HBO CEO Casey Bloys has a vision for the network’s future programming and will be using one Emmy-winning drama in particular as a model. During a press preview event held on Thursday, November 20, at the studio’s headquarters in New York, the HBO Max chief shared his insights about what viewers should anticipate regarding upcoming shows on the platform. Bloys cited The Pitt, which won three Emmys in 2025 including the prestigious Outstanding Drama Series award, as a blueprint for how HBO will be moving forward in its future programming.
HBO plans on using The Pitt as a template for new original shows
During the press conference, Bloys acknowledged that the concept of an HBO Max original wasn’t as clearly defined in the past, according to Variety.
“Until recently, a Max original may have been a bit nebulous for you,” the CEO confessed. “You probably asked me about it. A bit nebulous for you, a bit nebulous for me. But I can say now that originals serve a very specific purpose.”
Bloys held up The Pitt as the answer to what the network has been seeking, stating that HBO had caught “lightning in a bottle.” He praised the show’s ability to engage audiences for “15 weeks of habitual viewing,” something he hopes future series will replicate. The second season of The Pitt is scheduled to return in January 2026.
“We are leaning into more cost-efficient yet elevated and high-quality series, with a greater number of episodes that can return each year,” he explained. “These originals are designed to attract audiences that are adjacent to the typical HBO fans, while also feeding our strategy to deliver 52 weeks of new programming a year.”
To test this strategy, Bloys pointed to two new shows that have already received pilot orders for HBO Max and will follow the same modest budget but yearly release schedule as The Pitt.
“We’re in the pilot stage on two more: ‘American Blue,’ which is a cop drama from Jeremy Carver, and the family drama, ‘How to Survive Without Me,’ from creator Greg Berlanti.”
American Blue follows Brian “Milk” Milkovich who seeks to rescue his hometown police force in Joliet, Illinois and will draw parallels to NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues. Meanwhile, How to Survive Without Me centers on a family of adult siblings and their father struggling in Los Angeles.
