Best TV Shows to Watch on HBO Max Right Now

The Rehearsal

Creator: Nathan Fielder
Cast: Nathan Fielder
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2

In this off-beat, wholly-inventive comedy docu-series, Nathan Fielder helps everyday people rehearse for big life moments through elaborately staged roleplaying scenarios. It’s an uproarious premise that’s perfectly executed, whether Nathan is helping folks simulate various parenting scenarios or staging a birthday party.

Season 2 of Nathan Fielder’s absurdist, cringey, ambitious comedy takes new heights (quite literally). In the first episode alone, he sets his sights on solving aviation safety, an issue that many Americans share concerns about. 

The Pitt

Creator: R. Scott Gemmill
Cast: Noah Wyle, Tracy Ifeachor, Patrick Ball
Genre: Drama, Medical
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1

Were you a fan of the OG medical drama, ER? Controversies with the Chrichton estate notwithstanding, The Pitt is just the fix for fans of television’s beloved 15-season medical drama. While plenty of medical dramas have come and gone in the past few decades, what makes The Pitt so special is that the season takes place over the course of one 24-hour shift in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Featuring Noah Wyle at the helm of a winning ensemble cast, the show is both gripping and realistic.

The White Lotus

Creator: Mike White
Cast: Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins
Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3

Season 3 of The White Lotus just launched. Aside from changing up Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s banger of a theme song, the third season seems to offer everything the previous seasons did. An exotic locale? Welcome to Thailand. Affluent hotel guests with a variety of neuroses and secrets? Just wait until you meet the Ratliff family.

So far, the third season is darker and more deliberately paced than its predecessors. Knowing Mike White’s penchant for interesting twists and turns, things are only going to get wilder.

The Last of Us

Creator: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Nico Parker
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1

Adapted from one of the most acclaimed video games of the past century, The Last of Us is a thrilling drama about a zombie outbreak in 2003 spawned from a parasitic fungus. While Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal raised some fans’ eyebrows on their initial casting as Ellie and Joel, once the pilot dropped, all doubts were definitively cast away.

Across the first season’s nine episodes, The Last of Us showcases the kind of prestige writing, acting, and directing that HBO has become synonymous with since its original programming launch–and Season Two just dropped.

Succession

Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Cast: Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox
Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 4

In Jesse Armstrong’s Succession, the familial drama to come up with a succession plan for a media mogul’s empire becomes practically Shakespearean. Thanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect cast — including stand-out performances from Jeremy Strong, Kiernan Culkin, and Sarah Snook — this is a series that grabs you and doesn’t let go.

Even when you don’t quite understand the inner machinations, corporate lingo, and double-crossing, Succession is still a thrilling watch. And with a fitting finale in the books, this is one show you won’t regret starting if you missed the boat when it was airing.

Euphoria

Creator: Sam Levinson
Cast: Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Angus Cloud
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2

Euphoria is one of HBOMax’s most talked about series, and for good reason. It’s totally enthralling, sketching the lives of its teenage characters in stylish, raw detail. At the same time, it’s got some of the most inventive camera work and editing in a television series to date — as if Requiem for a Dream was an A24 film.

All of this works even better thanks to a completely game ensemble of actors. With young heavy-hitters like Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, and Hunter Schafer breaking out into major films since the series’s debut in 2019, it’s no secret that the show’s cast is one of its major strengths.

The Sopranos

Creator: David Chase
Cast: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 6

HBO’s history when it comes to original programming fits neatly into two eras: before The Sopranos and after The Sopranos. Debuting in 1999 and running for six seasons, watching patriarch Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) juggle family issues alongside the problems of his mob family was the kind of must-see television and fodder for watercooler talk that would have set Twitter/X ablaze were the platform around when the show was running.

To put it bluntly: if you haven’t watched it yet, what are you waiting for?

The Wire

Creator: David Simon
Cast: Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 5

A traditional writing adage in Hollywood is to “write what you know,” and The Wire proves just how potent that advice can be. Created by David Simon, a former police reporter, this crime drama is detailed, methodical, and engrossing. Set in Baltimore and exploring everything from narcotics to the education system and the media, each season is anchored by a strong ensemble cast and impressive writing.

HBOMax has a lot of shows that land on top ten lists of the best series of all time, and The Wire frequently breaks into those lists.

True Blood

Creator: Alan Ball
Cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 7

Are you a fan of fantasy and melodrama? If so, this pulpy vampire drama is likely right up your alley. An acquired taste (pun intended), True Blood tells the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in small-town Louisianna who falls for a 170-year old vampire.

Based on the novels by Charlaine Harris, True Blood is a drama with tons of sex, blood, and violence — the things that HBO has become synonymous with over the years. At the same time, its combination of comedy, horror, drama, romance, and action is a genre mashup capable of winning over almost anyone.

Game of Thrones

Creator: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss
Cast: Kit Harington, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sophie Turner
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 8

Game of Thrones is one of the biggest cultural phenomena in television. Don’t believe us? Just consider the fact that baby names like “Arya” rose in popularity by almost 90% in the wake of HBO’s high fantasy action epic. Full of twists, surprising violence, and plenty of double-crossing, Game of Thrones combines dragons and armies with geopolitics to create one of the deepest, most impressive television shows ever created.

With such an ardent fan base, even in the face of a divisive series finale, you knew it was going to make the cut.

House of the Dragon

Creator: Ryan Condal, George R. R. Martin
Cast: Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2

A prequel to the events of Game of Thrones focused on the conquests of the dragon-riding Targareyn clan, House of the Dragon had big shoes to fill as the first spin-off of GoT. We’re happy to report that it fills those shoes quite nicely, thanks to a game cast including Milly Alcock, Olivia Cooke, and an especially exciting Matt Smith.

Filled with more secrets, political intrigue, and, of course, dragon, this is one show we can’t wait to come back. Too bad it looks like we’ll have to wait until 2026 for the next season.

Big Little Lies

Creator: David E. Kelley
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2

Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, this drama set in Monterey, California combines the high stakes of motherhood with murder and mischief for a winning combination. If you want any more proof that television has just as much prestige as film these days, look no further than the absolutely stacked cast of Big Little Lies. Across its two seasons, viewers get to witness the talents of Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, and Zoe Kravitz as they dig in to some seriously juicy material.

Hacks

Creator: Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky
Cast: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3

In this comedy about the inner workings of jokes and comedy, Jean Smart plays Vegas comic Deborah Vance, who must reinvent her image with some help form an on-the-outs comedy writer played by Hannah Einbinder.

It’s been a tight race for television comedies when it comes to the Emmy awards, and 2024 was the year that Hacks finally pulled ahead of other greats like The Bear and Abbott Elementary.

With Season 3 as a recent high for the series, this well-deserved win makes us even more psyched for Season 4 to launch.

Silicon Valley

Creator: Mike Judge, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky
Cast: Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Josh Brener
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 6

If you need a palate cleanser from a news cycle full of stories about the dangers of TikTok and power of Meta, look no further than Silicon Valley. This hilarious comedy follows the misadventures of some brilliant but bumbling computer programmers as they build their business from the ground up and get swept into the hustle and bustle of the San Francisco tech world.

At its heart, Silicon Valley is like Office Space crossed with The Social Network. Remember when start-ups could be cool and fun?

Veep

Creator: Armando Iannucci
Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale
Genre: Satire, Comedy, Political
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 7

In Veep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer, a senator who becomes the vice president (and later, president) over the course of the show’s seven seasons. The show, like many other HBO comedies, has great acting — which it pares with a hysterical mixture of political satire and workplace comedy.

Tonally similar to other great series like 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and The West Wing, this is the perfect comedy cleanser for what is sure to be a chaotic administration under Trump. We won’t judge how many times you rewatch it in the next four years.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Creator: Larry David
Cast: Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines
Genre: Sitcom
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 12

This spiritual successor to the 1990s hit sitcom Seinfeld follows Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like Seinfeld, much of the humor in Curb Your Enthusiasm centers around the absurdity of everyday life and interacting with others. Also, like Seinfeld, the show is as laugh-out-loud funny as it is relatable.

From “spite stores” to arguments about the injustice of abusing the free sample policies at a frozen yogurt shop, Larry David never seems to lack material. And with cameos from Wanda Sykes to Michael J. Fox, he’s always got ways to surprise you.

Insecure

Creator: Issa Rae, Larry Wilmore
Cast: Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 5

Inspired, in part, by Issa Rae’s webseries Awkward Black Girl, Insecure delves into the awkward and often hilarious lives of modern Black women. From career ups and downs to dating ups and downs, Rae’s story of two friends in their late 20s navigating life is realistic while still being really funny.

Whether episodes of Insecure are detailing the trials and tribulations of dating apps or mining the drama from pool parties and Coachella, it always stays true to its (and Issa Rae’s) singular voice. Don’t sleep on its five seasons.

Common Side Effects

Creator: Joseph Bennett, Steve Hely
Cast: Dave King, Emily Pendergast, Mike Judge, Martha Kelly
Genre: Adult Animation, Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1

Every so often, a new series hits the world of adult animated series that shows just how much potential for innovation the genre still has. Common Side Effects is one such show. Featuring heady thematic ideas and a truly unique animation style, this show from Joseph Bennett and Steve Healy follows two friends, Marshall and Frances, who discover a mushroom with healing medicinal properties.

Part comedy, part paranoid thriller, Common Side Effects is ambitious, messy, and bizarre. In a word? It’s addictive.  

The Righteous Gemstones

Creator: Danny McBride
Cast: Danny McBride,Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson
Genre: Dark Comedy, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3

In this uproarious, irreverent, and totally binge-able dark comedy from Danny McBride, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Following the exploits of a family of wealthy televangelists, The Righteous Gemstones takes all sorts of twists and turns as it explores the ostentatiously wealthy lives of Dr. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and his three children — Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin.

Even though this is a show you’ll laugh out loud watching, it still packs plenty of drama. Bursting with conflict, blackmail, and old secrets, The Righteous Gemstones is a sterling example of the kinds of risks HBO often takes with its programming — and just how often the streamer reaps the rewards of those risks.

The Sex Lives of College Girls

Creator: Mindy Kaling, Justin Noble
Cast: Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Reneé Rapp
Genre: Comedy, Teen Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3

Similar in formula to HBO’s other hit series, Lena Dunham’s Girls, The Sex Lives of College Girls is a tale of female friendship while navigating the ups and downs of collegiate life. Created by Mindy Kaling, the series is set in Vermont and follows four incoming freshman: Kimberly, Bela, Leighton, and Whitney.

Featuring strong performances from Reneé Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott, the series is just a much a send-up of the pressures young women face as it is a comedy about finding your place in college. For fans of shows like Girls and New Girl, it’s a must-watch.

Somebody Somewhere

Creator: Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen
Cast: Bridget Everett, Jeff Hiller, Mary Catherine Garrison
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3

Somebody Somewhere trades the traditional HBO playbook of sex and violence for a different playbook: subtlety and veracity. Set in Kansas, the series follows Sam (Bridget Everett) as she navigates the death of her sister and her return to the small town she grew up in.

Devastatingly gentle even as it fines the humor in navigating small-town life, Somebody Somewhere is a real winning character study with tons of heart. Its performance and writing are pitch-perfect.

Watchmen

Creator: Damon Lindelof
Cast: Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson
Genre: Drama, Superhero
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1

Not to be confused with the divisive Zack Snyder film of the same name, HBO’s original drama series Watchmen stars Regina King in an impressively layered take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s acclaimed graphic novel. Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this alternate take on history deals with deep-seated issues of white supremacy and what it means to be American—even as it offers superhero action sequences, too.

Dark, dystopian, and with plenty of relevance in our current political climate, Damon Lindelof’s impressive “remix” of the original Watchmen formula is as audacious as it is impressive. With only one season to binge (although we’d love a continuation after that cliffhanger!). this is the kind of show you can watch in a weekend and think about for months after.

Barry

Creator: Alec Berg, Bill Hader
Cast: Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg
Genre: Dark Comedy, Crime Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 4

Barry is to Bill Hader what Breaking Bad was to Bryan Cranston. Both crime dramas are deep dives into character, made all the more successful thanks to their stars playing against type in a way that further deepens our collective understanding of the show’s protagonists.

In Barry, Hader plays an assassin who signs up for an acting class in Los Angeles as a way to get closer to a mark—only to find that acting might be his true passion. The series takes plenty of turns along the way, but it’s its sharp writing and equally-sharp acting that makes it such a thrill to watch. Aside from Hader, Henry Winkler gives a fun turn as endearingly smarmy acting teacher Gene Cousineau.

Looking for more streaming recommendations? Check out our guides to the best TV shows available on Netflix, AppleTV, and Hulu, plus the best movies on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Tubi.