Steve McQueen's Next Project Is Headed To HBO

For those of you who don't know, Steve McQueen is the brilliant mind behind 12 Years A Slave. You know, the film that introduced the mainstream world to Lupita Nyong'o? It's been an entire year since 12 Years A Slave dominated the Oscars, and now McQueen has got a new project that we should all be very, very excited about. According to Entertainment Weekly, McQueen's Codes of Conduct has found a home at HBO, and that's the good news. The bad news is that it's only getting a limited run of six episodes. As if any of us are going to be content with only six episodes of anything that McQueen is putting out!

Even worse (or better), the series already boasts some huge names. It's starring Helena Bonham Carter (excuse me, still sobbing over her divorce from Tim Burton), alongside Rebecca Hall and Paul Dano. Plus, there's newcomer Devon Terrell rounding out a cast that is sure to punch us in the face with laughs and feels. Codes of Conduct is about a young African-American man who begins a journey through the ranks of Manhattan's high society. There's no further detail besides that, but that's all the detail that I need in order to start conjuring up the idea of some kind of adult version of Gossip Girl — except with more people of color represented than Gossip Girl could brag.

And that's the truly important thing about McQueen's upcoming series. It brings more people of color to the forefront of stories, helping to normalize the television landscape by proving that it's not just straight Caucasians that get to lead all of the shows and have all of the adventures. How am I supposed to enjoy that for only six episodes? How am I supposed to just let Codes of Conduct go? Sure, that's a lot of pressure to put on McQueen, and on the show, to exceed my already high exceptions, but I'm more than sure that they are up to the task. Plus, it's Bonham Carter. I would literally watch her paint a house for two hours if they aired it on HBO.

Then again, that could be why the show is getting such a limited run. Bonham Carter is a woman who is surely in high demand, considering her high-profile roles as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films and as the leading lady in every other Tim Burton film, so she might not have had the career time for longer than a six episode commitment. As sad as that is, maybe if Codes of Conduct gets ratings that are high enough, HBO might greenlight a spin off series with different actors or even greenlight more projects from McQueen for us all to enjoy.

Either way, the important thing is that we gather in front of our televisions in order to check out the show when it premieres on HBO — whenever that will be. After all, the journey to diversifying the television landscape begins with a single click of your remote control.

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