The best shows to watch on HBO Max from 2025

With all the drama surrounding Warner Bros. Discovery’s plans to sell itself to another company, it’s not currently clear how much longer HBO Max will continue to exist in its current form. But for the time being, the streamer is chock full of solid series you might want to consider watching if you find yourself bored, chilly, and firmly planted on your couch this holiday season. Whether it’s superhero madness, dark satire, or steamy romance, HBO Max has a little bit of everything. And the streamer has a whole lot more coming down the pipeline, so now’s the time to check out some of what it had to offer in 2025.

At a time when it often feels like TV is shying away from sex in favor of more family friendly stories that appeal to Gen Z’s modest tastes, Heated Rivalry — an adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels — feels like a breath of fresh (and steamy) air. It’s a classic frenemies-to-forbidden lovers romance set against the backdrop of professional ice hockey. But as spicy as the series is, it’s also a strong drama anchored by two stellar lead performances from Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Canadian streamer Crave (the original studio behind Heated Rivalry) has already greenlit a second season, and if the show strikes your fancy, you should check out the books as well.

Despite its name, Rachell Sennot’s I Love LA is really a love letter to one’s late 20s — that magical time when you understand that life isn’t all sunshine and daisies, but you still have the energy to say “screw it” and go out partying with your friends. The show’s feelings about Los Angeles as a showbiz industry town are much thornier, and its sense of humor is charged with a deliciously pointed nihilism.

In its first season, The Pitt reminded everyone what makes tightly-crafted procedural dramas with hefty episode counts so satisfying to watch. Even though the show’s story took place over the course of a single day, The Pitt felt so much bigger because of how much time it spent developing its characters and making them feel like people with lives outside of the emergency room. Season 2 is right around the corner, but there’s still time to get all caught up. You should probably dig in soon, though, because The Pitt is a show best savored rather than binged.

Adventure Time: Fiona and Cake’s second season digs deeper into its whimsical multiverse as heroines Fionna (Madeleine Martin) and Cake the Cat (Roz Ryan) set out to save Finn the Human’s (Jeremy Shada) life after he’s wounded in battle. Though the second season moves a bit slower than the first, the way it deepens the backstories of some of Adventure Time’s supporting characters like Huntress Wizard (Ashly Burch) and Simon (Tom Kenny) is phenomenal.

There was so much detail from Stephen King’s It novel that didn’t make it into Warner Bros.’ recent film adaptations, and one of the (few) great things about HBO’s Welcome to Derry prequel series is how it manages to weave a lot of that lore into a wholly original story. There’s only so much mystery and suspense because this is a story about murderous horror from beyond the stars who we all know will live to see another day. But it’s interesting to see how Pennywise’s tactics have evolved over time, and if the finale’s any indication, we’re going to be seeing much more of the clown’s story unfolding in other points in time.

Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) have had their ups and downs. But after a few seasons of figuring their romantic situation out, the couple are together, stronger than ever, and shaking their lives up a bit by leaving Gotham city behind in favor of moving to Metropolis. The Harley Quinn series has always excelled at lampooning the denizens of Batman’s home city, but the show’s fifth season takes things to the next level by taking aim at a bigger larger chunk of DC’s universe of heroes and villains.

Though Mad Men is almost 20-years-old at this point, it is new to HBO Max and the streamer has finally worked out most of those embarrassing technical issues that made the series’ 4K streaming debut such a fiasco. Mad Men’s approach to storytelling has always been excellent, but it’s especially wild in 2025 to see how the show’s characters evolve over the course of a seven season run. The series is an all-time classic that embodies everything that was great about the last pre-streaming golden age of TV. And if you haven’t had a chance to see Mad Men in its entirety, now is the perfect time to dive back in.

Mike White’s madcap dark comedy lampooning the wealthy travels to Thailand in its third season to weave another tale about people who can’t escape their inner demons. It takes a little bit longer for this season to really get rolling and deliver on The White Lotus’ promise of bonkers twists. But if you can stick it out, the season (mostly) delivers and makes for a solid watch before the show returns before its next chapter.

As was the case with The Last of Us Part II, the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us series goes through some major changes that takes its story in a very different direction. Bella Ramsey’s Ellie has always been a tremendous on-screen presence, but there’s a dynamism to her performance in season 2 that is nothing short of amazing. The show’s production design, cinematography, and special effects make it feel like one of HBO’s strongest projects in ages. And because we’re still a ways out from season 3 premiering, your best bet for now is to fire the show up from the very beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6AZTfI54OU
The latest season of James Gunn’s Peacemaker snatched everyone’s wigs with a wild twist that makes a hell of a lot more sense when you watch the episodes for a second time. Multiversal superhero fare has long since grown a bit tiresome, but Peacemaker uses the comics convention to tell a surprisingly thoughtful and poignant story about its titular meathead. Though John Cena will likely reprise the role in future DC Studios projects, it seems like this might be the end of Peacemaker’s standalone series. But as superhero spinoff projects go, Peacemaker was a success that’s more than worth your time this holiday season.