HBO Max teams up with Netflix to offer viewers a haphazard choice, but there's a twist...

HBO Max teams up with Netflix to offer viewers a haphazard choice, but there's a twist...

HBO Max has added the option to shuffle multiple shows.

Shuffle, which picks something at random for you to stream, is already an option on Netflix and has been tested by Prime Video and Hulu.

HBO Max launched the option on Tuesday March XNUMX, but it's only available on the service's desktop interface as of this writing. Announcing the plan, a spokesperson for the service said: "With an auxiliary element casually, choosing the shuffle button lets you kick your feet up and start watching faster."

But unlike Netflix's haphazard offering, which launched in mid-XNUMX, HBO Max's new feature has a twist...

Netflix's Play Something feature is now available for Android devices

A random-style feature is now free on Netflix. (Image credit: Netflix)

What is shuffling?

Just like you would a long playlist of songs or a catalog of artists on a streaming service, Shuffle Play gives viewers the chance to be randomly assigned something to watch.

With Netflix, it's a button called "Play Something," which picks a TV show or movie based on what the streaming giant's algorithms think you'll like, or something you've already added to your watchlist.

HBO Max is now participating, but its offering is different from Netflix's in that it's limited to XNUMX shows, at least initially, and the random option will pick a random episode of one of those shows for you.

Why did HBO Max take this approach?

It's a different approach than Netflix, which wants to transform you into something totally new. However, the HBO Max feature knows that you already love the show; you just don't want to scroll through multiple seasons to find the episode you want.

The list of shows in the top forty-five includes offerings like South Park, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Big Bang Theory; shows with hundreds and hundreds of episodes and shows that HBO Max subscribers are going to watch over and over again.

Similarly, with travel shows like Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, where each episode finds the sadly deceased TV chef in a different city around the globe, or cooking shows like Selena + Chef, where Selena Gomez cooks next to different leaders, you are not following a storyteller. To begin with, being brought to a random stage is a part of the joy of the show...

Antoine Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain's HBO Max offering is one of forty-five shows that accept random play. (Image credit: CNN)

What HBO Max shows can you intermix?

The list so far is as follows:

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