HBO Max Announces Plan To Take Away Netflix’s FRIENDS

Here's an interesting development: that long-gestating Warner Media streaming service has just been given a name - HBO Max.

According to Deadline, HBO Max will be "anchored with and inspired by the legacy of HBO’s excellence and award-winning storytelling", which means it'll contain all the top-shelf content you know and love from HBO, along with a number of other shows and movies produced by the Warner Media brand. 

One such show is Friends, which has long been found on Netflix. It'll be joined by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Pretty Little Liars and a number of other forthcoming Warner shows, like Batwoman and a Riverdale spin-off by the name of Katy Keene. But that's not all - Deadline also says HBO Max has original feature films in the works:

"Greg Berlanti, who was locked up recently in a rich Warner Bros. deal, is also going to be supplying four new movies for the service, and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Hello Sunshine will produce at least two films for HBO Max."

Netflix's loss of Friends is probably going to cause the biggest uproar here, but now we're back to having the exact same conversation we had when Netflix announced it was losing The Office, which includes such hits as "How many streaming services do they expect me to pay for?" and "Why don't you already own this show you love on home video?" and "What does it even mean to 'own' things anymore, anyway?" I will leave the heavy lifting of that conversation to you, in the comments below, as I don't have much to add on that front (I'll sign up for HBO Max because HBO rules and they'll have plenty of shows I still rewatch on the regular; none of them are Friends).

What do you think? Like the new name? Think you'll sign up? Are you still watching Friends? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for more updates from the frontlines of the 2019 Streaming Wars. Things are only gonna get uglier and uglier.