What’s new on HBO Max this June — bringing back that ‘original’ feeling

 

“House of the Dragon,” returning June 21 for Season 3.

What’s new on HBO Max this June —  bringing back that ‘original’ feeling  Remember the old HBO? Before Max was added. Before every streaming service started sounding like a tech product. Before, people said “content” when they meant movies, shows, documentaries, comedy, music, scandal, truth, and the kind of Sunday night television that made you sit down and pay attention. Maybe you’re too young. Lucky you. Luckily for some of us, HBO’s June schedule is giving a little of that old feeling. The kind where one month could hold dragons; Larry David; a music documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire; a story about climate refugees; a look inside a modeling-world cult; Robin Byrd in all her New York public-access glory; and A24 films for the people who still like their movies with a little nerve. That is not a bad month. The biggest title is “House of the Dragon,” returning June 21 for Season 3. The HBO Original drama brings back the Targaryen family business: power, bloodlines, betrayal, dragons, and people making terrible choices in beautiful rooms. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series is set 200 years before “Game of Thrones,” when House Targaryen had the throne and the dragons, and still managed to make a mess of everything. The cast includes Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and more. The season will roll out weekly, which still matters — sometimes a show needs room to breathe. Sometimes viewers need a week to argue. HBO is also making the series available in American Sign Language with the Season 3 debut, with Seasons 1 and 2 rolling out in ASL before the new season lands. That is the kind of access that should not feel special anymore, but it still matters every time it happens. “Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult,” debuting June 1, is a three-part documentary series about Hoyt Richards, who met an enigmatic Manhattan socialite as a teenager and was drawn into Eternal Values, a spiritual group led by Frederick von Mierers. Richards later became one of the first major male supermodels of the 1980s. The story moves through fashion, beauty, youth, power, and manipulation in a New York that knew how to sell fantasy while hiding damage in plain sight. On June 7, Questlove brings “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial Vs. That’s The Weight Of The World)” to HBO. The documentary follows the legendary nine-time Grammy-winning band through the vision of Maurice White, tracing the group’s rise, struggles, sound, and lasting spiritual force. “Earth, Wind & Fire” was never just music for a cookout or a wedding reception, although, yes, they understood how to move a room. The band carried joy with discipline. They made music that felt cosmic without losing the groove. In Questlove’s hands, that story has the potential to go deeper than nostalgia. “The Welcome Table,” debuting June 23, shifts the month into something more urgent. Directed by Josh Fox, the documentary follows climate refugees across six continents and uses music, performance, and a 1,000-foot table along a New Orleans levee to gather stories of displacement, survival, and community. Then June takes a turn. “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” debuts June 26, and the setup sounds like somebody let Larry David wander into a serious national planning meeting. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama wanted to honor America’s 250th anniversary and celebrate the country’s history. Then Larry David called. That alone is enough. The seven-episode HBO Original series is written and executive produced by David and Jeff Schaffer, with Schaffer also directing. The Obamas executive-produce through Higher Ground. The series will feature David, select “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actors, and guest stars. On paper, it sounds like civic education with a side-eye. Which may be exactly what America deserves. The documentaries are where June starts to feel like HBO remembered what HBO used to do best: take a subject people think they understand, then pull back the curtain. Then comes “Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story,” debuting June 30, and this is pure New York. Before influencers. Before social media. Before everybody with a phone thought they were a network, Robin Byrd had public access television. From 1977 to 1998, she created, produced, and hosted “The Robin Byrd Show,” mixing adult entertainers, experimental artists, interviews, performance, sex-positivity, free speech, and her own fearless camera presence. Robin Byrd did not wait for permission. That was the whole point. Her show was late-night, low-budget, bold, strange, funny, and completely New York. It belonged to a city where public access could feel like a secret doorway, and people who were never invited into polished rooms built their own stages anyway. June also brings A24 films “Pillion,” “How to Make a Killing,” and “Undertone,” adding the kind of film titles that suggest HBO Max still wants room for movies that do not feel sanded down. HBO Max is still HBO Max, but this June lineup has a little old HBO in its bones.