7 Shows On HBO Max You Should Jump On ASAP If You’re Looking For Your Next TV Obsession
I don’t know about you, but I’m over the moon that HBO Max has officially arrived on Aussie shores. What really sets the streaming service apart is that it’s bursting from the seams with smart, cinematic TV — all killer, no filler, basically.
What you’ll find on HBO Max is the creme de la creme. This is elite content, people. It’s TV you want to talk about.
But with great content comes just as great bingeability. If I was forced to choose, (and let’s be real, I have been), here are seven of the most bingeworthy shows on HBO Max. Binge responsibly, friends.
1. The White Lotus
It’d be borderline criminal not to mention The White Lotus, which chronicles the lives of cashed up Americans flinging themselves to beautiful places like Italy, Hawaii, and Thailand, only to never leave their hotel. #relatable.
One of my fave parts of this show is that it’s essentially a soap opera dressed up as Prestige TV, and I mean that as the highest of compliments.
It means that you can take in a show that exposes power inequalities while also feeling a little bit like you’re watching a really good episode of Survivor. Given that creator Mike White is a reality TV superfan, even competing on Survivor itself in 2018, it all kind of checks out.
2. Succession
Even the most diehard Succession fans will probably concede that the show, which follows the antics of a Murdoch-like media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his four adult children as they each clamour for their dad’s fortune, is kind of an acquired taste. But let me tell you that once you’re in, you are so in.
Sure, it’s unlikely that you’ll be hooked by Episode 1. But give it a bit of time and you’ll soon find that the machinations of these nepo babies, with standout performances by Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, and “our” Sarah Snook, will become lodged into your brain for eternity.
Thanks to writer Jesse Armstrong, who is also behind the UK sitcom Peep Show, Succession is also one of the most bitingly funny pieces of modern satire in recent times. Nice one, Jesse.
3. The Last Of Us
There’s something about post-apocalyptic TV that makes for a deeply addictive viewing experience, yanking you into its orbit and refusing to let go.
The Emmy award winning The Last Of Us, the TV adaptation of a hugely popular video game going by the same name, 100 per cent fits that bill. It traces the lives of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they make their way through a world that was ravaged by a fungal outbreak 20 years earlier.
Showcasing incredible performances by both Pascal and Ramsey, the show grapples with big sweeping themes like survival, fatherhood, and loss; all while boasting the kind of immersive set design that will fling you from the comfort of your couch into the derelict ruins of post-apocalyptic Massachusetts quicker than you can google “is Pedro Pascal single?”.
4. Barry
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but please, please, do not sleep on the television gold that is Barry. Led by Bill Hader, this inventive show follows the life of Barry Berkman, a US marine turned hitman who decides, while on assignment in LA, to take acting classes.
If that premise doesn’t tempt you, then the amazing performances from its slew of side characters will, including Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau, Barry’s self-absorbed acting teacher, Stephen Root as Barry’s childhood friend Fuches, who groomed him into becoming a hitman, and Anthony Carrigan as Chechen gangster NoHo Hank.
While Barry is darkly hilarious, it is also a moving character study into grief, trauma, depression. It’s not too cerebral, either: as the seasons go on, the show becomes more and more of a thrillride. There’s nothing this show can’t do. 10/10, no notes, chef’s kiss.
5. The Pitt
While the brand new series The Pitt has made a massive splash in the US, the vaunted medical drama has flown relatively under the radar closer to home. The show chronicles an emergency department in Pittsburgh as the staff literally work their asses off to save patients’ lives.
Noah Wyle leads the cast as Dr Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, an attending physician who is dealing with PTSD after the COVID pandemic. Yup, this is a show that is very much set in the real world: staff don’t have time for meet-cutes in elevators (no shade to elevator meet-cutes!) but are instead dealing with an underfunded and overcrowded emergency department in a country where healthcare workers are too often taken for granted.
The Pitt has garnered praise for how realistically it depicts the lives of healthcare workers on the front lines of US hospitals, with The Independent gushing that its first season is probably the best debut season of TV in years. Take that as you will.
6. Girls
Ok, hear me out. It’s not the freshest show in town, but there’s something deeply satisfying about watching Girls ten years after these ladies called it quits. I, for one, am finding it a much wickedly funny watch than I remember.
Who could forget, for example, the moment in which Hannah (Lena Dunham), declares to her doctor: “Maybe I thought I was scared of AIDS, but really what I am is… wanting AIDS.”
Well, I did. I had forgotten that line, and let me tell you, Lena Dunham is responsible for some of the funniest dialogue ever written. “That is an incredibly silly thing to say,” her doctor responds. “You do not want AIDS.” Period, queen.
I’m obviously not the first person to have this opinion: pretty much everyone was rewatching Girls a couple of years ago, to the point where a comedy podcast called Girls Rewatch was on everyone’s lips, with every publication from The New York Times to Glamour questioning what was behind the the series’ sudden renaissance.
Honestly, the answer might just be that it’s a really good show. Fight with the wall.
7. Peacemaker
Ah yes, we couldn’t wrap this up without dropping in John Cena’s legendary performance as the titular character of Peacemaker. The DCU equivalent of Deadpool, if you ask me.
If you’re not familiar, Peacemaker follows Christopher Smith, the superpowered vigilante who has some… spotty views on justice, to say the least. Without giving too much away, Season 2 sees Peacemaker and his team of unconventional crime fighters battling a new threat.
It’s all the action you’d expect from a DCU masterpiece with layers of comedy like you’ve never seen. Trust me — you’ll be belly laughing.
I’ll leave you with this: the show made its debut with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. I rest my case.
For more of that all killer, no filler goodness that HBO Max does best, click here. You’re welcome in advance.
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