According to ComicBook, HBO has recently created a great reputation for itself for all the brilliant series they have premiered over the years. From Game of Thrones, Last of Us, and House of the Dragon, the network has released very profitable series. Due to this, the higher-ups at HBO noticed that fans react more promising to series like these than they do comedies and have come to terms that the budget for a half-hour comedy could potentially be too steep. 

In an interview with Variety, HBO, and HBO Max Content CEO Casey Bloys (Less Than Perfect) revealed that they will have to perform a course correction and reign when it comes to the cost of making the half-hour comedy series. 

Bloys revealed, “Everybody knows that there’s been such an arms race in content in general. There’s been so much competition for actors, writers, directors, stage space, and materials. Everything has gotten so expensive. With a drama, even at that higher expense, they tend to move the needle a little bit more. Comedy budgets got a little bit out of whack compared to how they perform. You’re going to see some contraction there. You’re going to see, maybe, reining in some costs in comedy across the board as an industry.”

HBO has released one of their biggest and most promising series in the last ten years, according to Comicbook. The Last of Us has gotten a wide variety of different praises since its premiere and has already been renewed for a second season. So, it’s no surprise that the network wants to shift its development to more series like it. 

In an interview earlier in the year Craig Mazin, (Chernobyl) the creator behind the live-action adaption of the Last of Us said, “It’s an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games. Joel and Ellie didn’t shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I’ve been playing video games since 1977.”

The Last of Us as well as other great series are available to stream on HBO Max.