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Last year, trendsetter HBO (now "Max") was the catalyst for a disturbing direction in streaming media services when then-new CEO David Zaslav suddenly removed HBO originals from the platform. Disney+, Hulu, and now Paramount+ have followed suit by removing some of their original programming. While the titles may ultimately appear on another streaming app, consumers now worry that favorite shows won't be available when they want to watch them.

Zaslav removed top titles like Westworld, and The Nevers, Raised by Wolves, The Time Traveler's Wife, Love Life, Made for Love, Finding Magic Mike, Head of the Class, FBOY Island, Legendary, and Minx. At the time, the company indicated that the shows would be offered elsewhere (probably on Free Ad Supported TV) but they have yet to resurface.

As streaming services struggle to remain profitable, removing popular content is a move to save money on royalties paid to cast and creators, though it's not uncommon for shows to bounce around from service to service as licensing rights are negotiated. Harry Potter, for example, moved to Peacock and then back to Max, and Warner Bros Discovery (parent company of HBO and MAX) recently announced that Band of Brothers, Ballers, Insecure, The Pacific, and Six Feet Under will all move to Netflix.

Despite protest from fans and content creators, popular titles continue to be yanked without warning.

Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis recently spoke up against the alarming trend.

"I think the way that Discovery went about this is incredibly unprofessional, rude, and just straight up slimy… I can't think of a single person who works in animation and entertainment that, when you bring this all up, doesn't say, 'What the f*** are they doing? How do they plan to have anyone ever want to work with them again?'

"Because why would we? What is the point of making something, spending years working on it, putting in nights and weekends doing their terrible notes, losing sleep, and not seeing our families if it's just going to be taken away and shot in the backyard? It's so incredibly discouraging, and they're definitely not going to be getting their best work out of whoever decides to stay."

Titles Recently Moved from Disney, Paramount+, and Hulu
While Max made headlines when it removed a number of well-known titles from its offering, many of the titles removed by Disney+, Paramount +, and Hulu tend to be less popular, suggesting that their elimination might be more about weeding out shows that can earn more money through licensing agreements. Let’s take a closer look…

Disney

• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• Big Shot
• Turner & Hooch
• Willow
• Just Beyond
• The World According to Jeff Goldblum
• The Mighty Q Game Changers
• Marvel's The Runaways
• Diary of a Future President
• The Right Stuff
• Marvel's Hero Project
• Encore!

Paramount+

• Inside Amy Schumer
• Queen of the Universe
• Star Trek: Prodigy
• Ghislaine: Partner in Crime
• Monsters vs. Aliens (series)
• Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
• Peter Rabbit
• Tell Me a Story
• Snow Day
• Fantasy Football
• The Game
• Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

Hulu By the end of the year, Hulu content will be moved to Disney+. Although there has been no formal announcement, it's reasonable to assume that the move will include further content purging. The list of shows and movies targeted for removal from Hulu includes:

Series

• Dollface
• Everything's Trash
• Future Man
• Little Demon
• Looking for Alaska
• Marvel's The Runaways
• Reprisal
• The Hot Zone
• Y:The Last Man

Movies

• Darby and the Dead
• Rosaline
• The Princess

Specials

• The Queen Family Singlalong
• The Bomber
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To find out where to stream favorite shows and movies that suddenly disappear from a particular service, get the Reelgood app or go to reelgood.com.