HBO’s Michale Lombardo is Exiting as Head of Programming
HBO’s longtime head, Michael Lombardo, is exiting his role after an astounding 33 years.
HBO has been experiencing a number of personnel changes recently. Two programming executives were promoted, and now a major player in HBO is stepping down. This could be major news not only for HBO, but for television in general. When someone as large as Michael Lombardo steps down, it’s a big deal.
According to Variety, Michael Lombardo is leaving HBO after 33 years. Lombardo was famous as programming president. Lombardo headed HBO’s programming during some of its most fruitful years, and oversaw shows like Veep, Girls, Silicon Valley, and True Detective. Just to name a select few, of course.
Unfortunately it looks like Lombardo won’t be able to oversee the full launch of Westworld, which still doesn’t have an official premiere date. Lombardo was also in the middle of the spat between FX and HBO over Fargo’s and True Detective’s respective places at the 2014 Emmy’s.
Watch Michael Lombardo accept the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award:
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There is no word yet on his replacement, though it is likely that either HBO already has someone in mind or they are desperately scrambling to find someone. When the right person is chosen, expect it to come in a big announcement.
HBO under Michael Lombardo has been very successful, though there have been a fair share of disappointments. The early cancellations of both Togetherness and Looking come to mind, as well as David Fincher’s project falling apart. As Variety also points out, the Lewis & Clark miniseries was indefinitely put on hold as well.
Next: Cary Fukunaga could return to HBO for Napoleon.
Whomever HBO chooses to take over Michael Lombardo’s spot is going to be under a high level of scrutiny, and it’s a decision that HBO isn’t going to take lightly. For Lombardo’s part, he will apparently will be moving into production and the decision to shift gears was his own.