HBO Max to launch next month with Looney Tunes, Elmo, and more — but no Friends reunion

HBO Max will officially make its streaming debut next month, no longer with the Friends reunion special but with one thing no other service offers: an Elmo talk show featuring Batman.

An official launch date of May 27 was announced for the new WarnerMedia streaming service HBO Max on Tuesday, with a trailer debuting that highlights its 10,000 hours of content from Friends and Game of Thrones to A Star Is Born and Aquaman. This will be the new streaming home of Friends after it was removed from Netflix.

HBO Max, which will cost $14.99 a month, is also launching with some originals, including new Looney Tunes shorts and the content the world has long demanded: a late-night talk show hosted by Elmo. A trailer for The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo released on Tuesday makes it look exactly like a typical network late-night show but with Elmo as host, and his guests include John Mulaney, Jason Sudeikis, and ... Batman? Sure, why not? There's also trailer for HBO Max's new Looney Tunes cartoons, although seeing Bugs Bunny use a modern smartphone in it is already a little too weird for some.

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Love Life, a new comedy series starring Anna Kendrick, and On the Record, a documentary about the sexual assault allegations against Russell Simmons, will also be available at launch. One notable omission from the HBO Max launch slate, though, is the Friends reunion special, which was originally meant to be a major draw to the service at launch but has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

HBO Max will be the latest streaming service to launch amid the pandemic after Quibi did so earlier this month and after NBCUniversal's Peacock debuted for some last week, although it won't be available for most until July.