HBO Brings ‘High Maintenance’ To TV

HBO has confirmed that they have ordered six new episodes of the Vimeo web series High Maintenance, with an eye to possibly green-lighting more should the series prove popular enough. It follows a Brooklyn pot dealer (played by Sinclair) who delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city and was brought to life by the husband and wife team of Katja Blichfeld (the Emmy-winning 30 Rock casting director) and Ben Sinclair (who stars in the show). The duo directs the project, produced by Janky Clown Productions, and also executive produces with Russell Gregory. The pair has said that they are looking forward to growing the show even further with HBO.

“We have been growing this show organically for three years now, and we are elated to bring it into full maturity at HBO, the gold-standard of both online and televised entertainment.”

Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO Programming, has said that he was excited to have High Maintenance on HBO and has also said that he is “thrilled” to be able to present the show to HBO’s audience.

“High Maintenance has proven to be one of today’s most highly-acclaimed online comedies. We are thrilled to bring this sophisticated and clever series to our HBO audience.”

Vimeo is known throughout the web as the upscale YouTube. But the streaming service is taking things up a notch by investing in paid programs like the critically-acclaimed web series, High Maintenance. This move is now being seen as an attempt to enter the highly competitive paid streaming market.

“At $1.99 per episode, you can watch Brooklynites stress while waiting for their weed dealer to arrive whenever you’d like,” the Decider says about High Maintenance.

“The acclaimed anthology web series has been available to Internet users since 2012, but since partnering with Vimeo earlier this year, the series has drastically changed the landscape and discourse surrounding independent production, which reaffirms the blurring of web and television content.”

High Maintenance launched on Vimeo over three years ago, and since then, Blichfeld and Sinclair have written, produced, filmed, and directed 19 episodes, all of which went straight onto Vimeo. Now, all 19 of those episodes will be available later this year on HBO, HBO Now, and HBO Go, although an exact date as to when these episodes will air on the streaming services has not yet been announced. There is also no clear date as to when the six new episodes will air.

[Image via Wired]