NEW YORK — Premium television channel HBO announced the upcoming release of a special Show of the Year Edition of their acclaimed series “The Last of Us” despite the show failing to win a single televised Emmy.
“We’re thrilled to offer an enhanced version of ‘The Last of Us’ that will give true fans everything they’ve asked for,” said David Zaslav, CEO of HBO’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. “Sure, it may have struck out at the Emmys, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the show of the year. Video games do this all the time, right? I just held an internal poll at HBO, and guess what? ‘The Last of Us’ just won our Show of the Year award in an absolute landslide. So there.”
“The Last of US” co-creator Craig Mazin said that he had not been consulted on the decision to release a new version of the series.
“I have no goddamn clue what they’re doing,” said Mazin. “I’m hoping that they just want to slap a new sticker on the Blu-ray box set, but with my luck, they’ll ask me to add, ‘new features,’ whatever that means. And hey, I’m down to record a new commentary track or something, but that’s not what they’ll ask for. They’ll probably make me include that Bill and Frank series they’ve been bugging me about. Honestly, I would rather that than having to workshop that turd into its own show.”
Fans of the show had mixed feelings about the announcement.
“It kind of feels like bullshit to me,” said Brian Davis, who said that the original “The Last of Us” game was his favorite media of all time. “I already subscribe to both HBO and MAX, plus I bought the first season of the show on UHD, regular Blu-ray and DVD. Now they’re asking me to buy it all over again? It’s not like I have a choice — I’m a collector. Plus, they’ll definitely gate off some juicy content behind this paywall. I can only pray they don’t one day release an ultimate edition.”
At press time, Mazin released a statement explaining that the show’s second season had been delayed so that he could focus on a brand-new remaster of the first season.
