2 Years Later, HBO Max’s Follow-Up to Netflix’s Controversial Hit With 99% on RT Is a Streaming Success

HBO Max has a new hit on its hands, and it’s in part thanks to Netflix. 2026 has already been a strong year for HBO TV shows, with the likes of Industry, The Pitt, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and DTF St. Louis mixing critical acclaim with high viewership. That’s important, because the streaming wars have challenged HBO’s reign as the king of TV, with some of the biggest and best shows in recent years coming from the likes of Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, and more.

There’s a lot for subscribers right now, in particular. Among its ongoing shows are Euphoria, Rooster, The Comeback, and Hacks, and included with those proving successful week-to-week is Half Man, a co-production between HBO and BBC. The series stars Richard Gadd (who also created and wrote the show) and Jamie Bell as Niall and Ruben, who grew up as brothers (though they’re not actually related), and then reunite decades later, with the series moving through their history, how that friendship was formed, and what happened to them. Per FlixPatrol, it’s regularly in HBO Max’s Top 10 worldwide (ranking around 6th-7th in several countries), and in the U.S., after new episodes drop each Thursday, and among the service’s most popular movies and shows on ReelGood.

Half Man Isn’t Baby Reindeer, But Is Still Worth Watching

The success of Half Man in part comes from Baby Reindeer, one of Netflix’s buzziest word of mouth hits in the last couple of years. That dark comedy thriller about a man’s life being affected by a stalker proved highly bingeable and had hundreds of millions of viewing hours on the service, and Half Man is Gadd’s follow-up show, which no doubt has helped drive interest in it. The sophomore act to such a popular show (albeit one that garnered a fair bit of controversy too) isn’t easy, but he’s handled it rather well.

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It isn’t driving conversation in the same way, and seems unlikely to repeat the six Emmy wins, but it’s nonetheless a solid hit and also a solid watch. It has a 76% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with praise in particular for the how it tackles toxic masculinity and being brave, bold, and bleak in its storytelling. With it halfway through its six-episode run, there’s not too much to catch up on if you do want to dive in.

HBO Max’s Biggest 2026 Shows Are Still To Come

It’s possible that we’ve already seen the best of HBO Max in 2026, because The Pitt is hard for any streaming service to top, but what’s clear is that we haven’t seen the streamer’s biggest shows. It has some major releases to come, beginning with House of the Dragon Season 3, which premieres on June 21st. A couple of months later, DC’s Lanterns will release, and both of those are expected to be major hits, even if they’ll also no doubt divide audiences

The biggest of all, though, is being saved for the very end of the year: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will debut at Christmas, and has a good chance of being the most watched streaming show of the year. It’s going to be the kind of Game of Thrones-esque event TV that’s so rare in the streaming era, and will help ensure that 2026 was a year dominated by HBO and HBO Max.

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