Westworld

HBO’s Westworld premiered in 2016 and is based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name. It is also loosely based on the 1976 sequel, Futureworld.

High-paying guests are allowed to indulge in their wildest fantasies in Westworld, a technologically advanced Western-themed amusement park populated by android hosts who are created and programmed by Delos Inc. to fulfill the guests’ every desire.

Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) implements an update that causes some hosts, including Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve Millay (Thandiwe Newton), to gain consciousness of erased memories and become sentient. Head of the programming division Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) and Delos’ Executive Director Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) try to fix the host malfunction. Other characters include Head of Security Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), host Theodore “Teddy” Flood (James Marsden), host Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafyan) and a guest known as The Man in Black (Ed Harris) who attempts to uncover Westworld’s secrets.

Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were planning a fifth season, but HBO canceled the series in 2022 after only four. Westworld won nine Emmy Awards during its run, with Newton winning for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2018.