Pot Web Comedy ‘High Maintenance’ Moves To HBO With Series Order
Happy Stoner’s Day! Vimeo’s web comedy series High Maintenance is crossing over to TV with a six-episode order by HBO. Additionally, the premium cable network will make the existing 19 episodes of the show available later this year on HBO, HBO NOW and HBO GO.
Following a Brooklyn pot dealer who delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city, High Maintenance is created and written by the married duo of Katja Blichfeld (30 Rock) and Ben Sinclair (Sisters), and executive produced by Blichfeld, Sinclair and Russell Gregory. The announcement was made on April 20, known as National Weed Day.
“High Maintenance has proven to be one of today’s most highly-acclaimed online comedies,” said HBO’s Michael Lombardo. “We are thrilled to bring this sophisticated and clever series to our HBO audience.”
High Maintenance stars Sinclair as “The Guy,” a friendly pot dealer whose clients include an eccentric group of characters, revealing the dynamics of their lives. From the unexpected and offbeat to the predictable and mundane, the witty series provides a glimpse into the daily routines of the customers and how they light things up.
HBO previously had another comedy series that dealt extensively with weed, Jonathan Ames’ Bored To Death. In its rare move from online to premium cable, High Maintenance joins Showtime comedy Web Therapy.
“The pickup by HBO is incredible validation for the show as well as the global creative community developing and releasing innovative programming directly on Vimeo,” the company’s CEO Kerry Trainor said.
Sinclair and Blichfield released the initial episodes of High Maintenance free of charge. Video-sharing site Vimeo then partnered with duo to release Season 2 exclusively for the Vimeo On Demand platform as Vimeo’s first ever original series. Since its 2014 debut, High Maintenance has become one of the all-time top-selling releases for Vimeo On Demand, and also has garnered strong reviews. The High Maintenance web series also earned Blichfeld and Sinclair a WGA award for their episode “Rachel.”
“We have been growing this show organically for three years now, and we are elated to bring it into full maturity at HBO,” said Blichfeld and Sinclair.
High Maintenance is produced by Janky Clown Productions and directed by Blichfeld and Sinclair, who are repped by UTA and manager Russell Gregory at Regarding Entertainment. Here is a trailer:
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