Shuffling with a stacked deck
Unless you subscribe to a service like YouTube TV, most of us have moved from traditional cable TV to a lineup of streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu. HBO Max has only been around for a couple of years, but it’s already cemented itself among those giants, offering legacy shows like The Sopranos and The Wire alongside hits like Succession. With a new feature, the app wants to make it easier for you to pull up a random episode of your favorite sitcom — without having to put in the work.
While Netflix focuses on “Play Something,” which selects a show or movie at random, HBO’s implementation is much closer to how Hulu operates. Select one of the supported shows, and you’ll see a new “Shuffle” button appear alongside the standard playback controls. Clicking on this option starts a random episode from any season. When that episode ends, another random selection starts, and presumably, on and on it goes, until you realize you’ve stayed up until 3 AM watching Whose Line is it Anyway? reruns.
Unsurprisingly, you won’t spot any prestige dramas or serialized shows in this lineup. HBO has selected 45 programs it thinks fit this sort of viewing experience, primarily made up of comedies, animated shows, and kids programming. Current entries include Adventure Time, The Big Bang Theory, Hot Ones, Sesame Street, and Looney Tunes. Deadline has the whole list available for perusing, in case you’re looking to throw on something tonight.
Unfortunately, while the shuffle button is live for HBO users around the world, you’ll have to turn to your web browser to use it. The company has yet to launch it on other platforms, including streaming TV devices. Considering how buggy the app can get, it might not top the priority list for HBO. Still, with a library as varied and wide-reaching as it has, let’s hope this feature comes to more platforms sooner rather than later.
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