The top 7 shows to stream on HBO Max right now
The top 7 shows to stream on HBO Max right now
From the return of ‘Girls’ to the Emmy-winning ‘The Pitt,’ there’s plenty to get excited about on HBO Max.
I passed over writing this article a few times because there just weren’t many new shows I was watching on the platform after “Rooster,” “DTF St. Louis,” and “House of the Dragon” finished dropping. I feel like Apple TV is starting to cannibalize the time I used to spend on HBO Max — but now the streamer’s making moves. Sharon Horgan has a new comedy out that’s definitely worth watching, and with new seasons of “The Pitt” and “Girls” on the horizon, there’s a lot to get into. So, here are the best shows streaming on HBO Max right now.
Top 7 TV shows streaming on HBO Max right now:
No. 7: ‘Girls’ (2012) | Comedy
Look who’s back! I thought it was fitting to include “Girls” on the heels of HBO’s official announcement that the show is returning for five new episodes! This will have Lena Dunham all over it, as she’s writing, directing, executive producing, and reprising her role as Hannah. Plus, Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams), Jessa Johansson (Jemima Kirke), and Shoshanna Shapiro (Zosia Mamet) are all returning. Oh, and Judd Apatow is back EPing as well, with production to start next year. This time, we’ll see the characters in their 40s and find out just how all those well-laid plans actually played out.
And if you’ve never watched “Girls” and have no idea what I’m talking about, watch it. It was iconic in its day — unpredictable, very New York, and very funny (I constantly hear my wife burst out laughing in the other room, and when I ask her what she’s watching, the answer is invariably “Girls”). Much of the comedy comes from mining the most embarrassing moments you can imagine. Yes, sometimes they’re annoying and loud and angry, but they’re always human, and you can always see a bit of yourself in them… even if you’d rather not.
Girls
The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.
No. 6: ‘Get Jiro!’ (2026) | Animated action comedy
Anthony Bourdain left a big hole when he left this world. But he also left a wild graphic novel he wrote with Joel Rose… and that’s been adapted into an adult animated action series called “Get Jiro!”. In a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, chefs are the most powerful people in society. Titus Welliver (from “Bosch”) voices Bob, who runs a very fancy restaurant for the rich. His competitor is Rose (Alison Pill), who has an organic, vegan food empire.
Then comes Jiro (Brian Tee), a sushi chef obsessed with perfection… and that makes him very dangerous (he cuts off a customer’s head in the first 10 minutes because they use soy sauce). The show is bizarre, mixing food culture with crime and a lot of bloody action, like weapons hidden in baguettes. If you want something a little different from the mind of a legend, it’s worth a try.
GET JIRO
In a post-apocalyptic, near-future Los Angeles where culinary culture reigns supreme, the world’s most powerful figures are chefs, and food is both currency and a demarcation of class, the mysterious sushi chef Jiro sets out on a quest for vengeance.
No. 5: ‘High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam’ (2026) | Historical thriller
If you want to get an inside, dramatized look at the search for Saddam Hussein after the U.S. invaded Iraq, this is your next watch. “High Value.” The series follows Joel Kinnaman as John Nixon, a CIA analyst who’s spent years and years learning about Saddam and his government. He’s sent to Iraq, finds him, and interrogates him.
The relationship between Saddam and Nixon is everything here, with Saddam walking the line between manipulative and charming. Plus, the series calls into question how American foreign policy perhaps didn’t quite fit the intelligence Nixon was getting. This one originally aired on TNT, but you can watch it on HBO Max right now.
High Value Target
In 2003, John Nixon, a CIA analyst became the first American to positively identify and interrogate Saddam Hussein. During their time together, Nixon began to understand the potential consequences of the invasion, the humanitarian horrors and geopolitical turbulences that would follow Saddam’s deposing.
No. 4: ‘The Pitt’ (2025) | Medical drama
“The Pitt” is returning for Season 3 in January, so if you haven’t watched this show yet, it’s time to head to the emergency room. It follows the doctors at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, specifically Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the senior attending physician. He and his staff are trying to keep their patients alive and their own mental health intact.
The hook? Each episode covers one hour of real time in the emergency ward, so over 15 episodes you see the entire 15-hour shift. The attention to detail is what sets this show apart, and it’s fun (is that the right word?) watching competent people work together to do important work. It’s stressful, though, and it’s not for everyone. Give it a try to see — it won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and is worth a swing.
The Pitt
The staff of Pittsburgh’s Trauma Medical Center work around the clock to save lives in an overcrowded and underfunded emergency department.
No. 3: ‘Lanterns’ (2026) | Sci-fi mystery drama
“Green Lantern detective drama” sounds a bit like a joke. Well, the joke’s on us because “Lanterns” is exactly that and it works wonderfully. Aaron Pierre plays John Stewart, Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan, and they investigate a murder in Nebraska.
The style of this one reminds me a lot of “The Penguin” in that it’s not really tied that closely to the mythology around the characters. It’s a reinvention, really. Yes, “Lanterns” has the Green Lantern stuff, but it’s more about the murder and the characters here. Hal is exhausted, John wants to prove himself, and they’ve got to figure out how to work together. It’s totally different from what I expected — in a good way.
Lanterns
Two intergalactic cops, new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, are drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
No. 2: ‘War’ (2026) | Legal drama
I don’t have much of a brain for legal shows. I get kind of bored. But give me a legal thriller from “Hijack” creator George Kay called “War” and I’m in. His new legal thriller follows a movie star (Sienna Miller) and a billionaire tech entrepreneur (Dominic West) going through a cut-throat divorce.
They’re both working with high-end London law firms to squeeze every possible dollar out of the other person, and each team is willing to use whatever means necessary to do it — secrets, adultery, media manipulation, the whole menu. I love watching rich people behave badly (“Succession” anyone?), and this show moves quickly. The lawyers are just as brutal as their clients, and if you’re at all interested in British class warfare, watch it.
WAR
An anthology series set in the elite world of London law following two rival firms, Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne, as they face off in a different headline-making legal battle each season.
No. 1: ‘Youth’ (2026) | Comedy
Sharon Horgan is building a heck of a track record in TV, which includes “Bad Sisters” on Apple TV and now “Youth” on HBO Max. In this one, she plays a 50-year-old divorcee managing her love life, her aging parents, and her son, who should act a lot more grown-up than he does.
Like much of what Horgan writes, the show leans into the sadness, embarrassment, and now the realities of getting older. She touches on menopause, dating as a divorcee, caring for aging parents, and a longing for more from life when you’re astutely aware the clock is ticking. How do you learn to take care of yourself when you’ve spent decades caring for other people? Horgan has a very specific, and funny, answer to that question.
Youth
A 50-year-old divorcee searches for sex and love whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown up son.