10 HBO Max Shows Without A Single Bad Season

Launched in 2020, HBO's streaming service HBO Max has had a somewhat confusing evolution. There was the 2023-2025 period where it was known simply as Max — which had nothing to do with Cinemax, a cable channel HBO's corporate overlords at Warner Bros. Discovery still own and operate. There were also controversial decisions that led to removal of certain shows from HBO Max. But one thing has been quite clear with the streamer: It's been responsible for some of this decade's best and boldest original programming.

Below, we've selected 10 HBO Max (or Max) originals that are all hit, no skip. From Emmy favorites to unique comic book adaptations, quirky sci-fi anti-romcoms, and other cult favorites — every season and nearly episode is worth your time and emotional investment. We promise, by the end, you're going to have a few new shows to add to your watch list, a few more reasons to revisit some old favorites, and more questions as to why certain shows didn't get longer runs.

A creative marriage of sitcom hitmaker Chuck Lorre ("The Big Bang Theory") and stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco, "Bookie" is a fun watch for anyone who loves the comedy of criminal error. Maniscalco and Omar J. Dorsey star as a pair of bookies driving through LA looking to collect debts and menace anyone holding out on them. This includes Zach Braff as a blinged-out gambling influencer, a winking Charlie Sheen in a recurring role as himself, and other familiar faces.

The show goes deeper than embarrassing fails and scrapes along the collection route, though. The friendship between Maniscalco and Dorsey's characters is a fun mismatch of personalities and styles as they navigate their ambitions, dysfunctional families, and their place in the larger bookmaking food chain.

The show seemed as though it was setting up a third season with a brisk Season 2 finale that left the guys with money in the bank, a cop living next door, and a pair of Boston-based bookmakers breathing down their necks. Sadly, Max made the decision to walk away. If only Marcello Hernandez had done his viral Maniscalco impression on "Saturday Night Live" sooner, it might have pushed things over the edge.

Conan O'Brien has been traveling to far-flung destinations in pursuit of cultural learnings and comedy since "Late Night" on NBC. Highlights include his first trip to Ireland and his visit to Finland, to say nothing of domestic adventures to go shooting with Hunter S. Thompson or play old-time baseball in period dress. Once he moved to TBS with "Conan," the frequency and length of these international visits increased, with notable visits to Cuba, Haiti, and South Korea taking up full episodes under the "Conan Without Borders" banner.

When Conan retired from late night, a travel show seemed like a natural next step. In two seasons, with a new one on the way, Conan has gone everywhere from Madrid to New Zealand and Bangkok. And while every travel show is required to give viewers a sense of the local scene, sights, and food, the charm of "Conan O'Brien Must Go" lies in the host's willingness to bring the residents of these cities front and center, working them into the show as sidekicks. In doing that, Conan demystifies these spaces and opens the world at a time when it's easy to feel cloistered.

In 2021, "Hacks" debuted with a compelling pitch: an entertainment industry satire from some of the producers and writers behind "Broad City" (Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky) with TV stalwart Jean Smart playing full diva mode as half of a frenemy duo with her protege (Hannah Einbinder). Five seasons later, and "Hacks" just wrapped as an undeniable new classic, receiving a staggering 86 Emmy nominations with 12 wins (so far). That includes four for Smart as outstanding actress in a comedy, and wins for Einbinder, the writing staff, and the series as a whole.

The show plays with the generational divide while relying on the conflict of close-proximity annoyance and antagonism. And not just with Deborah (Smart) and Ava (Einbinder) but also with their manager Jimmy (Downs) and his assistant turned business partner Kayla (Megan Stalter), a pair that rises in prominence as the show goes on. There's real love and even grudging respect between all of these characters, clear even when the harsh realities of the entertainment industry, pride, stubbornness, and ambition threaten to get in the way. In the end, "Hacks" is as much about finding that love and partnership in people you sometimes want to throttle as it is about skewering sexism, ageism, and Hollywood's fear of originality while finding the funny in every situation.

Margot Robbie was great in the role, and with all due respect to the character's original incarnation on "Batman: The Animated Series," HBO Max's "Harley Quinn" has a legit claim as the most fun adaptation of the Joker's quintessential ex-girlfriend. 

The series, which currently has five seasons, benefits greatly from being able to play in the massive DC sandbox without the budgetary restrictions of live action. The animated show mixes its versions of familiar characters like Bane, Clayface, Batman, and Superman with obscure characters like Dr. Psycho and Kite-Man. But it's the relationship between Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) that stands as the focal point. Starting as a friendship when the show debuted on the now defunct DC Universe streamer, "HarlIvy" eventually grows into a sweet, layered romantic relationship.

Seeing Harley break The Joker's hold over her and go from aspiring Legion of Doom supervillain to something closer to a hero while maintaining her chaotic swing-first-ask-questions-later energy beside Poison Ivy (and their sidekicks) is a deeply satisfying, earned progression. Cartoon or not, "Harley Quinn" nails the spirit of the character.

One of the first HBO Max scripted originals, "Love Life" was an anthology within an anthology, focusing one-by-one on the formative romantic relationships in the main character's search for lasting love. Sort of like a speed round version of "How I Met Your Mother." Produced by Paul Feig, the show's first season stars Anna Kendrick, with Season 2 of "Love Life" subbing in William Jackson Harper (though Kendrick does reappear briefly, establishing a connection between the two characters). The strategy is sound: bank on romcom fans' willingness to follow extremely likable lead actors through the relatable odyssey of dating apps, meet cutes, backslides, false starts, and other frustrations. With failed marriages, missed connections, and the specter of kids, "Love Life" isn't afraid to examine the pressures and enormity of trying to find "your person."

Harper's standout Season 2 proves that the formula was repeatable, especially with the show's penchant for solid writing and providing meaty opportunities for guest stars (Scoot McNairy, John Gallagher Jr., Ego Nwodim) to shine for an episode or two. HBO Max didn't see enough potential, though, and pulled the plug after those two seasons. Then they hit delete, rolling the show into the purge of multiple original series (and films) that were pushed into obscurity or onto other services.

Before she won an Emmy for her work in HBO's "The Penguin," Cristin Milioti starred in "Made For Love" as Hazel Green, the wife of toxic tech CEO Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen). Adapted by Alissa Nutting, Dean Bakopoulos, Patrick Somerville, and Christina Lee from Nutting's novel of the same name, "Made For Love" focuses on Hazel's uneasy relationship with her father (Ray Romano) and her effort to be free from Byron and the invasive tech he put in her head to track her movements and feelings. The show is a stellar comment on controlling narcissists, suffocating relationships, lawless tech oligarchs, and the pursuit of independence from all of the above. It's also a fiercely unique show impressively realized with consciousness swaps, a talking dolphin, and a sex doll as a character.

Despite resounding critical acclaim, "Made For Love" was canceled after its second season, ending with Hazel in full control and Byron trapped within himself while a more passive version controls his body. Getting the chance to occasionally rewatch the first two seasons would have been nice, but "Made For Love" got pulled off the HBO Max service in 2022, much to the chagrin of Milioti and the show's fans. Here's hoping it finds its way out of the pasture hub someday.

A beloved queer romcom set on the high seas, David Jenkins' "Our Flag Means Death" features a motley ensemble led by an aristocrat who blows up his life to become a pirate and saves that same life (multiple times) by being in proximity to the accidental deaths of his would-be-captors. Initially based on the real lives of Stede Bonnet (aka the Gentleman Pirate) and Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard), Jenkins created a love story at the heart of an adventure filled with double crosses, murderous power plays, and silliness that acted as the glue for the show. Across two seasons, Jenkins led his audience and his main characters through heartbreaking missed connections, countless obstacles, and realizations that, despite their disparate life experiences, Stede and Ed were exactly what the other was looking for.

As seems standard for this list, "Our Flag Means Death" got canceled prematurely after hitting that two season magic number. More than a critical darling, though, the show was a loud and proud audience favorite, with a fanbase that responded vocally to the cancellation. Alas, it wasn't enough to convince Max to rethink their decision or for another company to pick up the show's planned third season. At least in this case, fans can still dive into the existing episodes all over again on HBO Max.

"Peacemaker" is a spin-off of James Gunn's "Suicide Squad" movie, with the busy filmmaker serving as showrunner while also managing to write and direct 2025's "Superman" and become the co-CEO of DC Studios. Despite multiple other projects pulling at Gunn's attention, "Peacemaker" never seems to suffer from a lack of creative vision. The show feels tonally distinct from every other superhero show while adding depth to Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker (John Cena) from the jump. This version is more than the unrelenting force for peace by any means necessary (including rampant killing) that we see in the "Suicide Squad" film.

While the show expands Peacemaker's story, weaving in childhood trauma and a dysfunctional relationship with his father (Robert Patrick), the addition of a crew known as the 11th Street Kids grounds everything by giving Smith people to care about. But Gunn never lets us forget the Peacemaker's past misdeeds, which influence the second season of the show and its cliffhanger ending.

While there's enough story to justify a third season, Gunn won't commit to or rule one out; in a post-finale press conference, he said, "Never say never. But right now, this is about the future of the DCU" when addressing the prospects of another season.

Coming off the success of "The Big Bang Theory," Kaley Cuoco took on the role of Cassie Bowden, a hard-partying flight attendant who gets caught up in a mess of murder and international intrigue. Technically listed as a comedy, the show leans into the drama as Cuoco's character falls deeper into an intensifying conspiracy and her own mind while questioning who she can trust.

In the show's second and final season, we find Cassie splitting her focus between recovery, a new relationship, her duties as a flight attendant, and her side hustle as an asset for the CIA. Once again, everything gets upended by an international incident. The device of showing her internal deliberations returns as she bickers with multiple versions of herself as the writers play into her destructive tendencies and guilt.

Despite her backsliding into the bottle and blowing up her life, it's easy to root for Cassie as she tries to avoid capture, rogue agents, North Korean assassins, and the consequences of her actions. While she lives at the center of a spiral, Cassie clearly wants to be better. Ending before its premise got tired, the 12-time Emmy-nominated series stands as a satisfying 16-episode murder mystery wrapped around a journey of trauma recognition and self-improvement.

"The Pitt" relies on the life-and-death theater of a medical procedural, conjuring comparisons to series star and producer Noah Wyle's old show "ER." As with that series, the writers (led by "ER" alums R. Scott Gemmill, John Wells, and Joe Sachs) let us know just enough about the patients to be leveled when a prognosis takes a turn for the worst. But with "The Pitt," they're also free to show the slow-burn emotional devastation of the doctors and nurses as they fight the clock, the unpredictability of health crises, and the absence of enough sleep, beds, empathy, and other resources.

Two seasons in and we're seeing characters in various stages of work-related burnout. How long can "The Pitt" captivate by pushing its characters to the brink? Will anything less than high-intensity stress feel authentic? Even if "The Pitt" doesn't end up lasting for 15 seasons like its network TV predecessor, it's already poised to stand out as a classic, building on its 38 Emmy nominations and excellent storytelling that captures the weight and velocity of the last line of defense for people at their most vulnerable.