HBO Max isn’t the most popular streaming service on the market, but it is one of the best, with TV shows and movies that are often better than what’s available on rivals like Netflix. We’re talking comedies, dramas, and mind-bending genre shows, a good many of which have flown largely under the radar. If you have HBO Max and are looking for a new series to binge, you have a ton of options you may have never even considered before. And if you don’t have HBO Max, maybe some of these underseen shows will convince you to check it out.
Station Eleven
Watch Station Eleven on HBO Max
Station Eleven is set in a post-apocalyptic world that’s rebuilding itself after a flu-like virus wipes out most of humanity, a subject that would have hit close to home when the show aired in 2021. It follows a group of performers who travel from place to place entertaining people, which is suddenly a viable career path in a world without TV, movies, or the internet.
The conflict in Station Eleven comes courtesy of a creepy cult leader who convinces children born after the pandemic that there never was one. That gets intense, but overall the show is oddly hopeful considering the grim subject matter. It’s about the power of art, community, and memory. And because Station Eleven is a one-and-done miniseries, you can watch the entire thing without worrying about whether we’ll ever get a second season.
South Side
Watch South Side on HBO Max
South Side is a criminally underwatched sitcom that started life on Comedy Central before jumping to HBO Max, where its three seasons live to this day. It follows a couple of guys who work dead-end jobs in a rent-to-own store and who are always trying to find ways to climb the ladder. We also meet a glad-handing politician, a couple of morally flexible police officers, a store clerk who moonlights as a hip-hop artist, and more. The cast quickly coheres to become one of the best comedy ensembles you’ve never heard of.
Sitcoms can seem a little cookie cutter at times, but it’s hard to pin down South Side. The plots can be realistic and grounded or completely off-the-wall loony, like when a sneaker drop turns into a zombie movie parody. The show is set in Chicago, breaking with the sitcom tradition where everyone lives in either New York or LA. It’s a shame the show didn’t go on for longer, but what we got is funny and unique.
Julia
Watch Julia on HBO Max
Julia is a gentle drama series about Julia Child, a housewife who became an unlikely celebrity thanks to her TV show The French Chef in the 1960s. Julia never blew up, maybe because it’s hard to sell in a way that immediately makes you want to watch it. It’s funny, but it’s not a sitcom. It’s got solid drama, but it’s not going to leave you in the fetal position crying your eyes out. Julia is just a great watch that deserves more fans.
The acting is great from top to bottom. Sarah Lancashire turning in a spot-on performance as Julia Child, backed up by Frasier veterans David Hyde Pierce and Bebe Neuwirth as her husband and best friend. I also really liked the historical angle, as we find out a lot about how public television worked back in the day. The show was canceled after two seasons and feels a little incomplete, but what’s there goes down incredibly easy.
The Other Two
Watch The Other Two on HBO Max
The Other Two is about a pair of hapless millennial siblings who want to be rich and famous but aren’t talented or driven enough to pull it off. So when their little brother becomes an overnight viral superstar, the two latch on and try to ride his fame to glory.
The Other Two takes aim squarely at influencer culture, a comedic goldmine not enough shows delve into. It lasts only three seasons, but it does have a satisfying ending as the siblings start to get a grip and learn there’s meaning to life beyond the ravenous pursuit of fame, hilarious as that was to watch.
Duster
Watch Duster on HBO Max
Duster is a 1970s-set action pastiche about the first Black woman in the FBI. She tries to take down a crime boss with the help of a talented getaway driver who uses a 1970 Plymouth Duster 340, hence the title. Duster was stylish, fun, and fast-paced. And if you’re into cars, it’s worth watching for the chase scenes alone.
Duster aired just earlier this year and is already canceled. It ends on cliffhangers that will never be resolved, but someone needs to champion this show before it recedes into memory, or worse, is taken off HBO Max entirely.
Our Flag Means Death
Watch Our Flag Means Death on HBO Max
Julia was a show that tried to accurately depict a specific historical period. Our Flag Means Death also deals with history, this time the Golden Age of Piracy, but couldn’t be less concerned with whether it gets it right, delightfully so.
Our Flag Means Death follows Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner who abandons his cushy life to become a pirate captain. Bonnet was a real guy, but I doubt his story went much like this; on the show, Stede has a love affair with Blackbeard, played by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi. Our Flag Means Death is definitely one of the most colorful, unpredictable, entertaining depictions of life on the high seas ever put to screen.
Like a lot of shows on this list, Our Flag Means Death didn’t last as long as it should have, but the two seasons we got are beloved among fans for good reason.
Raised by Wolves
Watch Raised by Wolves on Tubi
Produced by Alien director Ridley Scott, Raised by Wolves is a wild sci-fi drama about a pair of androids raising human children on a distant planet, our own Earth having been largely destroyed in a religious war. They have to deal with weird merpeople, religious fanatics, and a giant flying snake that is part machine and part sacred deity. With a synopsis that weird, maybe it’s no surprise that HBO Max pulled the plug on this show after two seasons, but what’s there has to be seen to be believed.
While Raised by Wolves did first air on HBO Max, it’s since been removed so Warner Bros. Discovery can save on licensing fees. But it’s such a strange case that I had to mention it, and you can watch it for free on Tubi.
Underseen shows can be the best shows
HBO Max has plenty of higher-profile stuff on it as well, like Peacemaker, which recently concluded its second season. But sometimes the best shows are the ones you don’t see coming. And if you’re looking for even more obscure fare, check out our list of great Hulu shows you’ve never heard of.
