Euphoria is back on our TV screens for the first time in four years, but many don’t actually know what the show is based on.
The HBO TV series debuted the first episode of its new season yesterday, 12 April, with the majority of its all-star cast returning.
Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow, and Colman Domingo all returning for the episode.
Whilst much of the focus has been on Cassie’s bizarre scenes leading Sydney Sweeney to have to act out some pretty f*cked up fetishes, many fans will not realise that Euphoria isn’t actually a 100% original show.
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This is not a reference to Skins, Shameless, Girls, or any of the other iconic shows that Euphoria takes clear inspiration from – but an Israeli TV show with the exact same name that the HBO hit show is based off.
A post on X pointed this out after spotting the description for the show on Rotten Tomatoes as saying: “An American adaptation of the Israeli show of the same name.”
One fan quoted the post showing that the new season had debuted with 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, simply saying: “American adaptation of what show????”
The post went viral, garnering over ten million views, and the information is clearly not well known.
One reply said: “WHY AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THIS”.
Another post on Reddit asked a similar question and got a similar response, saying: “Who had no idea that Euphoria was an adaptation?” The near unanimous response was either fans being unaware or poking fun at the original series.
The Israeli Euphoria was fairly unsuccessful. It was controversial with critics due to its depiction of teenagers abusing drugs and was cancelled after just one season.
HBO invited Sam Levinson to a meeting in 2012 to discuss adapting the show into an American version, something Levinson was interested in due to his own experiences with drugs as a youth.
The writer had already began writing early drafts for a show that would later become Euphoria.
Speaking about the experience of coming in to adapt the Israeli show of the same name, Levinson said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he asked Francesca Orsi, HBO’s Head of Drama at the time, what she liked about the series.
He said that she enjoyed the ‘what a raw and honest portrait it is of drugs and being young’ it was, with Levinson adding: “I started talking about my own personal history with drugs. I was a drug addict for many years and I've been clean for many years now.”
Discussing the major changes made in an interview with the Television Academy Levinson added: “ The original series is mostly about young men; there's a female character with some drug issues, and I think she's into self-harming.
“But I took my experiences at that age and wrote myself as a young woman. I think the idea that you should stick to precisely who you are doesn't hold water, because what makes film interesting is that it's a collision of perspectives.
“The melting pot of experiences and identities is what makes film and television so fascinating to me.”
Euphoria season three episode one is available to stream now.
Topics: Euphoria, Zendaya, HBO, TV and Film, TV, Sydney Sweeney
Michael Slavin