The 30 Best Shows Streaming on HBO Max Right Now

The erstwhile HBO Max streaming app has all the time benefited from being the house for HBO hits like Recreation of Thrones, The White Lotus, and The Final of Us, however has additionally produced some high quality authentic programming of its personal. Hacks is a buzzy award winner, and exhibits like Peacemaker and The Intercourse Lives of Faculty Ladies have drawn eyeballs. Extra just lately, The Pitt is burning up social media and Spanish-language import When No One Sees Us is drawing important acclaim.

Given the amount of streaming content material on the market, and the variety of exhibits Max and HBO have already produced, collectively and individually, there are some nice decisions that may have flown beneath your radar. In our present streaming period, during which good exhibits aren’t simply canceled however erased from existence (farewell, Raised by Wolves), it by no means hurts to take a second to contemplate the marginally much less talked-about exhibits which can be equally worthy of your consideration. In that spirit, we’re suggesting some common hits and some exhibits that may have flown beneath your radar.

Duster (2025 – , season one ongoing)

J. J. Abrams is again, and Hollywood’s preeminent excavator of light genres (for higher and worse) is taking up the hard-driving (actually) Nineteen Seventies, with Josh Holloway (Misplaced, Yellowstone) stars as Jim Ellis, a getaway driver with a candy cherry-red Plymouth. He is changing into more and more disenchanted along with his crime-syndicate boss, Ezra Saxton (Keith David), particularly when he is tasked to move a just-harvested human coronary heart after which requested to then assist with the surgical procedure. Into his life walks Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson), the FBI’s first Black lady agent (that is 1972, in any case) who enlists Ellis in her plan to carry down Saxton. It is fast-paced and (principally) enjoyable, with immaculate interval vibes. There appears to be a good bit of buzz right here, so perhaps we’ll get phrase of a season two when the present run is completed. You may stream Duster here.

The Pitt (2025 –, second season coming January 2026)

E.R.‘s Noah Wyle is again in scrubs as Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch, senior attending on the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room. Robby’s mentor died in the course of the top of COVID-19, and he’s solely simply recovering from his traumatic experiences. It is gonna be a protracted day, although: Every episode represents a single hour of a tumultuous 15-hour shift, peppered by tragedies together with a mass taking pictures. It appears like medical dramas are a dime a dozen, however this one is kind of a bit extra fascinating, and rather a lot buzzier, than most. You may stream The Pitt here.

Hacks (2021 –, renewed for a fifth season)

After getting canceled over a tweet, 25-year-old author Ava (Hannah Einbinder) struggles to get her profession again so as, reluctantly taking a job for Deborah Vance (Jean Good)—a comedy trailblazer who stays common with an older Vegas crown, however whose profession is basically on autopilot. They’re a wholly mismatched pair, however their chemistry is finally explosive, with Jean Good doing a number of the finest work of her unimaginable profession as the customarily deeply unlikeable Vance, and Einbinder greater than holding her personal in return. It is humorous, bitchy, and surprisingly shifting when it needs to be. You may stream Hacks here.

When No One Sees Us (2025 –)

A particular police thriller imported from Spain, When No One Sees Us stars Mariela Garriga (Mission Inconceivable – Lifeless Reckoning) as a Cuban-American particular agent of the U.S. Military, and Maribel Verdú (Pan’s Labyrinth) as a Spanish Civil Guard sergeant, each investigating an obvious loss of life by violent suicide on an air base throughout Holy Week. It is a twisty-turny thriller, however the performances and the emphasis on character over plot make it a standout. No phrase but on whether or not or not we’ll get one other season. You may stream When No One Sees Us here.

Dune: Prophecy (2024 – , renewed for a second season)

Irrespective of how good the films have been, a Dune prequel tie-in collection was, more than likely, going to be fairly inessential. However this one’s been a shock: a juicy house cleaning soap opera set 10,000 years earlier than the Denis Villeneuve movies, a timeframe that places it nicely out of the way in which of later occasions and lets it stand alone. There are quite a lot of threads right here, however the collection focuses on Valya and Tula Harkonnen (Emily Watson and Tula Williams), struggling to construct and keep the Sisterhood that we’ll later come to know because the Bene Gesserit within the face of an unstable political order. The ruling dynasty has a brand new weapon in Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a manipulative former soldier who appears resistant to the persuasive skills of the Sisters, thus threatening their locations on the Emperor’s aspect. Particularly on condition that we’re on HBO Max, it isn’t solely unfair to recommend that the vibe (filled with intrigue, shady dealings, and violent plot-twists) is a bit that of a star-spanning Recreation of Thrones. You may stream Dune: Prophecy here.

The Gilded Age (2022 – , third season coming in June)

Julian Fellowes made interval drama buzz-worthy with Downton Abbey, and does one thing related right here whereas shifting the time and place to the Eighties in New York Metropolis. We’re launched to the world of higher and extraordinarily upper-class New York Metropolis society by Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), poor relation to the estranged aunties who take her in, and Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), a younger Black author from a solidly middle-class household who turns into a secretary to Christine Baranski’s Agnes van Rhijn. Previous-money Agnes and sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) reside throughout the road from new-money social climbers the Russells (led with juicy imperiousness by Carrie Coon’s Bertha); established society is not eager on letting in these upstarts—although cash very a lot talks. In a single sense, the stakes right here couldn’t probably be decrease (Bertha needs a greater seat on the opera!)—so why is the present so addictive? You may stream The Gilded Age here.

Trade (2020 – , renewed for a fourth season)

This British co-production debuted considerably quietly again in 2020, getting good critiques however not a lot in the way in which of buzz. Maybe as a result of it was a unique period (that means: barely 5 years in the past), HBO introduced the present again, giving it time to develop till the third season premiere was up by almost 90% in viewership over the collection debut, and earned a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Wild, is not it, what occurs when you truly give viewers time to find a present? Absolutely a fluke with no discernible classes for networks and streamers. Anyway! The present, created by two precise former funding bankers, chronicles the cutthroat world of the fictional Pierpoint & Co during which, on the collection’ outset, a bunch of younger graduates are made to compete for a vanishingly small variety of everlasting positions. There are juicy soap-opera vibes, however the consideration to element in the case of the world of excessive finance offers the present a sense that the stakes are very actual in the case of the lives, and psychological well being, of our leads. You may stream Trade here.

Trixie Motel (2022 – 2024, two seasons)

A pick-up in its second season from Discovery+, Trixie Motel poses that all-important query: How would a drag queen with disposable earnings run a lodge? Within the first season, RuPaul alum Trixie Mattel and then-partner David Silver purchase a run-down Palm Springs motel and switch it right into a campy desert vacation spot; within the second the 2 purchase and enhance a brand new residence. Celeb friends cease by to assist the pair drag up their lodging. It is fluffy, flashy, and enjoyable. You may stream Trixie Motel season one here, and Drag Me House, the second season, here.

Doom Patrol (2019 – 2023, 4 seasons)

Max’s early DC present was initially ported from the now-defunct DC Universe streamer (previous and future episodes are actually Max-exclusive), a largely forgotten effort. Thank goodness it survived; it was an uncharacteristically daring and freaky entry within the superhero canon. Almost indescribably bizarre, the present contains characters just like the non-binary Danny the Road (a literal road), paranormal investigators the Intercourse Males, Imaginary Jesus, and orgasm-generating physique builder Flex Mentallo—whereas additionally grounded in some glorious, steadily emotional character work from the complete solid, together with Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, Michelle Gomez, and Timothy Dalton. It’s additionally very queer and intercourse constructive, making it a standout among the many often chaste and straight world of superhero cinema. You may stream Doom Patrol here.

Full Circle (2023, miniseries)

Creator Ed Solomon (Now You See Me) and director Steven Soderbergh navigate an enormous solid and a labyrinthine plot involving homicide, kidnapping, company espionage, and magic. The title refers to a homicide ritual performed by a Guyanese crime lord (performed by CCH Pounder) that entails drawing a literal circle in New York, centered on the scene of a homicide. There are a number of too many balls within the air at any given time, however watching the chaos unfold is addictive. Pounder is joined by Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, and Dennis Quaid. You may stream Full Circle here.

Scavengers Reign (2023, one season)

A professional suggestion for this one, solely as a result of it was canceled after its first season with a lot left unresolved. Nonetheless! It is a good, impressively voice-acted, and fantastically animated sci-fi epic following the stranded survivors of the crashed interstellar cargo ship Demeter 227. The net of pure life on the world on which they discover themselves is unusually complicated, an the foundations they’re used to do not appear to use. The creators are purchasing a second season round, however it appears doubtless we’ll be left with a number of questions—which is perhaps not the worst factor. You may stream Scavengers Reign here.

The Flight Attendant (2020 – 2022, two seasons)

Kaley Cuoco performs hard-living (i.e. alcoholic) flight attendant Cassie Bowden, who, within the first episode, wakes up in a Bangkok lodge room with no reminiscence of the evening earlier than. Which may very well be an excellent factor or a foul factor, on condition that she’s sharing a mattress with a useless passenger from her final flight. Afraid to name the police, she tries, on her personal, to piece collectively the more and more convoluted reminiscences of that final evening. Impressively twisty-turny, but additionally with a hallucinogenic sense of enjoyable, it is a distinctive present that earned a number of Emmy nominations, together with for an awesome Cuoco. Regardless of producing loads of buzz and seemingly good numbers, it was canceled after two seasons—which can change into one thing of a theme with Max. You may stream The Flight Attendant here.

The Intercourse Lives of Faculty Ladies (2021 – 2025, three seasons)

Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is an endlessly naïve scholarship pupil; Bela (Amrit Kaur), is an aspiring comedy author on the make for the most well liked guys; Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is an overachieving athlete and senator’s daughter; Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is a closeted sorority woman. They’re randomly assigned to room collectively as freshmen on the fictional Essex Faculty in Vermont. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the comedy-drama is not almost as salacious as its title suggests: There’s intercourse, for positive, however like Intercourse and the Metropolis earlier than it, the humorous and queer-friendly present is extra about feminine friendship. You may stream The Intercourse Lives of Faculty Ladies here.

Jellystone! (2021 – 2025)

The Hanna-Barbera cartoon pantheon has been largely dormant in current a long time, however it is a enjoyable revisit, with the titular city serving as residence to dozens of characters from again within the day, led by Mayor Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear (now a health care provider at Jellystone Hospital), Augie Doggy, Jabberjaw, High Cat, and dozens extra, with out-of-towners like The Jetsons and Area Ghost popping in once in a while. The present’s foolish, anarchic type is certainly not a one-for-one match to the supply materials, however it’s not a horrible factor that the present is targeted on interesting to fashionable youngsters fairly than their mother and father (or grandparents, at this level). It is enjoyable for that older elementary age group. You may stream Jellystone! here.

Gremlins: Secrets and techniques of the Mogwai (2023 –, two seasons)

It was bizarre, however kinda cool, that the unique Gremlins film was marketed towards youngsters, on condition that the plot activates moments like a Mogwai blowing up in a microwave and an anecdote about somebody’s useless dad mouldering in a chimney dressed like Santa Claus. That every one being stated, this animated prequel is legit kid-friendly, even when it does not draw back from the Looney Tunes-esque type of the live-action films. It additionally takes the awkward Orientalism of these films and makes it a advantage: Sam Wing (performed by Hollywood legend Keye Luke in Gremlins) is, right here, a 10-year-old boy who meets Gizmo and is then compelled to hitch him on a journey by the Chinese language countryside, generally encountering legendary creatures. The stacked voice solid contains Izaac Wang, Ming-Na Wen as Fong Wing, B. D. Wong, and the good James Hong; no phrase but on a 3rd season. You may stream Secrets and techniques of the Mogwai here.

The Different Two (2019 – 2023, three seasons)

Heléne Yorke and Drew Tarver stars as a few meandering siblings whose lives are turned the other way up when their youthful brother turns into a viral sensation. The present has quite a lot of enjoyable dissecting fashionable popular culture, and, although it has a candy aspect, it’s a number of the finest cringe comedy you will discover on Max. As class satires go, it by no means fairly achieved Succession ranges of obsession, however deserves a bit extra love. You may stream The Different Two here.

Tokyo Vice (2022 — 2024, two seasons)

Your tolerance for Ansel Elgort could fluctuate (given assault allegations), however he stars right here alongside always-welcome Japanese actors Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi as a younger journalist who turns into embedded with veteran detectives in Tokyo’s vice squad circa 1999. The present pays tribute to each the glitzy and splendidly seedy elements of the title metropolis, whereas additionally working as an efficient crime drama set in a really totally different context from extra typical America-set exhibits. You may stream Tokyo Vice here.

Rap Sh!t (2022 — 2023, two seasons)

Issa Rae follows up Insecure with the story of socially aware Miami rapper Shawna (Aida Osman), who winds up promoting out, at the least in her personal eyes, when she groups up together with her good friend Mia (KaMillion), whose common OnlyFans brings the brand new rap group a built-in fanbase. In the meantime, Shawna’s boyfriend Cliff (Devon Terrell) has to return to phrases with the truth that Shawna’s extra business profession path would possibly put his desires of political success at risk. Like Insecure, it’s deeply humorous, but additionally has a lot to say about friendship and ambition between younger Black girls. You may stream Rap Sh!t here.

The Massive Brunch (2022, one season)

Lastly: a actuality present for individuals who love brunch (a few of whom, I’m knowledgeable, would possibly even be straight). Schitt’s Creek’s Dan Levy hosts the cooking present involving 10 cooks competing for the cash to make all their desires come true (to the tune of $300,000)—however provided that they will make the right brunch. The present avoids the disturbing parts of a Gordon Ramsey-type competitors, whereas being fairly a bit funnier than a GBBO. It’s a stable entry within the reality-cooking world with a singular type, although its one-and-done single season (at the least up to now) shall be a professional or a con relying on how hooked you end up. You may stream The Massive Brunch here.

It’s a Sin (2021, miniseries)

Russell T. Davies (Queer as People, Physician Who) revisits the Nineteen Eighties by the story of a bunch of buddies residing in London in the course of the top of the HIV/AIDS disaster. The miniseries brings a formidable solid to bear on a narrative that tracks them by the early days of queer liberation by the creating menace of a illness that nobody within the broader world was keen to speak about, a lot much less do something about. You may stream It is a Sin here.

Peacemaker (2022 –, second season coming in August)

A humorous and violent vibrant spot within 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 function. Having survived the occasions of that movie, he is recruited as soon as once more by america authorities to hitch a workforce making an attempt to cease mysterious butterfly creatures inhabiting human hosts. It is bought the identical bloody comedian tone of the film, however provides simply sufficient dimension, and an emotional arc, to the jingoistic superheroes’ story that it is simple to root for him, at the same time as his self-awareness stays restricted. It additionally appears to be a little bit of a bridge between the previous DC film universe and the upcoming, James Gunn-led one—the upcoming second season will comply with the occasions of the brand new Superman film, and there is additionally a Viola Davis-lead Waller spin-off within the works. You may stream Peacemaker here.

South Aspect (2019 – 2022, three seasons)

Creators/writers Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle (who even have components within the collection) introduced a singular type to their three-season sitcom set in Englewood—the close-knit solid and manufacturing crew (Bashir’s brother, Sultan, performs one of many leads) give the present a familial vibe. it follows two mismatched buddies (Sultan Salahuddin and Kareme Younger) looking for success whereas operating a rent-to-own retailer amid a extensively various ensemble, and looking for some form of accord with the native PD. You may stream South Aspect here.

By Our Eyes (2021, miniseries)

An authentic manufacturing from Sesame Workshop, every episode of the docuseries offers with a particular problem dealing with youngsters, and every is directed by a unique proficient and acclaimed director. The 4 present episodes interact with youngsters with incarcerated mother and father, households displaced by local weather crises, the youngsters of veterans counting on caregivers, and people with out everlasting housing. The collection presents a uncommon perspective, and takes an appropriately easy and sincere strategy with out feeling the necessity to manipulate our feelings. It’s a miniseries for the time being, though there is perhaps extra coming. You may stream By Our Eyes here.

Julia (2022 – 2023, two seasons)

I’m more and more drawn to tales of people that made it later in life, in all probability unrelated to being solidly middle-aged whereas having completed (as but) nothing of notice. Sarah Lancashire performs Julia Baby magnificently, capturing a lot of her distinctive type and patter, and the present has quite a lot of enjoyable with the manufacturing woes of early public tv. Although it has a lightweight contact, the present’s additionally an essential reminder of the significance of a lady like Julia, a lady in her 50s who change into an unlikely trailblazer as not simply an on-camera persona, but additionally as an progressive producer. One other one which deserved greater than two seasons, however nonetheless pleasant. You may stream Julia here.

Titans (2018 – 2023, 4 seasons)

There’s an nearly relentless edginess to an terrible lot of the films and exhibits based mostly on DC superheroes, feeling at occasions as if they’re apologizing for the supply materials. Titans is correct there, however with swearing, fucking, and a few pretty intense violence. What it has, although, that a number of the films lack, is an addictive high quality that mimics the texture of getting actually into an excellent long-form superhero comedian guide storyline—however extra swearsy. You may stream Titans here.

Younger Justice (2010–2022, 4 seasons)

That is the little cartoon that would—canceled approach again in 2013, picked up by the defunct DC Universe streamer for season 3, after which getting a ultimate season as a Max authentic (these first three seasons are additionally on Max). There’s a cause it has hung in there, even with out the title recognition of a few of DC’s different stuff: It’s an impressively animated collection that pulls from any variety of comics sources whereas scrupulously creating its characters. In contrast to quite a lot of cartoons (or comics), it’s additionally allowed its characters to develop up over time and launched new generations of heroes alongside the way in which. You may stream Younger Justice here.

Station Eleven (2021, miniseries)

The miniseries, based mostly on the Emily St. John Mandel novel, was launched at both the very best time or the worst attainable time, the story of a flu pandemic landed on the previous HBO Max proper in the midst of the primary section of COVID. The present follows Kirsten Raymonde, a younger stage actor whose efficiency in a manufacturing of King Lear is lower quick by the onset of a virus with a 99% fatality charge. We meet Kirsten on the outset of the pandemic, after which go to her 20 years on, nonetheless an actor, in a world very a lot modified. It’s a sluggish burn, however finally, the collection makes a shifting case for the ability of artwork, even (or particularly) in moments when survival is on the road. You may stream Station Eleven here.

Harley Quinn (2019– , renewed for a sixth season)

Kaley Cuoco voices Harley on this very grownup cartoon collection starring the anti-hero who made her debut in Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Collection approach again within the day. Don’t count on conventional superheroics—it’s a zany comedy that is usually humorous and delivers some stable queer illustration. A Kite Man spin-off debuted in 2024, and nonetheless would possibly get a second season of its personal. You may stream Harley Quinn here.

Love & Demise (2023, miniseries)

The story of Nineteen Seventies housewife Sweet Montgomery has been advised a number of occasions earlier than, most memorably by way of a 1990 TV film and a Hulu collection from simply final yr. Right here, Elizabeth Olsen offers a stellar efficiency as the girl who kills her lover’s spouse, perhaps in self-defense? It hits loads of the anticipated true crime notes, however Olsen’s efficiency is top-tier, humanizing the lead character. You may stream Love & Demise here.

Our Flag Means Demise (2022 – 2023), two seasons

I feel everybody in all probability is aware of about this one already—at the least these of you who’re extraordinarily on-line—however the swashbuckling pirate comedy isn’t solely splendidly goofy and humorous: It additionally options, unexpectedly, probably the most plausible and compelling homosexual romances of the final a number of years, so I simply needed to provide it slightly further love. Max lower it quick after a mere two seasons which, boo! However that does not imply it isn’t value diving in. You may stream Our Flag Means Demise here.