The series stars Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a troubled teenage drug addict who struggles to get sober, find her place in the world, and adjust to her relationships after rehab, along with an ensemble cast of Maude Apatow, Angus Cloud, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Nika King, Storm Reid, Hunter Schafer, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo, Javon "Wanna" Walton, Austin Abrams, and Dominic Fike in main roles.

[3] Euphoria's executive producers include Levinson, Canadian rapper and singer Drake, Zendaya, Ron Leshem, and Gary Lennon.

The series has received generally positive reviews, with praise for its cinematography, score, performances of the cast, and approach to its mature subject matter.

Filming was primarily halted due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes and the unexpected deaths of Cloud and executive producer Kevin Turen.

Euphoria follows high schoolers in the fictional town of East Highland, California, who seek hope while balancing the strains of love, loss, sex, and addiction.

An 11-year-old Nate discovers his father's porn collection of homemade videos featuring him having sex with young gay men and transgender women.

Kat hangs out with a classmate, Ethan Daley (who has a crush on her), but becomes jealous when she incorrectly assumes he is flirting with another girl and ends up having sex with an older boy.

Several weeks later, on New Year's Eve, an intoxicated Rue accompanies Fez and Ashtray to an intense drug deal with associates of retired-schoolmistress-turned-dealer Laurie before attending a large house party.

Cal gets drunk and drives to the gay bar where he first kissed Derek; after getting thrown out, he returns home, drunkenly berates his family for not allowing him to be open about his sexuality, and abruptly decides to leave them.

He then gives Jules the disc, apologizing for his past behavior; the two admit the feelings they expressed to each other by text message the previous year were genuine.

[2] He was invited to a meeting with HBO about an adaptation of the 2012 Israeli television series Euphoria created by Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin, and Tamira Yardeni.

[33] In 2019, Levinson said HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi, liked the "raw and honest" portrayal of drug use and other teenage problems in the Israeli series.

[40] It has 16 executive producers, including Levinson, Leshem, Levin, Yardeni, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi, Gary Lennon, Zendaya, Canadian rapper Drake, Future the Prince, Ravi Nandan, and Kevin Turen.

[70][71] In August 2024, while appearing on an episode of Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, Schafer stated, "The real tea is I have no f-king idea what's going on" with production on the series' third season.

"[73][74] In June 2018, it was announced that the pilot would star Zendaya, Storm Reid, Maude Apatow, Astro, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Nika King, Hunter Schafer, and Sydney Sweeney.

[10] Martha Kelly and Chloe Cherry were also reported to be promoted to starring roles for the third season, with Rosalía, Marshawn Lynch, Kadeem Hardison, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Toby Wallace joining the main cast.

[88] The exterior of the Bennett family house that appears in the pilot episode is located at 5611 Shenandoah Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90056, USA.

[90][91][92] For the third season, regarding Rue's sobriety journey, Zendaya stated that she wanted to explore characters outside the high school setting,[93] with the filming locations of Dublin, London, New York City, Rome, Singapore, and Warner Bros. Studios lots in Burbank and Leavesden.

[101] The two special episodes and second season were shot on Kodak 35mm film stock, primarily Ektachrome, which cinematographer Marcell Rév attributed to a desire to invoke "some sort of memory of high school".

[100] In shooting both day and night exteriors, cinematographer Marcell Rév relied on an exaggerated orange-blue color scheme, translated in the use of backlights and tungsten lights, to create visuals that feel "almost dreamlike".

For example, in the first season, costume designer Heidi Bivens dressed Jules, a transgender woman, in a wardrobe consisting of bright pastels and tennis skirts, inspired by the character's interest in anime and fantasy, to embody "the youthful optimism that comes with a fresh start" and her journey to "conquer" femininity, but as the character explores her gender identity and becomes more disillusioned between the first and second seasons, she "slips into a slightly muted, darker and more androgynous" wardrobe.

The series also makes extensive[111] use of popular music, including hip hop, trap, R&B, experimental, indie rock, standards and doo-wop, with some episodes featuring over 20 songs.

[138] Euphoria's first season was met with a positive response from critics, with praise for its acting (in particular of Zendaya), storyline, visuals, and approach to mature subject matter.

[146] The first of the series's two special episodes, "Trouble Don't Last Always", received widespread critical acclaim for its writing, performances, and shift in tone and content from the first season.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Euphoria slows down the tempo without losing the beat in a special episode that pairs a raw Zendaya with a steady Colman Domingo to create small screen magic.

The site's critical consensus reads, "By centering on Jules' journey, Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob adds welcome depth to her character and gives Hunter Schafer plenty of room to shine.

The site's critical consensus reads, "As willfully provocative as ever in its second season, Euphoria still isn't for all tastes—but when its addictive ingredients are mixed just right, the results remain intoxicating.

[142] IndieWire's Ben Travers criticized the sexual content but appreciated Zendaya's performance, writing, "After seven of the eight episodes, Season 2 is exactly what a drama seeking to spark conversation fears most: It's skippable.

[152] USA Today's Patrick Ryan praised the performances of Zendaya, Schafer, and Fike, but wrote that "the new episodes are much less captivating when they shift their focus away from Rue and Jules".

[153] The series' premiere averaged 577,000 viewers in its time slot, a number that increased to one million after the same-night linear replay and preliminary viewing on HBO Go/Now.