No matter what name it goes by nowadays (Max? HBO Max? HBO Go?!?!) HBO is HBO. The king of premium cable is still a major player in the streaming wars, holding its own against Netflix, Amazon, and Disney/Hulu with its exclusive platform Max. I mean, seriously: What TV brand out there can you identify by the sound of channel static?
Since the launch of what was once called "HBO Max" back in 2020, Max endures and survives as the destination for prestige television. Even now, the brand still coasts on its goodwill from seminal programming like The Sopranos and The Wire. And no matter how it ended, we were glued to HBO screens on Sunday nights when Game of Thrones was at its zenith.
In 2025, Max is showing signs of swerving away from pouring oodles of money into risky, big-budget productions into what's tried and true. The buzziest show of the year isn't another Thrones spin-off. It's The Pitt, a show that would have slaughtered in the ratings on primetime network TV decades ago. But The Pitt isn't the only show worth keeping an HBO—sorry, Max—subscription active.
Here are the best shows of Max in 2025, so far.
The Pitt
Not since ER and Grey's Anatomy has there been an addicting medical show like The Pitt. Essentially 24 in an emergency room,The Pitt stars Noah Wyle as a senior attending physician—one who is still haunted by the traumas of the COVID-19 pandemic—who endures one long day at the overcrowded, underfunded Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Like 24, the show has a novel narrative structure, with each episode unfolding over an hour in real time. At once a throwback to the network TV era when episodic shows reigned supreme and a streaming breakthrough, The Pitt shows there's still life left yet in a once-presumed dead genre.
The Last of Us (Season 2)
If you can't get enough of Pedro Pascal, good news: He's in one of the best HBO shows on right now, and it's The Last of Us. Though season 2 has traumatized fans and pissed off Pedro stans, the show—based on the hit PlayStation video games—keeps its luster as a rich apocalypse drama that eschews the pulpy appeal of most other "zombie" shows for something that feels infinitely more real. Season 2 picks up from season 1, with survivors Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) living safely in a community until stranger danger brings Ellie down a road to revenge. Episode 2 has been the talk of your social feeds, and there's no signs of that buzz slowing down any time soon.
The White Lotus (Season 3)
The latest season of The White Lotus ended on a polarizing note, but there's no denying the show is still irresistible and one of the last TV shows that can still generate heated conversation. Following in the footsteps of its first two seasons, The White Lotus relocates to Thailand to follow a whole new group of disgustingly wealthy people whose vacation in Ko Samui is anything but escape. Season 3 has arguably the best cast the show has ever assembled, seeing Patrick Schwarzenegger prove himself as a rising star and Walton Goggins being, well, Walton Goggins.
Hacks (Season 4)
It's lonely at the top. That's the dilemma faced by Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) in season 4 of Hacks, which is still one of the best scripted comedies running today. The new season sees the work begin for Deborah, now triumphant with her brand-new late night talk show and Ava working as her head writer. But their ongoing feud threatens to derail the show before their first episode even makes it to air. As jagged-edged as ever, Hacks is no slouch.
The Rehearsal
Back in 2022, Nathan Fielder asserted his indescribable brand of comedy with The Rehearsal. The documentary show is ostensibly about helping people "rehearse" through incoming challenges. But nothing is what it seems whenever Nathan Fielder is involved, and in The Rehearsal, everything slowly turns inward onto Fielder himself, who finds he's in need of much help as his clients. After three long years, season 2 has made its overdue return on Max, and it's just as hilarious and spiritually provocative as it was the first time around. One might think Nathan Fielder has practiced for it.
Lazarus
Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo creator Shinichirō Watanabe is back, and in his final form with the dazzling sci-fi anime Lazarus. Set in the near future, a task force is dispatched to track down a rogue neuroscientist whose massively popular drug is revealed to have a fatal half-life, forcing a race against time to develop a vaccine. Along for the ride with Watanabe is John Wick director Chad Stahelski and jazz luminary Kamasi Washington, contributing their talents to bring Watanabe's unmatched propulsive vision to roaring life. Basically, just trust that the guy who made Cowboy Bebop has struck gold once more.
Celtics City
How do you encapsulate 80 years of sports history? I don't know how, but Celtics City on Max has done just that. Though what else would you expect from a show that emulates the winningest team in NBA history? Directed by Lauren Stowell and co-produced by the guys behind ESPN's 30 for 30, Bill Simmons and Connor Schell, Celtics City takes audience on deep-dive into the NBA franchise and its prolific history, spanning the team's origins to its 2024 championship victory. If spoiled rich people and apocalyptic zombies have you feeling spent, let Celtics City take you on a journey that is rooted in reality, but is no less fantastic.
The Righteous Gemstones (Season 4)
In the fourth and final season of The Righteous Gemstones continues to follow the Gemstone children and their questionable qualifications to oversee their father's megachurch empire. Though the Book of Gemstone is at its end, The Righteous Gemstones is as divine as ever, with its last run of episodes giving its faithful an almighty farewell.
