HBO Max orders zany competition series, promises more unscripted originals

FX’s Pose

HBO Max has made its first unscripted orders, picking up a pair of eccentric competition series.

WarnerMedia’s forthcoming streamer has handed 10-part straight-to-series orders to Legendary and The Greatest Space.

Legendary is a fun take on voguing, which is a style of modern dance accompanied by outrageous fashion get-ups, all inspired by the hit Madonna song. The dance style was most recently brought to screen in Ryan Murphy’s Pose for FX. The HBO Max show features contestants in competing voguing teams facing off against one another in a themed ball per episode. Winners receive a cash prize.

Legendary is exec produced by Queer Eye firm Scout Productions’ David Collins, Michael Williams and Rob Eric, along with Renata Lombardo and Shant Tutunjian.

Meanwhile, The Greatest Space is a design competition show that features interior designers travelling the world to redo dreary spaces. Each episode finds a pair of designers travelling to a new city, with their resulting creations scored by judges.

The Greatest Space is produced by New Media Collective (NMC) and Scout Productions. Exec producers include NMC’s Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, as well as Mark Dziak and Scout’s Collins, Williams, and Eric.

HBO Max has, to date, focused on scripted content for the platform, which is expected to launch later this year, with monthly subs priced between $16-20.

However, Sarah Aubrey, head of original content for HBO Max, says that “unscripted programming will be an incredibly important component of our HBO Max originals, and this is just the beginning of our venture into this space.

“These two initial shows will transport audiences to underground worlds and take them on visually stunning, exotic adventures, equalled only by the compelling stories of each contestant. We couldn’t have more accomplished teams behind both of these shows. From the innovative and award-winning storytellers at both Scout and Bertram van Munster’s New Media Collective, we are reimagining the unscripted competition genre.”