HBO Max has become one of the most popular streamers thanks to its housing of popular originals like The Last of Us, The White Lotus, and Peacemaker, along with its back catalogue of Warner Bros. Discovery content. Unfortunately, not every HBO IP or original series has remained on the streaming service.
Like Disney+, HBO Max has undertaken content purges over the years, removing several popular series from the streaming service. According to Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Weidenfels, HBO's reasoning for its regular abandonment and removal of shows was to "[rectify] a lot of content exuberance" that resulted from an "industry that went overboard."
While some of these shows have returned, often on different digital platforms, quite a few are no longer available for audiences to watch.
These Purged HBO Max Shows Still Aren't Available on Streaming
Infinity Train
The Cartoon Network series Infinity Train followed a group of animated characters on a fantastical, endless train. It was praised for handling complex themes and writing, and ultimately received four seasons before it was cancelled and removed entirely from digital platforms.
The series' creator Owen Dennis, shared on his Bluesky (via Reddit) that he would "like to make more" of the show, but that he "doesn't own the rights to it and likely never will." The writer encouraged fans to "show Warner [Bros.]" their support for the Infinity Train, even though "it's not like anyone can watch the show easily."
Close Enough
Another Cartoon Network show that was victim of HBO Max's content purge is the adult animated comedy Close Enough. The series' voice cast featured the likes of Danielle Brooks and Jason Mantzoukas, and followed an early 30s couple in Los Angeles living in a duplex with their divorced friends, who endure the challenges of domestic life together.
Removing Close Enough sparked backlash from fans and the creatives who worked on the show. Aaron Burdette, a writer on the series, posted on X (formerly Twitter), that they "love to work on something for literal years and then have it totally vanish."
Summer Camp Island
The animated series Summer Camp Island gained a dedicated fanbase as it followed the tales of anthropomorphic friends Oscar and Hedgehog, attendees at a magical summer camp. The Cartoon Network series managed six seasons and over 100 episodes before it was cancelled and pulled from HBO Max.
Creator Julia Pott took to X ahead of the removal of Summer Camp Island to decry HBO's decision, saying "animation is not nothing:"
"We worked for 5 years to make 100 episodes of animation. We worked late into the night, we let ourselves go, we were a family of hard working artists who wanted to make something beautiful, and HBO MAX just pulled them all like we were nothing. Animation is not nothing!"
Generation
Generation was an HBO original that followed a group of queer and diverse teenagers from different backgrounds as they explored modern-day beliefs of life and love in their conservative community in Orange County, California. The series, starring Justice Smith and Chase Sui Wonders, only lasted one season before it was cancelled.
While Generation was removed from HBO Max during the content purge in 2022, it received a second life after Tubi picked it up in 2023, giving it a new streaming home.
Westworld
The Emmy Award-winning original series Westworld was possibly the most high-profile victim in the HBO Max content purge in 2022. The series was based on Michael Crichton's sci-fi novel and starred an A-list cast that included Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandiwe Newton, and Jeffrey Wright.
While the series was removed from HBO Max, like Generation, Westworld gained a new life on Roku and Tubi, where it's four seasons now live.
Following its removal, executive producer Jonathan Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter that the removal of Westworld "didn't bother [him]" but that he still has "a desire to finish it."
Aquaman: King of Atlantis
Warner Bros. Discovery's catalogue includes the rights to DC Comics characters which allowed the studio to expand its adaptations outside of the main DCU onto HBO Max. This resulted in several animated series, including Aquaman: King of Atlantis, which was intended to follow on from the events of James Wan's Aquaman film (although it was not considered canon in the DCEU).
The DC miniseries was removed during the HBO content purge in 2022. One of the series' creators, Marly Halpern-Graser, expressed disappointment that the show had been removed on X but reminded audiences that Aquaman: King of Atlantis is still available to watch, thanks to its physical media release.
Theodosia
The family adventure series Theodosia was based on Robin LaFevers' children's novels and lasted for two seasons and 52 episodes before its cancellation.
HBO Max dropped the rights to the show in 2023, which BYUtv then picked up, allowing the show's first season to still be streamable in the US.
Raised by Wolves
Ridley Scott helped to produce the HBO Max original series Raised by Wolves, which followed two Androids attempting to raise a colony of children on a foreign and hostile planet after a galactic war. The series starred Abubakar Salim, Amanda Collin, and Travis Fimmel and received two ambitious seasons.
Raised by Wolves has since been removed from HBO Max, but found a new home thanks to the partnership between Warner Bros., Roku, and Tubi.
The Garcias
The Garcias was an original American sitcom on HBO Max that only received one season. It was a sequel to the 2000s series The Brothers Garcia, which initially aired on Nickelodeon. After HBO removed The Garcias, the rights returned to the original studio and producers, meaning the show may find another streaming home one day.
Bonus: Tig n' Seek
Another Cartoon Network show that was wiped from HBO Max after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger was Tig n' Seek, the animated children's series that followed the detective adventures of 8-year-old Tiggy and his cat, Gweeseek.
Tig n' Seek creator Mike Chilian shared a discouraged post on X after the removal, saying, "All those episodes. All those years. All that hard work."
