10 Best HBO Shows to Binge Right Now on MAX

HBO started what we now call the “Golden Age of Television” in the late ’90s and since then has created many of the greatest television shows of all time. HBO’s best shows run the gamut of genres and influences, combining deft writing, brilliant directing, and amazing acting to entertain audiences like nothing else. The metric ton of Primetime Emmys the network has won is proof of this. HBO became the powerhouse of prestige television in the ‘00s and the changes they wrought on television have led to all of the great shows we have now. HBO showed that episodic television medium could tell stories in ways that no one had ever tried before.

Anyone with Max has a treasure trove of amazing HBO shows to binge. There’s a little something for everyone, but there are some that definitely rise above the rest. These ten are the best HBO shows to watch right now, giving viewers an amazing variety of entertainment.

Oz

Most people like to think the era of HBO prestige TV began in 1999 with The Sopranos, but to find the true beginning, one needs to go back about two years prior. Oz is a crime drama that takes place in the Oswald Correctional Facility, a prison that is home to a remarkable idea called “the Emerald City.” This wing of the prison gives its inmates a surprising amount of freedom, serving as an experiment to make the prison experience better for the inmates.

The show follows the lives of the inmates and staff and doesn’t flinch from the more terrifying aspects of the prison experience. Oz can be straight-up horrific at times, but it can also be wonderful. The show’s rich characters and great acting draw viewers in, and the show’s storytelling techniques formed the bedrock of the prestige TV experience.

Flight of the Concords

HBO wasn’t just the home of gripping drama, there are also some all-time great comedies on the network. One of the best came from the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Concords, consisting of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. The two got an HBO comedy special to introduce them to audiences before getting their own series in 2007. Flight of the Concords only ran for two seasons, but it remains one of the funniest shows in HBO history.

The show followed the two as they tried to find fame and fortune in New York City as musicians, working with their manager Murray, who is also the Deputy Cultural Attache for New Zealand. The show is hilarious, made all the better by the musical stylings of the duo. Seriously, “Bowie’s in Space” is one of the greatest songs ever and that’s only the beginning of the amazing music of the show. Flight of the Concords deserved a much longer run than it got and it’s perfect for a binge-watch.

The Larry Sanders Show

HBO was always the home of great comedy, starting with the stand-up specials of the network’s early days. Eventually, they started putting out some amazing sitcoms, including The Larry Sanders Show, which ran from 1992 to 1998. The show starred Gary Shandling as the titular character, a late-night talk show host dealing with his boss, coworkers, and the show’s guests. Because it was HBO, the show was allowed to go much further when it came to profanity than network specials, allowing the show to hit levels of comedy that network viewers weren’t always used to.

Shandling is the best of the best, but Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor are often better. The Larry Sanders Show is definitely of its time, which is a problem that a lot of sitcoms generally have, but when the show is “on,” there are few sitcoms better.

Treme

New Orleans is one of America’s greatest cities, a multicultural melting pot with a culture all its own. Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed the city, but it persevered and that’s what Treme is about. A product of The Wire creators David Simon and Eric Overmeyer, the show followed an ensemble cast as they worked to rebuild their home, showing the beauty and strength of New Orleans.

Many HBO dramas are known for the extremes they go to, but Treme seems tame by comparison to something like Rome or Game of Thrones. However, the show is a brilliant character piece, showing the resilience of the human spirit and how important the little things are to our lives – music, food, celebrations. Treme only ran for four seasons and doesn’t get the plaudits of some of its HBO peers, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the greatest shows of all time.

Rome

Rome was a joint production of HBO and the BBC, and the two networks went all out for the show. Rome told the story of Julius Caesar’s conquest of Rome and its aftermath. The show followed a variety of characters – Caesar and other members of the upper echelons of Roman society, as well as soldiers and other lower-class people. The show was gritty and violent, and the production quality was top-notch. However, that last part became a problem, as Rome was extremely expensive and not exactly something that would have sold a lot of merch in the mid-2000s. The show only lasted two seasons, but what amazing seasons they were.

Rome combines great historical drama with the kind of gritty storytelling that HBO is known for. Everything about the show is quality and its 22 episodes will grab a viewer and never let go. Rome was ahead of its time – if it came out in the last decade it definitely would have lasted more than two seasons. It’s a historical drama of the highest order.

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Game of Thrones

There are some people out there who will say that watching Game of Thrones is a waste of time. The show went from one of the greatest adaptations of all time to something of a laughingstock in the last two seasons. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss wanted to bring the series to an end so they could move on from the franchise to explore other projects, which included the possibility of developing Star Wars films, only for those plans to dissolve. Unfortunately, bringing the show to its finale at an expedited pace and the underwhelming response to those seasons from viewers would impact their careers.

However, that doesn’t change how brilliant early Game of Thrones was. There’s a reason the show became a phenomenon when it began airing – it is that good. Adapting George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of books, Game of Thrones put the world of Westeros onscreen in all of its glory. The show outran Martin – a notoriously slow writer – and got worse without source material to adapt – but it’s still worth bingeing.

The Jinx

HBO has been home to amazing documentaries over the years – seriously, go watch the Paradise Lost trilogy about the West Memphis Three – but most of them aren’t what would be considered “series.” However, one documentary is not only a series, it actually led to the conviction of its subject – The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. The show was directed by Anthony Jerecki, who had told a fictionalized version of Durst’s story in the film All Good Things. Durst was a wealthy New York City real estate magnate who was accused of the murders of his first wife Kathie, his friend Susan Berman, and his neighbor Morris Black, which took place over decades from the early ’80s until the early ’00s. It premiered in 2015, with a second season coming in 2024.

The first season laid out the evidence against Durst, and ended with a massive bombshell. In an unguarded moment, not knowing that the cameras were rolling, Durst seemingly confessed to the murders while talking to himself. He would soon be arrested for the crimes, and the show’s second season would deal with the trial against him, leading to his conviction and his death in 2022. The Jinx is easily one of the best true crime series of all time and will engross anyone who binges it.

The Wire

The Wire is considered by many to be the greatest crime drama of all time. Created by David Simon, an author and former police reporter, the show took place in Baltimore. Over its five-season run, it focused on a different institution of the city and its relationship to the police – the illegal drug trade, the port system, the city government and bureaucracy, the education system, and the print media. It brought together a brilliant ensemble cast, their acting bringing the stories to life.

The Wire deserves its plaudits like few other shows. Simon was able to take the realities of an American city, warts and all, and bring them to viewers. Crime dramas too often romanticize one side or another, but The Wire showed the reality of things. There aren’t enough adjectives in the world to describe how good it is, because none of them do the show any justice.

Deadwood

The Western genre is nowhere near the entertainment titan it once was. However, Deadwood showed the blueprint to make it vital again. Created by David Milch, Deadwood took place in the town of the same name during its boom period. The show’s three-season run did an amazing job of capturing the truths of the West – a dirty violent place full of men and women trying to make their fortunes or survive another day. Deadwood doesn’t flinch from the darker aspects of America in the late 1800s and that realism made it one of the best shows on TV from 2004 to 2007. However, the show was also very expensive to produce and that led to it ending in its third season rather abruptly.

Deadwood is the perfect example of everything that makes HBO shows the best on television. The acting, writing, directing, and production are all top-notch, telling its stories with what can best be described as an air of filthy Shakespeare – the flowery language of the time combined with the most vulgar profanity to create something unique. It’s also a low-key hilarious show, its deadpan sense of humor shining through even in the darkest moments. The show finally got a proper ending in 2019, with a movie released by HBO wrapping things up. Compared to the show, it’s something of a fairy tale ending, but it still captures much of the flavor of the show.

The Sopranos

There are some people who think that Breaking Bad is the greatest TV show ever, but those are mostly folks who never watched The Sopranos. The Sopranos is the show that everyone agrees kicked off the “Golden Age of TV,” and its six-season run made it into a hit with critics and fans. The Sopranos follows mob boss Tony Soprano as he deals with his life and various mental illnesses, with his therapy sessions playing a critical role in the show’s narrative. Created by David Chase, The Sopranos took the familiar mob stories that Hollywood had been telling for years and put them under the microscope, focusing on the characters and how their lives affect themselves and their families.

The Sopranos deserves every bit of its reputation. Even its worst episodes are better than the best episodes of 99% of every other show out there. Tony Soprano is one of the most magnetic TV characters ever created. He’s a monster, but he’s charming and complex, and James Gandolfini’s portrayal of him is the key to the whole show. The Sopranos is a true classic and it’s almost impossible to not binge — each episode is so engrossing that hours can pass before the viewer even realizes it.

You can binge all of these shows on Max.