the opportunity to work with Sorrentino.

Stream 'The Young Pope' on HBO Go and HBO Now

Based on the book of the same name, the seven-episode limited series examines the mystery surrounding a murder committed in a tight-knit community. Colored by gossip, lies, and betrayal, this series explores the underbelly of this Stepford-esque public elementary school. However, during Big Little Lies’ panel at TCA, the series stars, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley, praised the series’ focus on women. “It’s so refreshing to spend time with women,” Reese Witherspoon, star and executive producer, said. “It was really a collective performance from all of us.”

Witherspoon also highlighted the importance of seeing real women’s stories on television. “We as human being, we learn from art,” she said. “What can we do if we never see it reflected?”

Game of Thrones is so popular, no GOT news is still news. HBO’s press releases merely says that Season 7 premieres this summer. The network also included a press release on its eight-episode drama about the legalization of the porn industry in the 1970s. We can expect to see both of these series later this year.

Stream 'Game of Thrones' on HBO Go and HBO Now