‘Seasame Street’ needs new home after HBO, Max opt not to renew deal
Courtesy of HBO
Sesame Street is searching for a new home.
The long-running children’s TV show is now on the market after Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to renew its Sesame Street deal with HBO and Max. Original episodes of the program will now need a new home.
Max will be working with the show’s producer, Sesame Workshop, to license episodes from its library through 2027. It is not yet clear if the library deal would prohibit potential new partners from also acquiring the old episodes of the program.
The streamer’s decision to not continue the deal comes from a strategy change to focus on more adult and family programming, with less of an emphasis on children’s programming.
“It has been a wonderful, creative experience working with everyone at Sesame Street on the iconic children’s series and we are thrilled to be able to keep some of the library series on Max in the U.S.,” a Max spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story. “We will continue to invest in our best-in-class programming and look forward to announcing our new distribution plans in the coming months, ensuring that Sesame Street reaches as many children as possible for generations to come.”
Sesame Street first aired in 1969, with episodes running on PBS since 1970. The show moved to HBO in 2016, with episodes airing on PBS months after they drop on HBO to ensure maximum reach and accessibility. A deal was struck in 2019 that moved Sesame Street to HBO Max, which was then renamed to Max.
Blake Lively’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars are supporting the actress amid her legal action against her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, who starred with Lively in the 2005 hit movie, signed a joint statement on Sunday, offering Lively “solidarity” in her fight “against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.” The message was posted in a joint post to Ferrera and Tamblyn’s social media accounts.
On Friday, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios of waging a smear campaign against her and accusing the actor of sexual harassment, allegations which Baldoni has denied via a lawyer.
“Throughout the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice,” read the statement from Lively’s former co-stars.
The statement from the group called out “the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety,” adding, “The hypocrisy is astounding.”
“We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment,” continued the statement.
The group also said they were “inspired” by Lively’s “courage to stand up for herself.”
The author of It Ends With Us,Colleen Hoover, also offered support for Lively on social media. “Blake Lively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met…Never change. Never wilt,” she wrote on Instagram over the weekend.
Robyn Lively, Blake Lively’s sister, also posted a message of support on Instagram Story, linking to TheNew York Times‘ initial coverage of the complaint writing “Thank you, the truth is finally out.”
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News:
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman said. “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Lively starred alongside Ferrera, Tamblyn, and Bledel in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of four friends who buy a mysterious pair of pants that fits each of them despite their differing sizes. The film, released in 2005, was based on the popular book of the same name by Ann Brashares. A sequel came out in 2008.
In a new interview with GQ Spain, the actor, who starred as Edward Cullen in the Twilight film franchise, said he’s tired of people telling him the popular franchise ruined an entire genre.
“I love that people keep telling me, ‘Man, Twilight ruined the vampire genre,'” Pattinson said. “Are you still stuck on that s***? How can you be sad about something that happened almost 20 years ago? It’s crazy.”
The first Twilight film debuted in theaters in 2008, making it 16 years old at the time of writing. Pattinson says he can’t believe the series has stayed so relevant after all this time.
“I find it hard to believe the cultural relevance that these films maintain because they are so old,” he said. “The first one was released in 2008, f***!”
Fans all over the world seem to care about the immortal Cullen family just as much now as they did back then. Pattinson called the public’s ongoing obsession with the Twilight films a “fascinating phenomenon.”
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I think this renaissance has emerged in Korea and it’s happened a bit like with K-pop, which took off in Korea but then seduced a young Western population.”
Jack Nicholson made an appearance in daughter Lorraine Nicholson‘s recent social media post.
The 87-year-old actor, who has been out of the spotlight in recent years, was photographed sharing a hug with his daughter in a slideshow she shared to her Instagram on Jan. 2.
“The giving season,” Lorraine Nicholson, who appeared in the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and the 2011 film Soul Surfer, captioned the post.
In the photo, the father-daughter duo embrace in front of a wall of bookshelves that seemingly contain some of the actor’s awards he’s won throughout his career, including his Academy Awards, Golden Globes and a Grammy.
Nicholson’s most recent acting role was in the 2010 rom-com How Do You Know, but he has continued to be a courtside regular at Lakers games in recent years.
Nicholson shares Lorraine and son Ray Nicholson — who channeled his dad’s haunting The Shining performance in the 2024 film Smile 2 — with Rebecca Broussard. He has several other children from previous relationships.