Sit right down, sonny, and I'll tell you a story about the days long since past. A time in which human beings relied not on algorithms but on each other to recommend things. Where to go. What to eat. What to watch.
Those were the days. And they're something HBO is giving a nod toward with its new "Recommended by Humans" push. The premium network (now owned by AT&T's WarnerMedia) has a flashy new recommendation service. And it's kind of fun. Pan around on the screen — it works fine with a mouse but is way better with a touchscreen — and you'll see some three dozen personal recommendations of HBO shows to watch, from dozens of people. (HBO says it paid them for their time because "we're not monsters." Nice touch. Also included are more than 150 tweets.
You can check out the #HumanReco a HumanReco.com.
The real kicker is that the recommendations serve up 50 episodes that you'll get to watch for free — whether or not you have an HBO subscription. Pick an HBO show, and there's a good chance you'll get a look without having to sign up, which is cool.
Here's the full list of shows that you'll get to peep:
- A Black Lady Sketch Show
- Animals.
- Ballers
- Big Little Lies
- Bored to Death
- Carnivale
- Chernobyl
- Crashing
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Deadwood
- Divorce
- Eastbound & Down
- Enlightened
- Euphoria
- Flight of the Conchords
- Game of Thrones
- Gentleman Jack
- Girls
- Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Los Espookys
- Mommy Dead and Dearest
- My Brilliant Friend
- Random Acts of Flyness
- Sally4Ever
- Sex and the City
- Sharp Objects
- Silicon Valley
- Six Feet Under
- Succession
- The Comeback
- The Deuce
- The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert Durst
- The Larry Sanders Show
- The Leftovers
- The Night Of
- The Normal Heart
- The Sopranos
- The Wire
- The Young Pope
- There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
- True Blood
- True Detective
- Veep
- Vice Principals
- Westworld
For HBO original series, you'll get the first episode for free.
The feature itself is an interesting mix of curated videos with the folks doing the recommendations, and tweets also, erm, recommending things. And often with a bit of colorful language. Before you go writing a letter to AT&T about there being potty words on the internet, though, it looks like HBO indeed give the F-bombs its blessing. (It is, of course, the home of Game of Thrones. So maybe let's settle down.)
Sure enough, it’s HBO being edgy. … Props for getting F-bombs through the standards folks. pic.twitter.com/3XQ329BUGU
— Phil Nickinson (@mdrndad) August 6, 2019
HBO says it'll be updating the recommendations regularly.
From new hit series like "Succession," "Chernobyl," "A Black Lady Sketch Show," "The Righteous Gemstones" and "Game of Thrones" to beloved HBO classics like "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," "Bored to Death," "The Wire" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," each recommendation features a series or film trailer and the series premiere episode or full film — available to stream for free. The tool will be updated regularly with new fan recommendations.
If you want to join in on the social aspect of all this (keep it cleaner, maybe?), you can use the hashtag #HumanReco.
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