Where to watch Westworld (2016–2022)

Trivia & production notes

• Jerry Weintraub convinced HBO to greenlight a Westworld pilot after his success producing Behind the Candelabra for the network.
• Beyond Westworld, a previous TV adaptation of Michael Crichton's original story, lasted only three episodes on CBS before cancellation in 1980.
• Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were brought onto the project by Weintraub and saw the potential to create something far more ambitious than Crichton's original 1973 film.
• Comic book writer Ed Brubaker served as supervising producer on the writing staff and co-wrote the fourth episode with Jonathan Nolan.
• Michael Crichton's estate sued Warner Bros. in 2024 arguing that Crichton deserved a created-by credit rather than just a based-on credit for the Westworld series.
• The show was canceled by HBO in November 2022, though the principal cast received payment for the unproduced fifth season.
• Jonathan Nolan drew inspiration for the series from video games including BioShock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, particularly their approaches to character morality and narrative design.
• The concept that host memories remain in their systems unless physically destroyed came from Nolan's engineer uncle explaining NSA data destruction protocols involving triple overwriting and drilling holes in hard drives.
• A fantasy-themed area called Park Four featuring sword-and-sorcery elements was introduced in the episode titled The Winter Line, though such Medieval worlds appeared in the original 1973 film.
• The series uses the Romeo and Juliet line These violent delights have violent ends as a virus trigger that causes hosts to perceive their existence differently.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Westworld (TV series), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.