The Attorneys General are holding strong & fast to a trial date in 2027. Paramount is going to be paying out to WBD shareholders soon for the delay in an agreement they set, because they were so confident this would all be wrapped up by September 1. Well, it isn’t and won’t be for a few months yet, unless Paramount just gives up. That is, of course, our hope. To get our mind off of all that, here are the highlights for September.
A few quick points:
- Sharon Horgan Returns to HBO
- And JAŸ-Z Arrives
- A24’s Acclaimed BACKROOMS Creeps Us
- While A KILLER STORY Chills Us
- Plus, International Content Represents
- Including A Guy Named PAOLO
HBO Original Series: The HBO Original comedy series YOUTH, created by and starring Sharon Horgan, will premiere with the first two episodes SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 at 10:00 pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes of the 8-episode season will debut weekly on Sundays at the same time, concluding with the season finale on Sunday, November 1. The series follows a 50-year-old divorcee’s search for sex and love whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown-up son.
It stars Sharon Horgan ( as Alex), Rupert Friend ( as Patrick), Sharlene Whyte ( as Sam), Aran Murphy (as Ruari), and Robbie Gee ( as Frank). Sharon Horgan stars in, writes, and executive produces the series. Additional executive producers are Faye Dorn for Merman, Jim Kleverweis, and Dawn Shadforth, who also directs. Check this out.
LANTERNS continues with episodes 4 – 7 in September. By now we have met Sinestro and learned of the Manhunters. We are in the thick of the mystery by this point. The DC Studios work picks up on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 06 (9:00-10:00 pm ET/PT) on HBO. This In The Weeks Ahead gives us clues, because an episode breakdown is nonexistent.
I didn’t notice last month that CONAN O’BRIEN MUST GO is an HBO Original title now. Two installments of this comedy travelog show carry into September. The third journey begins on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 04 (9:00-9:45 pm ET/PT) as it takes us to the land of Morocco. The following Friday’s destination is the Philippines. Do you travel along?
Both LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER and REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER continue in September, except over the Labor Day weekend. Oliver has discussed issues like the tools police are using to keep track of civilians – whether or not they’re suspected of a crime, and how the Justice Department has changed over time. His show picks up on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 (11:00-11:40 pm ET/PT). Maher’s gig picks up on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 (10:00-11:00 pm ET/PT).
Original Series Exclusive to HBO Max: STUART FAILS TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE has a ten-episode run and will offer new episodes through September. New episodes upload to the streamer on Thursdays beginning THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 03.
HBO International Titles: Six titles grace our airwaves from different countries around the globe in September. We plot them here based on their respective premiere dates. We start with COLLISION debuting on HBO Max on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 07. It is an upcoming Mexican telenovela written by Corin Tellado and produced by Telemundo Studios for HBO Max. Being a telenovela means it is a long serial, and it clocks in at 40 episodes long. When business magnate Miguel Ángel dies in a mysterious crash, his daughter Zoé and estranged wife Belén fight for control of his company. On FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, SAMAN: THE HIDDEN TRUTH (Saman La Verità Nascosta) becomes available. It is a grim, three-part original documentary series examining the tragic story of 18-year-old Saman 
Abbas, the young Pakistani woman murdered after resisting an arranged marriage and fighting for the freedom to choose her own life. The next day, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, we are presented with CAUTIVA (Captive), from Argentina. Starring Carolina Kopelioff and Lorena Vega, this story—based on a recent true case—delves into the search for justice and freedom of a victim of abuse and mistreatment within a religious institution. Over six episodes, the plot follows Clara (Kopelioff, pictured), a young woman who, in the 21st century and embracing her religious vocation, enters a cloistered convent without ever imagining the nightmare that awaits her behind those walls. Cecilia, the Mother Superior (Vega), transforms her life into a medieval hell through torture, abuse, and mistreatment that continues for 15 years, until she finally manages to escape. Supported by her family, Clara begins a journey of self-discovery and a relentless fight for justice.
Three titles appear on HBO Max on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. We’ve already told you a bit about one of them here. It is 4 BLOCKS ZERO, a prequel series to HBO’s 4 BLOCKS. The second title we note is THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOORS OF THE OPUS DEI. It is not the first work on the service to handle this organization. This is another 3-part documentary series. It is from Spain and tells of fourteen men of all ages from eleven different countries recounting their personal experiences within Opus Dei. Many of them held leadership positions, while others were called to support the institution from the highest levels of their professional careers to expand Opus Dei. Some were sent as teenagers to countries from which they never returned.
Last to be mentioned is PAOLO. Paolo lives a simple yet fulfilling life in a small provincial town, moving pianos by day and planning a wedding with his fiancée Winnie in his spare time. After a chance encounter, Paolo finds himself attending a campaign event for his former classmate Téophane Tolbiac, an ambitious and magnetic local politician on the rise. But what begins as a commitment to Téophane’s campaign soon spirals as Paolo’s world is upended by his all-consuming desire to be part of the hopeful mayor’s inner circle. A gritty and spellbinding thriller, Paolo is an unflinching look at how easily the lines can blur between admiration and obsession. At the heart of the series is a captivating face-off between Jérôme Niel, delivering a powerful performance as Paolo, and Yoann Gasiorowski is magnetic as Téophane. This thriller from France has a seven-episode run.
HBO & HBO Max Theatrical Movies: There is a big rotation of movies of all kinds in September, but there are only two new pictures to the outlet. At the top of the category, we’ll focus on them before we list a few older titles. We start with Fuze and Backrooms.
Debuting SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05 (8:00-9:40 pm ET/PT) and on HBO Max the night prior is Saban Films & Roadside Attractions Film FUZE. London is thrown into panic by the discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb on a construction site. When this massive bomb is discovered, it forces a citywide evacuation as bomb disposal commander Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) races to prevent catastrophe. Above ground, criminal mastermind Karalis (Theo James) exploits the lockdown for a precision bank heist alongside crime buddy X (Sam Worthington), pushing police chief Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) into a three-way war hurtling toward an explosive showdown.
We knew it was only a matter of time. A24’s BACKROOMS, the studio’s highest-grossing film of all time domestically and globally, will make its streaming debut exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. The film will debut on HBO linear on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 (8:00 – 9:50 pm ET/PT).
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, leading to an endless network of interconnected rooms where time bends and the only thing scarier than getting lost is the sense that something is lying in wait. The film is directed by Kane Parsons and written by Will Soodik. Based on the series by Kane Parsons and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
Then there are the rest; those movies from past years that rotate on & off the schedule. HBO Max features the return of such titles as Beetlejuice, The Craft, Interview with the Vampire, Saltburn, Speed, William Shakespeare’s Romeo +Juliet, Eyes Wide Shut, and Zombieland.
Some older classics include A Clockwork Orange, A Streetcar Named Desire, Camelot, Jamboree!, Panama Hattie, and The Maltese Falcon. More recent hits like Talk To Me, Mission: Impossible, Rain Man, The Little Fockers, and Magnolia return. Also, plenty more, so go snoop around.
HBO Documentary Films: Three new entries here, and we take them in order of premiere date. Leading off is A KILLER STORY. It is a three-part series playing weekly beginning on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 (9:00-9:42 pm ET/PT). It examines a polarizing murder case that spanned more than two decades and captured national attention. At the center of the case is Dana Chandler, who was accused of killing her ex-husband and his girlfriend in 2002. Lacking forensic evidence, the murder case is litigated over three arduous trials, with the series unspooling a complex tale of family conflicts, betrayal, prosecutorial misconduct, competing narratives, and confirmation bias. More than a murder mystery, the work probes true crime obsession and the dangers of blinkered certainty in a case where the truth may never be known. It is directed and executive produced by Matthew Galkin. Then beginning FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, is a deep-dive into the life and music of an iconic artist. 30 years after his landmark debut album “Reasonable Doubt,” artist, icon, philanthropist, entrepreneur JAŸ-Z sits down with longtime friend, producer, and director Rick Rubin for an intimate reflection on his storied career, revisiting the music together and unpacking his work and life through a shared listening and illuminating conversation. It is JAŸ-Z IN 8, an eight-part series playing two installments a week.
The episode breakdown goes like this –
Chapter One
Debut date: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 (8:00-8:42 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode one features “Intro,” “Meet The Parents,” “Can’t Knock The Hustle,” and “What More Can I Say”.
Chapter Two
Debut date: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 (8:45-9:22 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode two features “Brooklyn’s Finest,” “I Love The Dough (featuring JAŸ-Z & Angela Winbush),” and “What More Can I Say”.
Chapter Three
Debut date: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 (8:00-8:41 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode three features “Lyrical Exercise,” “This Can’t Be Life (featuring Beanie Sigel),” “You Must Love Me,” and “4:44”.
Chapter Four
Debut date: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 (8:50-9:51 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode four features “Where Have You Been,” “Allure,” “Where I’m From,” “Can I Live,” and “Don’t You Know”.
Chapter Five
Debut date: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 (8:00-8:42 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode five features “U Don’t Know,” “Politics As Usual,” and “Regrets”.
Chapter Six
Debut date: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 (8:45-9:38 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode six features “Jail,” “Ignorant Shit,” “Hovi Baby,” “Kill Jay-Z,” “99 Problems,” “Threat,” “Dead Presidents II,” and “Public Service Announcement (Interlude)”.
Chapter Seven
Debut date: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 (8:00-8:47 p.m. ET/PT)
No details.
Chapter Eight
Debut date: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 (8:47-9:42 p.m. ET/PT)
Episode eight features “New York (Concept de Paris),” “The Story Of O.J.,” “No Church In The Wild,” “Family Feud,” and “Legacy”.
The final title on the docket is SIREN: THE VOICES OF SHELLEY BEATTIE. While searching the internet one day, Hollywood veteran Marlee Matlin came upon the story of athlete Shelley Beattie – a fellow deaf woman whose life felt eerily like her own. Both women had experienced adventure and fame, but also discrimination, abuse, and addiction while navigating a hearing world. This work, directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Irene Taylor, explores the parallels between the two legendary women in a haunting portrait of strength, beauty, and resiliency. It arrives TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 (8:00-9:43 pm ET/PT).
HBO Max Kids & Family: Let’s throw out a few titles, shall we? There are new installments of KRYPTO SAVES THE DAY, beginning on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10; BATWHEELS, beginning on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19; TEEN TITANS GO!, beginning on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20; and TOTALLY SPIES! on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27.
HBO Sports: We get this next title in the Sports category because we can. It is the first in a new series of documentaries under the banner of “NFL Shorts.” Here comes 
MILLER NIGHT FOOTBALL. It chronicles comedian Dennis Miller’s unlikely arrival in the Monday Night Football (MNF) broadcast booth in 2000, alongside veteran sportscaster Al Michaels and former NFL quarterback Dan Fouts. Intended to reinvigorate the iconic television franchise and attract a broader audience, Miller’s addition, and his distinctly cerebral brand of humor, was met with both intrigue and skepticism across sports and television It is an NFL Films production directed and edited by Jeff Cameron. Find it beginning TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 (TBA). HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS has one more installment left on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 01 (9:00-10:00 pm ET/PT.
Other Shows On HBO or HBO Max: The second season of GEORGE & MANDY’S FIRST MARRIAGE uploads on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 08. Horgan’s DIVORCE gets shown over on the HBO Comedy channel, and CARNIVALE and THE UNDOING get replayed on HBO Drama in September.
Next Month’s Tease: Cathcarts and Taylor and Byrne are ready to battle with the actor behind Jimmy McNulty in October. Are you?
Last Month’s Tease: We asked whether you knew whether WAR or YOUTH was going to arrive this month. Now you know that Sharon Horgan, no stranger to HBO, and her show YOUTH takes the spot. No stranger to HBO, you ask? She created DIVORCE for Sarah Jessica Parker.
Final Clip: Let’s sneak in the trailer for the big UK crime action flick FUZE
Enjoy HBO and HBO Watch!
