HBO Max is home to some of the best TV shows of all time, covering different genres and successfully maintaining its reputation as a studio that produces high-quality TV shows, and there are some where every episode is a 10/10. For years, HBO has positioned itself as the go-to source for high-quality TV shows, especially drama ones, and was key to shaping the TV experience into what it is now.
HBO’s legacy expanded with the launch of its streaming platform, HBO Max, with libraries from Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and more. Like its biggest competitors, HBO Max also produces original movies and TV shows, making the platform one of the most complete ones with extensive catalogs that cover a variety of genres. Surely, HBO Max has also had some failures, but it mostly has critically acclaimed shows, like Our Flag Means Death, Hacks, and the DC Universe’s Peacemaker.
As good as HBO and HBO Max’s shows are, not all of them are perfect from beginning to end, and many have at least one bad or filler episode. However, some shows can brag about every one of their episodes being great, and these shows go from dramas, horror stories, superhero ones, and biographical dramas, all of them with impeccable writing, direction, and unforgettable performances.
I May Destroy You (2020)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/michaela-coel.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
I May Destroy You is a British black comedy-drama TV show created and written by Michaela Coel. I May Destroy You is set in London, and it centers on Arabella Essiedu (Coel), a writer who was once a Twitter star and is now struggling to meet a deadline for her second book. After a night out with friends to take a break from writing, Arabella struggles to remember what happened the following morning, eventually remembering that she was raped at a bar.
What follows are Arabella’s efforts to find her abuser, deal with the trauma, and still finish her book on time, all of this with the help of her best friends, Terry (Weruche Opia) and Kwame (Paapa Essiedu). I May Destroy You was a critical success and is widely regarded as a masterpiece, and while it surely can be a tough watch, its performances, writing, direction, and production design make it worth every second.
It: Welcome to Derry (2025-Present)
Based on Stephen King’s novel It, It: Welcome to Derry is a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s It and It Chapter Two movies, set 27 years before the Losers Club came across Pennywise. That said, Welcome to Derry is set in 1962 and follows another group of kids who are being terrorized by It and its many shapes. Parallel to this are the stories of the adults related to them, most notably the military looking to weaponize It and the false accusations against Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider).
It: Welcome to Derry was a big success, and it’s currently working on its second season, expected to be released in late 2027 or early 2028. Despite only being one season long for now, Welcome to Derry is perfect from beginning to end, with every episode adding to the lore of Derry and It and amping up the mysteries and horrors more and more.
Station Eleven (2021-2022)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/kirsten-reading-a-graphic-novel-in-station-eleven.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Based on Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel of the same name, Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic dystopian TV series. Station Eleven is set 20 years after a flu pandemic led to the collapse of civilization, and follows a group of survivors who work as traveling performers. The group encounters a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a cult who preys on the naive, and they make a disturbing discovery about him and his link to the group.
Station Eleven has been praised for its themes, performances, and adaptation of the source material, despite its differences. One of Station Eleven‘s biggest strengths is its exploration of literature, music, and theater as the heart of humanity and the basis for rebuilding society after a massive catastrophe.
The Pitt (2025-Present)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/noah-wyle-as-dr-michael-robby-robinavitch-in-the-pitt.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
One of HBO Max’s biggest recent hits is the medical drama The Pitt, created by R. Scott Gemmill. The Pitt takes viewers into the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, where it follows its emergency department staff through an entire shift, with each episode depicting an hour of the shift. The team is led by attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle), who, in addition to dealing with all those tough cases at the hospital, carries a lot of trauma that sometimes interferes with his job.
Robby leads a team of students and residents, all of them with their own struggles, and together they navigate a variety of challenges – from difficult patients and cases to major emergencies, underfunding, and more. The Pitt has been praised for its pace, writing, performances, and realism, becoming one of the decade’s biggest “must-watch” shows.
The Penguin (2024)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tcdpeng_ho022-cropped.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
©HBO / Courtesy Everett Collection</figure>
The Penguin is a crime drama miniseries and a spinoff of Matt Reeves’ 2022 movie The Batman. The Penguin, then, follows Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell), who, after Carmine Falcone’s death in The Batman, rises to power in Gotham City’s criminal underworld. As powerful as he is, taking over the empire isn’t easy, as Cobb has to face Carmine’s heirs – Alberto (Michael Zegen) and Sophia (Cristin Milioti) – and the Maroni family.
Like The Batman, The Penguin isn’t part of the DC Universe’s main continuity, instead living in its DC Elseworlds branch.
The Penguin was a huge success, with critics praising its performance, writing, tone, and production value, as well as its expansion of Reeves’ Batman universe. Despite its success and Farrell’s openness to a second season, it all points to The Penguin staying as a perfect miniseries.
Succession (2018-2023)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/logan-looking-stern-in-succession.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Created by Jesse Armstrong, Succession is a satirical comedy-drama TV show that introduces the world to the Roy family, owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. When the health of the patriarch, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), begins to decline, his four children – Connor, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv – begin to fight for control of the company, while preparing for a future without their father.
Succession is one of the best TV shows of the decade, with strong writing, direction, performances, and a perfect balance of drama and humor. Throughout four seasons, Succession delivered only great episodes, rightfully earning its place among the best TV shows of all time.
The Wire (2002-2008)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/mcnulty-in-police-uniform-in-the-wire.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
While not an HBO Max production, The Wire is one of the best TV shows HBO has produced and thus one of the best shows that can be found on HBO Max. Created by David Simon, The Wire is set in Baltimore, and it explores the crime, decay, and failures of the different institutions of the city, such as the port system, the school system, and the media.
The Wire was a huge critical success and received the praise of general audiences as well, thanks to its writing, performances, tone, and exploration of themes like urban life, corruption, politics, violence, and more.
Chernobyl (2019)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/chernobyl-hbo.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Chernobyl is a historical drama miniseries created by Craig Mazin. Chernobyl explores the 1986 Chernobyl disaster by telling the stories of those involved in this catastrophic incident and those who responded to it. Thanks to this, Chernobyl covers the lesser-known stories around the disaster, focusing on firefighters, volunteers, miners, and those working at the plant very close to where it all happened.
Chernobyl is one of the best TV shows of all time, praised for its production value, performances, writing, and the way it approached this real-life tragedy. As such, Chernobyl isn’t an easy watch, and it isn’t exactly a show that many would want to rewatch, but every episode is perfect in every way: visually, narratively, and with a lot of emotional depth.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
