Euphoria is back on our screens on Sundays, and irrespective of whether this season ends up performing as well as the last two, it is most likely still going to create trends, much like the online buzz the show has already created. While fans of the show were taken by complete awe at the kind of storytelling and character-building that the show did in its first two seasons, many were unaware that the show isn’t an original.
HBO’s Euphoria is a remake of an Israeli show of the same name, which aired on Hot 3 from 2012 to 2013. While some plot details of the American show are different from the Israeli one, the main theme of the shows are the same, which is why the HBO version, despite being the more successful one, isn’t an original. Keep reading to understand in detail.
Here’s why HBO’s Euphoria isn’t an original show
Back in 2012, Ron Leshem, Dafna Levin, and Timira Yardeni created a show called Euphoria, which aired on Israel’s Hot 3. The show followed the lives of a group of teenagers whose lives significantly revolved around drugs, sex, pain, and grief. While the American adaptation of the Israeli show blew up when it released on HBO in 2019, the original show did not share a similar fate. Unfortunately, 2012’s Israeli Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council did not like or want the original show to air.
Due to the social climate of the country at the time, the show couldn’t gain the kind of success and hype that it’s American counterpart did. Besides, due to the decision of the Israeli Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, it got cancelled after airing only one season consisting ten episodes. But a few years later, Sam Levinson decided to adapt the show for American (also global) audiences. While the original show was inspired by and revolved around the death of a teenager, Levinson made some changes for the American Euphoria. None of the main characters of the HBO version have died yet, and the show mainly follows the lives of its protagonists through addiction, sex, popularity, abuse, and grief.
But at the end of the day, drugs and sex, and their effects are the main themes of both shows, and since HBO’s version is adapted from Hot 3’s, Sam Levinson’s Euphoria isn’t an original. It does have differences in plot, but it is still inspired from the Israeli show of the same name. In fact, Ron Leshem, Dafna Levin, and Timira Yardeni, who created the original show, are executive-producers on the HBO adaptation. Thus, one can say that the creators of the original show helped make the HBO adaptation what it is today.
The HBO series is currently airing its third season, and hasn’t received the best reviews so far. However, loyal fans of the show are still excited to see where the show takes its characters in the upcoming episodes. Original or not, HBO’s Euphoria has managed to be what the original show could become had it been released at a more acceptable time and situation.
Euphoria Season 3 episode 2, America My Dream, will be released on HBO on April 19, 2026. All released episodes of the show are streaming on HBO Max.
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Edited by Sohini Biswas