As the cable network has for decades, HBO continued to dominate the television conversation in 2024. The domination has only continued to rise with Max's slow growth as one of the essential streaming services. It's the home of all of HBO's content and the place we all rush whenever new episodes of the buzziest shows from the cabler or streamer drop.
In 2024, HBO and Max released some great shows like Dune: Prophecy, the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the latest season of The Sex Lives of College Girls. There were also underrated favorites like Fantasmas, Somebody Somewhere, and Creature Commandos. But the cable network and its streamer were also responsible for some of the year's biggest hits.
Let's get into the best HBO and Max shows of the year, ranging from comedy to drama to fantasy to mystery, beginning below with the Emmy-winning classic-in-the-making Hacks!
Hacks
If there was any doubt that Hacks is the best comedy series on television (right next to Abbott Elementary and Nobody Wants This), then season 3 surely put any of those doubts to bed. Hacks season 3 brought the already fantastic series to new heights as Deborah and Ava continued to both get closer and lock horns.
Enough can't be said about the performances of Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, a match made in hilarious heaven. Don't get down on the show's awards love — it's deserved, particularly Smart's three consecutive Outstanding Actress wins. (Einbinder better get a win before the series ends!)
The unexpected ending of the third season sets the stage for a fourth season that will be better than ever and will put the show in position for its possible second win for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than Hacks, and it's for sure one of the best HBO/Max shows of the year, if not THE best.
The Penguin
Whether it was House of the Dragon or Dune: Prophecy, franchises were some of the most popular shows on HBO in 2024, a marked change from the cable network's past. But it certainly proved fruitful, especially with the DC Comics limited series The Penguin, a spinoff from Matt Reeves' 2022 film The Batman. It's a stunning new step in another Sopranos direction for HBO.
Colin Farrell stars in the crime drama as the titular Batman villain as the series traces the character's rise as a powerful figure in the criminal underground in the famous fictional city of Gotham. The series earned rave reviews, especially for Cristin Milioti's role as Sofia Gigante, and high viewership numbers, all leading to chatter about a possible season 2.
House of the Dragon
Even though the second season of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon wasn't as critically well received as its first, the fantasy epic was still one of the best and most popular shows of 2024. The show easily became the biggest watercooler show of the year, furthering HBO's status as a source of Sunday night television community.
House of the Dragon season 2 featured some of the most highly anticipated moments for fans, including Blood and Cheese and the Battle at Rook's Rest, huge pieces of the puzzle in the Targaryen Civil War. No matter what you personally thought of the season as a whole, the series is by far the one of the most influential and biggest shows on TV, just like its sire.
Industry
If you managed to make it out of 2024 without hearing about Industry, then you weren't on the right side of social media. When the third season of the British drama series began airing on HBO and Max in August, the show reached a new level of popularity that the previous two seasons hadn't. Maybe it had something to do with Game of Thrones star Kit Harington joining the cast or it was just that good.
The series is about investment bankers, and sure, that doesn't sound that exciting on paper, but the series follows their various professional and personal dramas to make some of the most captivating television we've seen in years. Industry earned its highest approval rating yet for 2024's third season, which sets the bar pretty high for the upcoming fourth season!
True Detective: Night Country
Since premiering in 2014, True Detective has taken one of the more curious paths on the small screen. The show's blockbuster debut season earned high marks, but its followup season the year after nearly brought the anthology series to a screeching halt. However, the third season starring Mahershala Ali in 2019 revived the series, and season 4's bow in 2024 cemented its comeback.
True Detective: Night Country comes from showrunner Issa López and stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in a story about the disappearance of eight men in Ennis, Alaska. The series became the show's best reviewed season, also earning impressive viewership and 19 Emmy nominations, with one win for Foster's performance. You can't miss these six episodes, especially since López is cooking up a fifth season of the anthology series.