HBO takes a dark look at the actions and secrets of wealthy luxury resort vacationers in its new limited series The White Lotus.

The series, produced by Mike White (Enlightened), follows the exploits of rich-but-flawed vacationers traveling to an upscale hotel in Hawaii. The story takes place across one week, but the series opens at the end of the trip with a dead body being loaded onto an airplane, immediately signaling that all may have not gone well during the excursion.

Among the main travelers are honeymooners Shane (Jake Lacy) and his journalist wife Rachel (Alexandra Daddario), who are not seeing eye to eye on expectations with each other or the hotel, as well as emotional, middle-aged recluse Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), who carries her mother’s ashes as she tries to come to terms with her death. Also, family fissures emerge from the Mossbacher clan which includes controlling CEO Nicole (Connie Britton), her sullen husband Mark (Steve Zahn), their withdrawn teenage son Quinn (Fred Hechinger), moody daughter Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) and her friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady). Trying often unsuccessfully to meet expectations and manage the many quirks of the pampered guests is hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) and his overworked staff.

Also appearing in the strong ensemble cast are Natasha Rothwell, Molly Shannon and Jon Gries. 

White weaves the parallel storylines together nicely, keeping the plot interesting throughout the six episodes. Viewers, though, will have a tough time developing any sense of fondness for the mostly obnoxious characters, at least during the first few episodes. As the show evolves, viewers will determine for themselves which characters are worthy of their affection and their time in this quirky dramedy. 

The White Lotus premieres July 11 at 9 p.m. on HBO.  

Limited series The White Lotus, a social satire set at a Hawaiian resort, premieres on HBO July 11. Mike White created the series. White’s credits include films School of Rock and Chuck & Buck, and he co-created HBO series Enlightened. 

Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger and Steve Zahn are in the cast. 

The series follows the vacations of various hotel guests over the span of a week as they relax in paradise. But with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges among the tourists, resort employees and the idyllic locale itself.

Bartlett plays resort manager Armond, who begins a dramatic downward spiral after a trauma, and Britton portrays a type-A exec who treats her family like disobedient employees. Zahn plays her husband.  

White created The White Lotus and wrote and directed it too. He’s an executive producer along with David Bernad and Nick Hall. White was a contestant on The Amazing Race and Survivor. 

The series was filmed on the island of Maui.

DirecTV reported better than expected net new subscriber growth in the U.S. in Q4, helping to drive domestic revenue and cash flow up by mid-single digits in the period.

DirecTV ended the quarter with 20.35 million customers in the U.S., driven by better than expected gross subscriber additions and lower churn.

"[I]n the U.S., despite operating in a mature, hyper- market with significant cost pressures, we were able to improve our OPBDA margins for the third consecutive year and surpass all of our 2014 plans for subscriber, revenue, OPBDA and cash flow growth, while also making significant headway on improving both the customer service and entertainment experience,” DirecTV CEO Mike White said in a statement. “The focused performance of our two primary segments resulted in a 21% increase in our consolidated free cash flow, topping $3.1 billion for the year - and leaving us with $4.6 billion of cash on the balance sheet at year end."

Overall fourth quarter revenue increased 4% to $8.92 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization (OPBDA) and operating profit decreased to $2.00 billion and $1.26 billion, respectively, and diluted earnings per share was unchanged at $1.53 compared to last year's fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, DirecTV U.S. revenues increased 5% to $7.14 billion compared with the fourth quarter of 2013 primarily due to strong ARPU growth along with a larger subscriber base. ARPU increased 5.0% to $117.30 mostly due to price increases on programming packages, higher advanced receiver service fees, higher ad sales, increased commercial business revenues and higher set-top box lease fees. These improvements were partially offset by increased promotional offers to existing customers and lower revenues from pay-per-view events. DirecTV U.S. ended the year with 20.35 million subscribers.

DirecTV U.S. net subscriber additions of approximately 149,000 increased compared to the prior year period principally due to higher gross subscriber additions and a four basis point improvement in the average monthly churn rate. The increase in gross additions was mainly associated with a successful new ad campaign, enhanced promotions, wider distribution in the consumer electronics channel and competitor programming disputes. The decrease in the monthly churn rate was primarily due to lower voluntary churn from improved retention practices, as well as more successful winback offers.

"2015 will bring additional challenges to our businesses, but given our solid continued operating momentum and the pending merger with AT&T, I am confident that we will continue to drive value for our shareholders for the foreseeable future,” White continued.

DirecTV reported strong second quarter results, driven by big gains in subscribers at its Latin American division – fueled in part by the FIFA World Cup – and continued stability at its U.S. unit.

Overall, revenue increased 5% to $8.1 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization (OPBDA) rose 3% to $1.75 billion for DirecTV. Driving those results was a strong subscriber showing in Latin America, where net new customer additions of 543,000 well outpaced the 165,000 additions in the same period last year. In the U.S., DirecTV significantly improved net customer losses in the period to 34,000 compared to a loss of 83,000 in the same period last year. U.S. revenue increased 6% to $6.3 billion and OPBDA rose 6% to $1.75 billion in the period.      

“We continue to extend our position as the world’s largest pay TV service with industry leading growth by leveraging the strength of our premier brands and distinctive products and service offerings throughout the Americas,” DirecTV CEO Mike White said in a statement. “DIRECTV Latin America’s second quarter results highlight the tremendous success of our unparalleled FIFA World Cup coverage, while DIRECTV U.S. continues to successfully execute on our overarching goal to balance top line sales with bottom line profitability. Overall, DIRECTV continues to deliver on our strategic imperatives as we prepare for the exciting opportunities that our merger with AT&T will bring to our customers, employees and key stakeholders."

DirecTV agreed to be acquired by AT&T in May in a deal, including debt, that is valued at about $67 billion. That transaction is subject to government approval.