Room 104

Room 104 is an American anthology series from creators Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, which aired on HBO from 2017 to 2020. The show takes place entirely inside a single room of a roadside motel, with each episode following different characters and shifting between horror, thriller, and comedy.

The series was initially ordered for 24 episodes, which were filmed consecutively to cut costs, then split into two 12-episode seasons. In a late 2018 interview, Mark Duplass stated that season three was already shot and edited, and he was writing season four. He noted that episodes cost roughly a quarter of what HBO typically spends. Ideas are generated in a writers' "think tank," after which the team approaches specific filmmakers to direct. Production is fast and loose—director Josephine Decker shot her episode in two days using only an iPhone. Directors do not get final cut; instead, Duplass screens episodes to about 20 employees at his company for feedback.

The first season premiered on July 28, 2017. Season two aired from November 9 to December 15, 2018. On February 8, 2019, HBO confirmed a third season had been filmed and that a fourth was under discussion. Season three premiered on September 13, 2019, and filming for season four was completed by September of that year. In May 2020, HBO announced the fourth season would be the last; it aired from July 24 to October 9, 2020.

Critical reception was generally positive. On Metacritic, season one scored 65 out of 100 from 22 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 87% approval rating and an average score of 6.85/10 from 39 reviews, with the consensus: "Room 104 uses its anthology structure to its advantage, telling a series of short, eclectic stories that hit their marks more often than they miss." Reviewing season two, IndieWire’s Ben Travers awarded a B+, writing that "the variety of storytelling on display builds such tingly anticipation" and that it is "such remarkable, refreshing television that even when it's bad, it's good."