Max has established itself as a powerhouse streaming service, home to blockbuster franchises that dominate pop culture conversations. When subscribers think of Max, their minds likely jump to the sprawling fantasy worlds of House of the Dragon and The Last of Us, or gritty DC adaptations like The Penguin and Peacemaker. These tentpole productions, with their massive marketing budgets and built-in fanbases, often overshadow equally brilliant but less publicized content lurking in Max’s extensive library. As a result, the streaming platform’s impressive collection of critically acclaimed series slips through the algorithmic cracks despite offering storytelling that rivals or even surpasses their more famous counterparts.
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The following ten series represent the best of Max’s hidden gems, shows that deliver exceptional quality despite flying beneath most subscribers’ radar. Whether you’re looking for darkly comedic crime tales, mesmerizing animated adventures, or powerful limited series, these underappreciated TV shows deserve your attention.
Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects is an HBO psychological thriller starring Amy Adams as Camille Preaker, an alcoholic journalist who returns to her small Missouri hometown to report on the murders of two young girls. The eight-episode series focuses on Camille’s dysfunctional relationship with her controlling mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), and her teenage half-sister Amma (Eliza Scanlen). Director Jean-Marc Vallée creates a suffocating Southern Gothic atmosphere through hazy summer visuals and disorienting flashbacks that mirror Camille’s traumatic past and current struggles with self-harm and sobriety. The murder investigation serves primarily as a framework to explore the town’s dark secrets and Camille’s family history, leading to one of television’s most disturbing conclusions. If you enjoy character-driven mysteries like True Detective or Mare of Easttown, where psychological depth matters more than procedural elements, this limited series offers a haunting examination of generational trauma that lingers long after it ends.
Bored to Death
Bored to Death follows struggling Brooklyn novelist Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) who, after a breakup and writer’s block, impulsively advertises himself as a private detective on Craigslist despite having no qualifications beyond his love of noir fiction. This comedy series tracks Jonathan’s amateur sleuthing adventures alongside his best friends: wealthy magazine editor George (Ted Danson), who uses marijuana to cope with a midlife crisis, and self-absorbed comic book artist Ray (Zach Galifianakis), whose relationship problems provide a subplot in each episode. Created by the real Jonathan Ames, the show presents cases ranging from finding missing persons to infiltrating exclusive New York parties, all handled with a combination of literary references, deadpan humor, and occasional surprising competence. Viewers who enjoy character-driven comedies about creative people making questionable choices will find Bored to Death a perfectly balanced mix of noir parody and sincere friendship story.
We Are Who We Are
We Are Who We Are is a coming-of-age drama set on a U.S. military base in Italy in 2016, directed by filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Bones and All). The eight-episode series focuses on two American teenagers: 14-year-old Fraser (Jack Dylan Grazer), who moves to the base with his two military mothers, and Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamón), who has lived there for years but is questioning her gender identity despite her traditional father’s expectations. Unlike typical teen shows, We Are Who We Are unfolds at a deliberately measured pace, capturing the authentic rhythms of adolescent discovery through long scenes of teenagers hanging out, exploring their sexuality, and forming intense friendships against the backdrop of the polarizing 2016 U.S. presidential election. The show excels at portraying the unique cultural bubble of American military bases abroad, where American and Italian cultures create a distinctive third environment. The series will particularly appeal to viewers who appreciate nuanced LGBTQ+ representation and patient, character-driven storytelling that prioritizes emotional authenticity over dramatic plot twists.
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Station Eleven
Station Eleven transforms the post-apocalyptic genre by focusing on art and human connection twenty years after a devastating flu pandemic wiped out most of humanity. Based on Emily St. John Mandel’s novel, this limited series follows the Traveling Symphony, a troupe of actors and musicians who perform Shakespeare for the small communities that have emerged from civilization’s collapse. The story centers on Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis), who was a child actress when the pandemic hit and now travels with the Symphony, carrying both physical and emotional scars from the intervening decades. Station Eleven moves between three timelines — before the pandemic, during its immediate aftermath, and 20 years later — connecting characters across time in surprising ways. Unlike typical apocalyptic stories focused on violence and desperation, this Max series shows a world where nature has reclaimed urban spaces, and survivors have built meaningful lives despite technological loss.
The Other Two
The Other Two begins when 13-year-old Chase Dreams (Case Walker) becomes an overnight YouTube sensation with his music video “Marry U at Recess,” forcing his older siblings to deal with living in his shadow. Brooke (Heléne Yorke), a former dancer now working in real estate, and Cary (Drew Tarver), a struggling gay actor auditioning for roles like “Man Who Smells Fart at Party,” try to leverage their brother’s sudden fame for their own careers while protecting him from the industry’s exploitation. The comedy from former SNL writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider gets even more complicated when their mother Pat (Molly Shannon) lands her own daytime talk show, leaving the titular “other two” as the family’s only non-famous members. The Other Two delivers biting satire of entertainment industry absurdities, from exploitative talent managers to performative celebrity activism, while maintaining genuine emotional stakes. The series started on Comedy Central before moving to Max for its second and third seasons, making it perfect for viewers who enjoy sharp pop culture commentary like 30 Rock.
Scavengers Reign
Scavengers Reign is an adult animated sci-fi series that follows the scattered survivors of the destroyed spaceship Demeter 227 as they struggle to escape the dangerous alien planet Vesta. The show tracks three separate groups: engineer Ursula and ship’s doctor Kamen, who form an uneasy partnership despite opposing worldviews; maintenance worker Azi, who undergoes bizarre physical transformations after exposure to alien organisms; and security officer Sam with her loyal robot companion Levi. What sets Scavengers Reign apart is its genuinely alien ecosystem. Instead of humanoid aliens with forehead ridges, the show presents truly foreign biology with crystalline creatures, plants that communicate through spore networks, and massive predators with hunting methods unlike anything on Earth. The animation combines realistic human character designs with surreal, sometimes disturbing alien visuals that create a beautiful and nightmarish world. This Max original will appeal to sci-fi fans who appreciate imaginative worldbuilding and body horror elements.
I May Destroy You
I May Destroy You follows Arabella (Michaela Coel), a Twitter-star-turned-novelist who is sexually assaulted after her drink is spiked during a night out in London. Created, written, co-directed, and starring Coel (based partly on her own experience), this series tracks Arabella’s disjointed attempts to remember what happened while meeting book deadlines, maintaining friendships, and navigating dating in the aftermath of her assault. The series expands beyond Arabella to explore her friends’ experiences: Terry (Weruche Opia), an actress questioning a sexual encounter during a trip to Italy, and Kwame (Paapa Essiedu), who faces his own sexual assault and the challenges of reporting it as a gay Black man. Unlike typical trauma narratives, I May Destroy You shifts between tones, creating a complex exploration of consent, racial identity, and social media culture in contemporary London.
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Jett
Jett stars Carla Gugino as Daisy “Jett” Kowalski, a master thief who attempts to retire after prison to care for her young daughter, only to be forced back into the criminal world by powerful crime lord Charlie Baudelaire (Giancarlo Esposito). What begins as “one last job” — stealing a precious ring from an Eastern European gangster’s heavily guarded compound — spirals into a dangerous web of double-crosses, revenge plots, and competing crime families. Created by Sebastian Gutierrez, this crime thriller employs nonlinear storytelling to reveal Jett’s history with various criminals and lovers, including her former prison cellmate Alice (Jodie Turner-Smith). Jett stands out for presenting an unapologetically pragmatic female protagonist who approaches theft as a profession requiring precise planning rather than a moral failing, allowing the series to focus on the mechanics of elaborate heists alongside the criminal politics that complicate them.
Tokyo Vice
Tokyo Vice is a crime drama based on American journalist Jake Adelstein’s memoir about working at Japan’s largest newspaper in the late 1990s. The series stars Ansel Elgort as Jake, who becomes the first foreign reporter at the Meicho Shimbun and forms an alliance with veteran detective Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) as they investigate the Tokyo yakuza’s complex criminal operations. Beyond Jake’s journalism, the show follows Samantha (Rachel Keller), an American hostess navigating Tokyo’s high-end club scene where businessmen and gangsters mingle, and Sato (Show Kasamatsu), a young yakuza member torn between his crime family loyalty and growing moral reservations. Executive produced and partly directed by Michael Mann, Tokyo Vice features meticulous attention to late-’90s Tokyo, capturing the city’s contrasts between gleaming corporate towers and seedy backroom gambling dens during Japan’s economic recession.
Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords follows New Zealand musical duo Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie playing fictionalized versions of themselves as they attempt to find success in New York City while being managed by their incompetent New Zealand consulate employee Murray (Rhys Darby). Living in a dingy apartment and performing in nearly empty venues, Jemaine and Bret navigate romantic failures, financial struggles, and cultural misunderstandings with their sole fan, Mel (Kristen Schaal), stalking them with uncomfortable enthusiasm. What makes the HBO series special are the musical numbers that transform mundane situations into surreal music videos spanning genres from folk to hip-hop, R&B to electronica. Each episode typically features two original songs that comment on the plot with deadpan delivery contrasting hilariously with increasingly elaborate musical fantasies. Before Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi created What We Do in the Shadows, this earlier comedy established their distinctive humor, combining awkward social interactions with absurdist elements.
What other Max TV show would you add to this list of hidden gems? Let us know in the comments!
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