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Given the volume of streaming content out there, and the number of shows HBO Max and HBO itself have already produced, there are undoubtedly some great choices on the app that have flown under your radar. In our current streaming era, in which good shows aren’t just canceled but sometimes erased from existence (farewell, Raised by Wolves), it never hurts to take a moment to consider the slightly less talked-about shows that are equally worthy of your attention.
In that spirit, here are the best shows on HBO Max right now, from popular hits and to shows that more people should be talking about.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026 – , renewed for a second season)
As it turns out, the key to Game of Thrones fatigue is not to go bigger, but smaller. This series, based on a series of George R.R. Martin novellas and set roughly between The House of the Dragon prequel and the original series, stars Peter Claffey as Ser Dunk the Tall, a naïve rube-ish hedge knight of no particular standing out to make a name for himself, and having no idea of the compromises that will entail. On the way to a tournament, he encounters Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), a stable boy with a rather hefty secret who becomes Dunk's squire. The stakes grow as the narrative progresses but, ultimately, this is about the one knight in Westeros who still believes everything he's been taught about honor and loyalty, and about how long he'll hold on to all that when he sees how the world really works. Stream A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Seduction (2025 – )
You may not have read Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but there's a good chance you've seen an adaptation: aside from operas, stage plays, and even multiple ballets, it's been filmed over a dozen times, from Stephen Frears' 1989 Dangerous Liaisons to 1999's Cruel Intentions. In this French import, we open with Isabelle de Merteuil (Anamaria Vartolomei) walking the halls of Versailles to meet the king before we travel back a year to find her as a penniless orphan confined to a nunnery, from which she sneaks away for the occasional tryst with her lover, Lucien (Vincent Lacoste). She agrees to marry him, only to discover he's actually a wealthy aristocrat, the Vicomte de Valmont, and he's been having fun slumming it with no intention of going further. She's furious, but gains an unexpected ally in her revenge plot: the Vicomte's Aunt, Madame de Rosemonde (Diane Kruger), who is sick of his nonsense and agrees to teach Isabelle how to play the game at their level. Stream The Seduction.
DTF St. Louis (2026 – )
This is a weird one The title sounds like a reality dating show (it's not), and it initially feels like it's going to be a show about middle-aged ennui (it is, kinda)—but then comes the murder mystery. David Harbour plays Floyd Smernitch, a married sign language interpreter with a fading sex life and a weird penis (it's a plot point) who saves the life of local meteorologist and recumbent bicyclist Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman); the two become friends, and Clark introduces Floyd to a dating app for married people looking for side action. They both sign up, but within a few weeks, Floyd is found dead (no spoilers: this all happens within the first act of the first episode), with a recumbent bicycle seen leaving the scene. Linda Linda Cardellini stars as Carol, Floyd's wife, who's also having an affair with Clark. It's very early days, but so far it's feeling like a fun, genre-bending mystery. Stream DTF St. Louis.
It: Welcome to Derry (2025 – , renewed for a second season)
Who doesn't love a clown? Set in the 1960s, this It prequel fives into the backstory of Derry and Pennywise the clown through the eyes of some kids and grownups who met him during a previous visit to the town. I'm not entirely convinced that we need this backstory, but, rather than the obvious clownery, we open on a horrifying birth sequence and a lot of gory, nightmarish imagery. By the end of the first episode, it's clear that even the most adorable children aren't safe, and this is a show that will, if nothing else, go hard. And that's before Bill Skarsgård's memorably creepy Pennywise even shows up. Stream It: Welcome to Derry.
Task (2025 – , renewed for a second season)
Hey! Look at that—a streaming show actually getting a relatively quick second-season renewal. Must be that Mark Ruffalo magic, or perhaps it's the touch of Brad Ingelsby, creator of Mare of Easttown, who's operating in a similar detective-drama vein here. Ruffalo's Tom Brandis is half the story here: a former Catholic priest and current FBI agent with a troubled home life who's assigned to investigate the robberies of a series of drug trap-houses run by a local gang. Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) is our robber, using his job as a refuse collector to scope out the houses and collect some relatively easy cash. The show smartly gives equal weight to both complicated characters before setting them on a slow-burn, but inevitable, collision course. Stream Task.
I Love LA (2025 – , renewed for a second season)
Will wonders never cease? With its first season underway, the show received a renewal—the second of three just recently, so someone must be in a good mood over at HBO HQ. Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) created, produces, writes, and stars in this take on twenty-something existence, part of a venerable TV comedic tradition that must, of necessity, receive an update every decade or so. Sennott plays Maia, 27, and desperate for promotion in her job as an assistant talent manager. She's joined in town by Tallulah (Odessa A’zion), a former New York City influencer fallen on messy times—alternately very fun and exhausting to a circle of friends that includes West Hollywood stylist Charlie (Jordan Firstman) and Maia's teacher boyfriend, Dylan (Josh Hutcherson). It's early days here, but the show looks great and, though tolerance for a coming-of-age comedy about twenty-ish-year-olds in LA will vary, it's smartly written and impressively acted. Stream I Love LA.
The Chair Company (2025 – )
Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin followed up their sketch comedy Netflix show, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, with this... cringe comedy/thriller? Somehow this surreal, genre-defying caper broke HBO Max records, and deservedly so. Robinson plays Ron Trosper, a middle manager in charge of building a new shopping mall. A collapsing chair during a public presentation sends Ron on a quest to uncover a massive conspiracy—he's convinced that the broken chair is just the first rung in a chain of sabotage. He's having a mid-life crisis and the show sends us along with him on a darkly funny, sometimes subtly horrific, journey down a rabbit hole that still, nonetheless, feels like a reflection of a modern American work culture that's no less nuts than a Ron's conspiracy of chairs. Stream The Chair Company.
Neighbors (2026 – )
This docuseries about battling neighbors comes from A24, so I guess you could call it elevated reality TV? Each episode documents two dramatic disputes between neighbors culled from news reports and social media. The first episode includes a Florida fight between beachfront homeowners and people who want to actually use the beach, another sees two people fighting it out when one feeds feral cats to the point that they're taking over the neighborhood. I'm not sure there's much point to it all beyond the glad-it's-not-me entertainment value, but there's a much higher level of filmmaking talent working behind the scenes than you'd expect given how much of its time is spent documenting fights over cat crap. Stream Neighbors.
Creature Commandos (2024 – , renewed for a second season)
A pretty wild choice to kick off the current iteration of the DCU, the animated show sees Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, reprising the role) assembling a black ops team to protect a foreign nation from the Amazonian sorceress Circe. Waller can't be trusted with people, so her team is made up entirely of literal monsters: The Bride (Indira Varma), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), and aquatic mutant Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), along Nazi-obsessed G.I. Robot and the rodent-like Weasel (Sean Gunn). The cartoon is pretty violent with an extremely dark sense of humor, but James Gunn also brings an impressive amount of heart to the show, making it very hard not to care about these very unlikeable characters. Stream Creature Commandos.
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (2023 – )
Both Adventure Time and its follow-up miniseries, Distant Lands, followed on the adventures of Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. This show introduces their multiversal counterparts. In a universe without magic, Fionna and her cat live boring lives by day, but by night dream of adventures in a strange world. Meanwhile, the Ice King is struggling to exist without his powers when he discovers that Fionna and Cake, who he believed to be purely products of his fan fiction, are in fact real, and that they need help to save their own universe. The series hits all those sweet Adventure Time notes while advancing both characters and lore. Stream Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.
Dune: Prophecy (2024 – , renewed for a second season)
No matter how good the movies have been, a Dune prequel tie-in series was, most likely, going to be pretty inessential. But this one's been a surprise: a juicy space soap opera set 10,000 years before the Denis Villeneuve films, a time frame that puts it well out of the way of later events and lets it stand alone. There are a lot of threads here, but the series focuses on Valya and Tula Harkonnen (Emily Watson and Tula Williams), struggling to build and maintain the Sisterhood that we'll later come to know as the Bene Gesserit in the face of an unstable political order. The ruling dynasty has a new weapon in Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a manipulative former soldier who seems immune to the persuasive abilities of the Sisters, thus threatening their places at the Emperor's side. Especially given that we're on HBO Max, it's not entirely unfair to suggest that the vibe (full of intrigue, shady dealings, and violent plot-twists) is a bit that of a star-spanning Game of Thrones. Stream Dune: Prophecy.
It's Florida, Man (2024 – , renewed for a third season)
This comedy anthology, based on truly true Florida stories, kicks-off with the tale of a man (played by Sam Richardson) in need of money placing a Craigslist ad, offering to do anything within reason for cash. The response? He'll get $4,000 if a guy gets to cut off and eat a couple of his toes. The show includes testimonials from actual people involved in these events, as well as famous actors and comedians (Anna Faris, Ego Nwodim, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, etc.) performing in recreations (think: Drunk History). Horrifying, but very funny, particularly if you don't live there. Stream It's Florida, Man.
And Just Like That... (2021 – 2025)
We loved it and we hated it, sometimes all at once, but this weird, messy, very occasionally profound series won't soon be forgotten—the series finale, wrapping up decades of Sex and the City storylines, generated tremendous chatter and plenty of online arguing. What the series did inarguably right was to present these women, now in their 50s, as being every bit as complex and alive as they were a quarter of a century ago. As for the rest of it? Sporadic highs and baffling lows, along with a seemingly steadfast commitment to tossing in awkward and unlikeable characters. It could have been great, but it's something almost as good: never boring. Stream And Just like That...
The Pitt (2025 –, renewed for a third season)
E.R.'s Noah Wyle is back in scrubs as Dr. Michael "Robby" Rabinavitch, senior attending at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room. Robby’s mentor died during the height of COVID-19, and he’s only just recovering from his traumatic experiences. It's gonna be a long day, though: Each episode represents a single hour of a tumultuous 15-hour shift, peppered by tragedies including a mass shooting. It feels like medical dramas are a dime a dozen, but this one is quite a bit more interesting, and a lot buzzier, than most. Stream The Pitt.
When No One Sees Us (2025 – )
A distinctive police thriller imported from Spain, When No One Sees Us stars Mariela Garriga (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning) as a Cuban-American special agent of the U.S. Army, and Maribel Verdú (Pan’s Labyrinth) as a Spanish Civil Guard sergeant, both investigating an apparent death by violent suicide on an air base during Holy Week. It's a twisty-turny mystery, but the performances and the emphasis on character over plot make it a standout. No word yet on whether or not we'll get another season. Stream When No One Sees Us.
Industry (2020 – , renewed for a fifth season)
This British co-production debuted somewhat quietly back in 2020, getting good reviews but not much in the way of buzz. Perhaps because it was a different era (meaning: barely five years ago), HBO brought the show back, giving it time to grow until the third season premiere was up by almost 90% in viewership over the series debut, and earned a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. (Wild, isn't it, what happens if you actually give viewers time to discover a show? Surely a fluke with no discernible lessons for networks and streamers.) The show, created by two actual former investment bankers, chronicles the cutthroat world of the fictional Pierpoint & Co in which, at the series' outset, a group of young graduates are made to compete for a vanishingly small number of permanent positions. There are juicy soap-opera vibes, but the attention to detail when it comes to the world of high finance gives the show a feeling that the stakes are very real when it comes to the lives, and mental health, of our leads. Stream Industry.
Doom Patrol (2019 – 2023)
Max’s early DC show was originally ported from the now-defunct DC Universe streamer (past and future episodes are now Max-exclusive), a largely forgotten effort. Thank goodness it survived; it was an uncharacteristically bold and freaky entry in the superhero canon. Nearly indescribably weird, the show includes characters like the non-binary Danny the Street (a literal street), paranormal investigators the Sex Men, Imaginary Jesus, and orgasm-generating body builder Flex Mentallo—while also grounded in some excellent, frequently emotional character work from the entire cast, including Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, Michelle Gomez, and Timothy Dalton. It’s also very queer and sex-positive, making it a standout among the usually chaste and straight world of superhero cinema. Stream Doom Patrol.
Hacks (2021 – , renewed for a fifth season)
After getting canceled over a tweet, 25-year-old writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) struggles to get her career back in order, reluctantly taking a job for Deborah Vance (Jean Smart)—a comedy trailblazer who remains popular with an older Vegas crown, but whose career is largely on autopilot. They're an entirely mismatched pair, but their chemistry is ultimately explosive, with Jean Smart doing some of the best work of her incredible career as the often deeply unlikeable Vance, and Einbinder more than holding her own in return. It's funny, bitchy, and surprisingly moving when it wants to be. Stream Hacks.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021 – 2025)
Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is an endlessly naïve scholarship student; Bela (Amrit Kaur), is an aspiring comedy writer on the make for the hottest guys; Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is an overachieving athlete and senator’s daughter; Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is a closeted sorority girl. They're randomly assigned to room together as freshmen at the fictional Essex College in Vermont. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the comedy-drama isn't nearly as salacious as its title suggests: There's sex, for sure, but like Sex and the City before it, the funny and queer-friendly show is more about female friendship. Stream The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Jellystone! (2021 – 2025)
The Hanna-Barbera cartoon pantheon has been largely dormant in recent decades, but this is a fun revisit, with the titular town serving as home to dozens of characters from back in the day, led by Mayor Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear (now a doctor at Jellystone Hospital), Augie Doggy, Jabberjaw, Top Cat, and dozens more, with out-of-towners like The Jetsons and Space Ghost popping in now and again. The show's silly, anarchic style is definitely not a one-for-one match to the source material, but it's not a terrible thing that the show is focused on appealing to modern kids rather than their parents (or grandparents, at this point). It's fun for that older elementary age group. Stream Jellystone!.
The Gilded Age (2022 – , renewed for a fourth season)
Julian Fellowes made period drama buzz-worthy with Downton Abbey, and does something similar here while shifting the time and place to the 1880s in New York City. We're introduced to the world of upper and extremely upper-class New York City society by Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), poor relation to the estranged aunties who take her in, and Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), a young Black writer from a solidly middle-class family who becomes a secretary to Christine Baranski's Agnes van Rhijn. Old-money Agnes and sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) live across the street from new-money social climbers the Russells (led with juicy imperiousness by Carrie Coon's Bertha); established society isn't keen on letting in these upstarts—though money very much talks. In one sense, the stakes here could not possibly be lower (Bertha wants a better seat at the opera!)—so why is the show so addictive? Stream The Gilded Age.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2023 – )
It was weird, but kinda cool, that the original Gremlins movie was marketed toward kids, given that the plot turns on moments like a Mogwai blowing up in a microwave and an anecdote about someone's dead dad mouldering in a chimney dressed like Santa Claus. That all being said, this animated prequel is legit kid-friendly, even if it doesn't shy away from the Looney Tunes-esque style of the live-action movies. It also takes the awkward Orientalism of those movies and makes it a virtue: Sam Wing (played by Hollywood legend Keye Luke in Gremlins) is, here, a 10-year-old boy who meets Gizmo and is then forced to join him on a journey through the Chinese countryside, sometimes encountering mythical creatures. The stacked voice cast includes Izaac Wang, Ming-Na Wen as Fong Wing, B. D. Wong, and the great James Hong; no word yet on a third season. Stream Secrets of the Mogwai.
Rap Sh!t (2022 – 2023)
Issa Rae follows up Insecure with the story of socially conscious Miami rapper Shawna (Aida Osman), who winds up selling out, at least in her own eyes, when she teams up with her friend Mia (KaMillion), whose popular OnlyFans brings the new rap group a built-in fanbase. Meanwhile, Shawna’s boyfriend Cliff (Devon Terrell) has to come to terms with the fact that Shawna’s more commercial career path might put his dreams of political success in danger. Like Insecure, it’s deeply funny, but also has plenty to say about friendship and ambition between young Black women. Stream Rap Sh!t.
It’s a Sin (2021, miniseries)
Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk, Doctor Who) revisits the 1980s through the story of a group of friends living in London during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The miniseries brings an impressive cast to bear on a story that tracks them through the early days of queer liberation through the developing menace of a disease that no one in the broader world was willing to talk about, much less do anything about. Stream It's a Sin.
Peacemaker (2022 – 2025)
A funny and violent bright spot in the wildly convoluted onscreen world of DC Comics, Peacemaker spins out of James Gunn's snarky 2021 entry The Suicide Squad, with John Cena reprising his role. Having survived the events of that film, he's recruited once again by the United States government to join a team trying to stop mysterious butterfly creatures inhabiting human hosts. It's got the same bloody comic tone of the movie, but adds just enough dimension, and an emotional arc, to the jingoistic superheroes' story that it's easy to root for him, even as his self-awareness remains limited. It also seems to be a bit of a bridge between the old DC movie universe and the upcoming, James Gunn-led one—the second season follows the events of the new Superman movie, and there's also a Viola Davis-lead Waller spin-off in the works. Stream Peacemaker.
South Side (2019 – 2022)
Creators/writers Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle (who also have parts in the series) brought a unique style to their three-season sitcom set in Englewood—the close-knit cast and production crew (Bashir’s brother, Sultan, plays one of the leads) give the show a familial vibe. it follows two mismatched friends (Sultan Salahuddin and Kareme Young) trying to find success while running a rent-to-own store amid a widely diverse ensemble, and trying to find some kind of accord with the local PD. Stream South Side.
Julia (2022 – 2023)
I’m increasingly drawn to stories of people who made it later in life, probably unrelated to being solidly middle-aged while having accomplished (as yet) nothing of note. Sarah Lancashire plays Julia Child magnificently, capturing much of her distinctive style and patter, and the show has a lot of fun with the production woes of early public television. Even though it has a light touch, the show’s also an important reminder of the importance of a woman like Julia, a woman in her 50s who become an unlikely trailblazer as not just an on-camera personality, but also as an innovative producer. Another one that deserved more than two seasons, but still delightful. Stream Julia.
Young Justice (2010 – 2022)
This is the little cartoon that could—canceled way back in 2013, picked up by the defunct DC Universe streamer for season 3, and then getting a final season as a Max original (those first three seasons are also on Max). There’s a reason it has hung in there, even without the name recognition of some of DC’s other stuff: It’s an impressively animated series that draws from any number of comics sources while scrupulously developing its characters. Unlike a lot of cartoons (or comics), it’s also allowed its characters to grow up over the years and introduced new generations of heroes along the way. Stream Young Justice.
Harley Quinn (2019 – , renewed for a sixth season)
Kaley Cuoco voices Harley in this very adult cartoon series starring the anti-hero who made her debut in Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Series way back in the day. Don’t expect traditional superheroics—it’s a zany comedy that's often funny and delivers some solid queer representation. A Kite Man spin-off debuted in 2024, and still might get a second season of its own. Stream Harley Quinn.
Our Flag Means Death (2022 – 2023)
I think everyone probably knows about this one already—at least those of you who are extremely online—but the swashbuckling pirate comedy isn’t only wonderfully goofy and funny: It also features, unexpectedly, one of the most believable and compelling gay romances of the last several years, so I just wanted to give it a little extra love. Max cut it short after a mere two seasons which, boo! But that doesn't mean it's not worth diving in. Stream Our Flag Means Death.
