The 15 HBO Max Shows That Justify A Subscription

If you can't afford to subscribe to every streaming service available, how do you decide which platforms are worth the price? Each service boasts its fair share of buzzworthy TV series that convert curious audiences into paying customers. Now, we're focusing on HBO Max. 

Since its inception in 1972, the network has aimed to produce content that is a step above regular television programming. HBO's slogan in the 1990s and 2000s, "It's Not TV. It's HBO," illustrated its lofty aspirations, as does its full name, "Home Box Office." HBO has maintained that reputation over the decades, even as the streaming era emerged and HBO Max launched. While not every show on HBO Max is at the level of "The Sopranos" or "The Wire," the streamer has maintained a focus on "prestige" television with big budgets. 

Though the streamer's unfortunate name changes from HBO Max to Max to HBO Max once again have caused much eye-rolling, viewers still log on to the platform to find something outstanding to watch. But where should new or potential subscribers start? Below, we've compiled a list of some of the great HBO Max shows that make a subscription worth the price. 

The biggest HBO Max show of the year, along with the controversial second season of "Severance," "The Pitt" is worth every accolade it has received. Created by "ER" producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, alongside "ER" star Noah Wyle, the series follows life in the emergency room using a different lens. Wyle plays Dr. Michael "Robbie" Robinavitch, the attending physician at an emergency room in Pittsburgh. The series follows Dr. Robbie and his fellow healthcare professionals as they complete a laborious 12-hour shift.

The structure of "The Pitt" distinguishes it from other medical dramas. Every hour-long episode covers one hour of their shift, meaning the end of the shift marks the end of the first season. Told in real time, each story feels both urgent and interminable. The doctors and nurses are putting out dozens of fires every hour, but the real-time pace means we get to know some patients throughout several episodes, giving individual threads more gravity despite the show's frenetic pace. Often called one of the most medically accurate shows ever made, "The Pitt" delivers both heartrending stories and thrilling action.

The HBO Max series "Hacks" is a TV show about writing and performing comedy, though it's not as laugh-out-loud as you would expect. But don't take that the wrong way, as that's one of its best qualities. An insightful dramedy driven by character growth and lined with absurd humor, "Hacks" lives up to the hype.

Jean Smart plays Deborah Vance, a veteran stand-up comedian whose Vegas show is losing its luster. Deborah reluctantly hires Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a 20-something comedy writer recently fired for a controversial tweet. Deborah and Ava are an unlikely pair, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start. As they come to respect one another, things shift, and they both evolve as collaborators and as comedians.

While Deborah and Ava's relationship is the heart of the show, they're surrounded by an eclectic cast of characters that fill out this zany world. These include Jimmy, Deborah and Ava's manager, played by co-creator Paul W. Downs, and Jimmy's consistently out-of-pocket assistant, played by the brilliant Megan Stalter.

A water cooler show in the age of social media, "Mare of Easttown" gave HBO Max subscribers something new to look forward to every week. Kate Winslet plays Mare, a detective in a small Pennsylvania town. Legendary in the town for scoring the championship-winning point for her high school basketball team, Mare has grown cranky and cynical in middle age.

While investigating the murder of a teenage girl and the disappearance of another one year prior, Mare deals with many personal troubles that make it difficult for her to do her job. Mare's no-nonsense, cantankerous attitude recalls many male detectives and anti-heroes of years past, but Winslet's compelling performance gives the archetype new depth. Sporting a highly specific and accurate regional Pennsylvanian accent, Winslet won hearts (and an Emmy) for her portrayal of Mare.

The supporting cast is similarly phenomenal and includes Evan Peters, Julianne Nicholson, and Jean Smart, playing Mare's long-suffering mother. If you watch "Mare of Easttown" today, you won't get the experience of watching it with thousands of other obsessive viewers, but the show's emotional impact hasn't waned.

Up there with the best HBO shows of all time, "The Leftovers" will sit with you long after the final credits roll. Created by "Lost" alum David Lindelof and novelist Tom Perrotta, the series takes place following an unusual apocalyptic event, where 2% of the world's population (140 million people) disappeared without a trace. This event is known as the "Sudden Departure."

We're introduced to Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), the chief of police of a New York town. His wife, Laurie (Amy Brenneman), is a member of the Guilty Remnant, a cult that believes life has no meaning. His son, Tommy (Chris Zylka), left to follow a pseudo-religious figure, leaving Kevin at home with his teenage daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley).

It's best not to describe the plot of "The Leftovers" too much, as any summary wouldn't do the show's profundity justice. At its core, the show reminds us that human connection acts as a salve for existential grief, a lesson that has only become more prescient since the series premiered in 2014.

Co-created and starring Bill Hader, "Barry" follows a hitman's journey to Los Angeles. Tired of his life in the killing game, Barry (Hader) unexpectedly finds himself in an acting class and takes a liking to the discipline, as well as one of his classmates, Sally (Sarah Goldberg). Escaping his former profession isn't so easy, and Barry struggles to find the balance between light and dark.

This humorous setup gives way to one of the most unique shows in recent memory. Initially, Barry's foray into acting works as Hollywood satire and a metaphor for Hader's experiences in the business. We soon get a peek inside Barry's complex psyche, following the hitman as he looks for deeper meaning in his life.

The idea of dark humor doesn't encapsulate the full picture of "Barry." It's hilarious when it wants to be, and terrifying when things get twisted. Its action sequences are just as good as any high-octane thriller. The tone gets darker as the series goes on, but you never know where "Barry" –- both the show and the character –- will end up.

Based on the book of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel, "Station Eleven" takes place 20 years after a global pandemic destroyed civilization as we know it. Our protagonist, Kirsten (played by Matilda Lawler as a child and Mackenzie Davis as an adult), was an 8-year-old starring in a production of "King Lear" when the flu hit. She stayed alive thanks to Jeevan (Himesh Patel), a man attending the play.

When we meet Kirsten as an adult, she's separated from Jeevan and living with a traveling theater group. Her community encounters a group of adolescent terrorists, while across the country, an isolated commune functions in an airport.

Though the coming of the apocalypse is an undeniably harrowing prospect, "Station Eleven" turns the end of the world into something beautiful. The series highlights the transcendent power of love and companionship, and the universal necessity of good stories to keep us going. Ultimately, "Station Eleven" is an antidote to despair.

Though many have bemoaned the coming of superhero fatigue in recent years, not all comic book adaptations are made equal. The HBO Max series "Harley Quinn" defies this glut of monotony in part because it's not a superhero show at all. The series follows the title character (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) after she finally breaks up with Joker (Alan Tudyk). Harley leans on her best friend, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), and creates a ragtag crew of supervillains.

"Harley Quinn" offers no shortage of lewd humor and stupidly funny jokes. But while it functions like a comedy in many ways, the series includes more emotional resonance than one might expect. Harley and Ivy's relationship drives the show, especially when their friendship turns romantic, canonizing a fan-favorite comic book couple. Harley's experience ending her toxic relationship with Joker is similarly moving, making her a perfectly imperfect hero for abuse victims. With a stellar voice cast and the audacity to put every ludicrous idea on screen, "Harley Quinn" is a breath of fresh air.

Considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever published, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen" has held a prominent place in pop culture for the last several decades. In 2019, HBO Max released their series of the same name, a continuation of the novel set 34 years later.

Regina King plays Angela Abar, a police officer living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When white supremacists attack the police force and kill most of the officers, the city passes a law allowing cops to hide their faces with masks when they're on the job. Angela uses this new policy to become Sister Night, a vigilante hunting racists.

The white supremacists draw inspiration from Rorschach, one of the original "Watchmen" vigilantes, while Angela is tasked with discovering the identity of Dr. Manhattan and learning more about Hooded Justice, the original vigilante who mirrors Angela's quest for racial justice. "Watchmen" delves into American history, especially the Tulsa Massacre, to connect the superhero-esque story to civil rights and the oppression of minorities, a topic few on-screen superheroes tackle.

Often described as one of the greatest television shows of all time, "Six Feet Under" more than holds up 20 years after it first aired on HBO. Created by "True Blood" mastermind Alan Ball, "Six Feet Under" follows the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles. Every episode of the show begins with a cold open featuring the death of a random person not connected to the main cast. Sometimes these deaths are tragic; other times, they feel oddly ordinary.

Such is the substance of the show, which features plenty of difficult moments and interpersonal upsets but never reaches the level of melodrama. Indeed, while the show is quite dramatic and heady at times, the drama is driven by the characters, not the other way around. For example, when one of the Fisher brothers, David (Michael C. Hall), comes out as gay, the reactions of his family and friends are as nuanced and distinct as the characters themselves.

Though "Six Feet Under" was critically lauded during its time on air,  it's strangely one of the more underrated HBO dramas of the era. You don't need to watch the show's final episode — arguably the best finale of all time – to comprehend its brilliance, but once you start watching, there's no doubt you'll keep coming back for more.

In "Somebody Somewhere," cabaret performer Bridget Everett, also an executive producer on the show, plays Sam, a woman who returns to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, to take care of her dying sister. Struggling to adjust to life back in a small town, Sam leans on her best friend, Joel (Jeff Hiller), and her sister, Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison), the embodiment of a Live Laugh Love sign.

Everett gives an incredibly grounded, moving, and funny performance. Throughout the series, she begins to find her community, mostly comprised of queer and trans folks like Joel, gains more confidence in herself, and rediscovers her passion for music and singing. (Everett has an incredible voice, and it's an absolute treat every time she sings on the show.)

The perfect blend of funny and heartfelt, Sam and her friends find humor in almost everything, but also deeply care about each other's well-being and personal growth. While some of Sam's struggles, such as low self-worth, will be familiar to many viewers, "Somebody Somewhere" gives every character the space to be their weird, singular selves without catering to the masses.

Though "Insecure" was the show that put Issa Rae on the map, her TV career didn't end there. In 2022, HBO Max premiered "Rap Sh!t," Rae's second televisual creation. Inspired by real-life twosome City Girls, the show follows two aspiring Miami rappers, Mia (KaMillion) and Shawna (Aida Osman), who team up to create a rap duo.

The show delivers a send-up of the music industry in graphic detail. As Rae told the Los Angeles Times, "I thought Hollywood was crazy. The music industry, it needs to start over." "Rap Sh!t" touches on several issues within the industry, including misogyny, cultural appropriation, and the expectation that female rappers need sex to sell records.

Mia and Shawna don't begin the show as close friends, but as they get deeper into the toxic industry, they're forced to lean on each other for support. Despite these serious issues, the show isn't without humor, as Rae uses her trademark skill of bringing the awkward hilarity of existence to life. Formally innovative as well, "Rap Sh!t" seamlessly integrates social media into every episode, making it feel modern and immediate.

Michelle McNamara's "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" contains one of the most haunting final lines of any true crime book. I won't reveal the line here, but suffice it to say the HBO series based on her book preserves the gripping tone of its source material.

Directed by Liz Garbus and executive produced by McNamara's husband, Patton Oswalt, the series tracks her obsession with catching the Golden State Killer, the premise of her novel. Using McNamara's words as narration, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" follows her investigation into the infamous serial killer, highlighting the victims and their families as well as McNamara's life, detailed in part by Oswalt.

McNamara was a brilliant writer and journalist, and it was her work on the case that led to the arrest of the Golden State Killer. Sadly, McNamara wasn't alive to see justice done for his victims, as she died in 2016, before the book came out. (It was released posthumously in 2018.) The powerful series ties McNamara's life and death to those of the killer's victims, making a powerful statement about the misogyny and violence that's endemic to our culture.

"My Brilliant Friend," based on the famously anonymous writer Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, accomplishes a difficult task. It transmits the unspoken thoughts and feelings of its characters on screen, making it one of the best but sadly least-seen shows on HBO Max.

Created by Saverio Costanzo and scripted in Italian, the series tracks a decades-long relationship between two best friends growing up in the 1950s. The story is narrated by an adult Elena, looking back at her relationship with Lila in years past. The girls both grew up in a working-class Italian town, where opportunities for young women were few and far between.

Different actors play Elena and Lila during three periods, giving us a visual representation of how they both change throughout the different chapters of their lives. The series has a real sense of time and place, focusing less on the context surrounding Elena and Lila and more on how they experience and interact with their environments. One of the most penetrating and complex stories about friendship, "My Brilliant Friend" draws you into a world that envelopes you completely.

In 2020, HBO made the risky decision to release a reboot of one of the most popular series of all time, telling the origin story of the beloved lawyer Perry Mason. In this version, set in 1930s Los Angeles, Matthew Rhys plays Mason, a private investigator without much going for him. Joined by Della Street (Juliet Rylance), his assistant and co-investigator, and Paul Drake (Chris Chalk), a reluctant detective, Mason tackles cases that seem to be above his pay grade.

Rhys plays Mason with the perfect amount of dejection, self-sabotage, and ill-advised cleverness, molding Mason into a likable character with many flaws. Rylance's Della Street diverges from the original character in several ways, one of which being the fact that she's a lesbian. (Her love interest in season 2 is one of the series' best additions.) And Chalk's Paul Drake, a Black man in this iteration of the show, gives us access to a part of early Los Angeles we don't often see on screen. These three sharply drawn characters make "Perry Mason" a compelling ride, allowing the series to address both broader social issues and personal journeys with nuance and care.

There are few better television collaborations than the one between "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" writer and producer Marti Noxon, filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, and novelist Gillian Flynn, best known for writing the smash hit "Gone Girl." The trio came together to work on the HBO adaptation of "Sharp Objects," a ghoulish southern gothic based on Flynn's 2006 novel.

Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, an alcoholic reporter with a history of mental health issues. Camille returns to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, to investigate the murder of two girls, but is forced to confront her traumatic family history and personal demons while she's there. Patricia Clarkson plays Adora, Camille's manipulative, controlling mother, and Eliza Scanlen plays Amma, Camille's younger half-sister. Attempting to reckon with her mother's treatment of her and extract Amma from her clutches, the situation quickly becomes too much for Camille to handle.

Adams gives one of the most incredible performances in TV history in "Sharp Objects," and her co-stars are equally impressive. Vallée's distinctive style, especially his manner of inserting quick bursts of flashbacks into the story as in "Wild" and "Big Little Lies," perfectly aligns with Flynn's restrained, mysterious prose.