Max, the streaming service named after the Netflix character who loves Kate Bush, had a messy introduction. The streamer formerly known as HBO Max changed to just “Max†overnight in the middle of a week in May, forcing us to download yet another app (annoying). While the name still does not make sense, the streamer, now filled with Warner Bros. Discovery’s entire library, has a lot to offer in every category, the ultimate capitalist-empire streamer. Its broad television offerings are admittedly confusing, even to experts on the Warner Bros. Discovery library, particularly at a time when the studio is actively killing its darlings. Max doesn’t make it any easier, as the design of the library itself forces users to scroll rather endlessly to find specific shows or channels. The chaotic service boasts series from Food Network, HGTV, the CW, Cartoon Network, Magnolia Network, Discovery, Max (formerly HBO Max) originals, and more, but that also means there’s a plethora of television to discover and rediscover on Max. Let this be your guide to the best of the weirdest streamer on the market.
Adventure Time
For: Friday nights after you’ve just had an edible.
Trippy, cute, colorful, and weird AF, the Adult Swim animated series documents the adventure times of Finn the Human and Jake the Dog in the Land of Ooo, which is filled with a bunch of fantastical weirdos including emo vampire queen Marceline, the Ice King, Princess Bubblegum, Lumpy Space Princess, and more.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts UnknownÂ
For: Gourmet globe-trotting from the comfort of your couch.
Anthony Bourdain travels the world to get to know cuisines and people from different countries and cities. Bourdain travels to cities and countries generally unknown to Americans, but also dives deep into the unexplored cultures and cuisine of American cities. Bourdain doesn’t just get to know the food and drink; he gets to know the people behind it and the people who love it.
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics
For: The relaxing sound of a woman gently reminding you to get “good†olive oil because she knows you don’t have it.
On Back to Basics, Ina Garten prepares simple yet flavorful dishes for her friends and elevates them with a lot of salt and the best ingredients that her Hamptons home has to offer. If you’re a cook, you’ll learn essential techniques that will become go-tos in your everyday life, even if you don’t have the same luxurious, spacious kitchen or garden. If you’re not a cook, you’ll at least get to witness the spicy interactions between Garten and her husband, Jeffrey. They are more in love than anyone who has ever lived, and they’ve been married since 1968.
The Curious Case of Natalia GraceÂ
For: Orphan but real.
This thorough, accurately named documentary examines the truly curious case of Natalia Grace, a child from Ukraine adopted by an American couple. The docuseries explores two sides of their story: The Barnetts, who adopted Natalia, claim that they were scammed by a psychotic adult posing as a child who tried to kill them on multiple occasions. The other side? Natalia was exploited and abandoned by her adoptive parents.
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
For: Sunglasses on the back of the head; Mick Fleetwood in Hawaii.
On Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, the gastronomy king of America Guy Fieri travels the States in search of the best (you guessed it) diners, drive-ins, and dives in a little red Camaro. The show follows a tired but true formula, with Fieri entering kitchens to learn about how iconic dishes are made. While you may not learn much culinary, there is an intoxicating pizzazz to Fieri’s dramatic onscreen persona that will motivate you to sit on the couch for hours on end.
The Established Home
For: Seeking the earnestness of a Drew Barrymore interview.
On The Established Home, interior designer Jean Stoffer designs and renovates properties in her home of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Unlike most home-design shows, this one is serialized: Each season focuses on one big home-renovation project that unfolds episode by episode, with smaller projects sprinkled throughout the season. It’s also completely unlike any other home-design show in that it stars a Midwesterner with the earnestness of Drew Barrymore interviewing a guest. Like any designer, Stoffer has her go-tos. She loves brass hardware, subway tile, and a glossy finish, but unlike most designers with television shows, her perspective is truly unique, and she always stays true to the style of the home as it was originally built. For example, in the second season, Stoffer chooses to keep the radiators in a kitchen because they add to the old charm of the 1930s home. If she were a Property Brother, those would have been gutted on day one.
Love & Death
For: When you’re feeling gossipy but also in the mood for true crime.
Love & Death follows the life, crime, and trial of Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife in the 1980s who killed her friend Betty Gore with an ax after having an affair with her husband. Elizabeth Olsen proves she is the best living actor today in her nuanced performance of Montgomery, which is as dramatic and shocking as it is funny. The series toys with reality and Candy Montgomery’s, and in doing so strikes the perfect balance of empathy and nuance so many true-crime dramatizations — such as Candy, the 2022 adaptation of the same story starring Jessica Biel — can’t get right.
The MiddleÂ
For: Absurd comedy with midwestern sincerity.
This charming, sharp, and honest ABC family comedy about a lower-class family in the Midwest never got quite the buzz it deserved because Modern Family (a way more popular sitcom about a way more rich family) premiered the same year and aired the same night. The performances from the entire cast, particularly the young actors Eden Sher, Charlie McDermott, and Atticus Shaffer, who play the Heck children, are some of the best in modern television.
Nathan for You
For: Cringe humor.
Before Nathan Fielder was on HBO in The Rehearsal, he was on cable TV. On his Comedy Central series, the Canadian cringe comedian uses his unique business “knowledge†and creative mind to help struggling businesses boost their sales. In the series, the effortlessly deadpan Fielder uses extremely unconventional tactics, including making people climb to the top of a mountain for a gas rebate, selling a frozen-yogurt flavor called “poo,†and renaming a coffee shop “Dumb Starbucks.â€
The O.C.
For: Indie music when it was actually independent; Y2K Chanel.
The 20th anniversary of the premiere of The O.C. is coming late this summer. The Fox teen drama has one of the best pilots in television history. The series — or at least its stellar, 27-episode first season — is a pillar of early-2000s civilization. You could hardly leave your home in the winter of 2003–04 without being asked, “Summer or Anna?†The series influenced pop culture by infusing indie music into the mainstream and, for better and worse, made nerds who read comic books look cool through Adam Brody’s portrayal of Seth Cohen. Perhaps most importantly, without The O.C., cryptocurrency wouldn’t have an enemy in Ben McKenzie.
The Other Two
For: Laughing so hard you roll off your couch in slow motion; niche Survivor references.
Max original The Other Two (formerly a Comedy Central original and then an HBO Max original) dares to ask the one question that’s been on our minds for well over a decade: What if Justin Bieber had two less accomplished older siblings who were kind of jealous of his success? The Other Two answers that question in the form of a scathing satire of the poisonous entertainment industry, New Yorkers, Instagays, and society in general. The series, created by SNL alums Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, is always on the pulse of culture, but despite the fleeting TikTok era, it always feels fresh.
La Pitchoune: Cooking in France
For: Absolutely no stakes, culinary or otherwise.
These days, Julia Child’s former vacation home in Provence, France, is now a recipe-free cooking school. On Cooking in France, a new batch of students learns how to cook intuitively and with joy, in the spirit of Child herself. The laid-back, feel-good, cinematic series makes for a pleasant binge and is a unique offering in the current competition- and gimmick-obsessed food-television landscape.
Pretty Little Liars
For: Horror references, bubble hems, ombre hair, predictive-text technology.
If you’re looking for an absolutely demonic narrative with sprinkles of late-aughts problematic subplots that will live rent-free in your brain forever, look no further than the juicy formerly ABC Family teen horror soap Pretty Little Liars — the most accurately named work in art and media history. These teens are pretty, they are little, and they lie constantly, especially at times when it is completely unnecessary. The series follows the titular Pretty Little Liars as a stalker named A haunts them via text message.
Serving the Hamptons
For: You miss the early seasons of Vanderpump Rules (when the main cast worked at SUR during filming).
Serving the Hamptons might not have a Scandoval, but maybe just give it a decade. The reality series follows the staff at 75 Main, a popular fine-dining spot in the Hamptons. The staff sleeps around so much that it prompted an audience reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes to write, “Such a slutty show. Should not even be on, especially since kids can watch it and get how Not to live.†To humble the cast a bit, the show emphasizes the stark contrast between the lifestyles of the poor employees and their extremely wealthy clientele.
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
For: The extended version of Stanley Tucci’s Instagram videos, but you learn something.
The Earth’s core squirms every time Stanley Tucci posts a video of himself crafting a cocktail or describing Bolognese on Instagram. On Searching for Italy, the Academy Award–nominated character actor travels around various regions of Italy, where he explores the culture, history, and, of course, the cuisine. Tucci’s charm could sell a show about anything, but it’s his unabashed enthusiasm — rivaling that of Stefani Germanotta, if you can believe it — that makes the show so special.
Starstruck
For: Raunchy fast-talking Brits, Minnie Driver.
Imagine inadvertently having a one-night stand with an extremely well-known actor on New Year’s Eve. On the lively, deliciously vulgar but charming British comedy Starstruck, Jessie, a New Zealander living in London, does just that. Her relationship with the megafamous Tom Kapoor continues beyond the one night, exploring their dynamic as they navigate modern celebrity in Hollywood.
The Vampire DiariesÂ
For: Fast-talking vampires making pop-culture references in skinny jeans.
The Sopranos. Mad Men. The Wire. Breaking Bad. The Vampire Diaries often gets lost among this list of the greatest television dramas of television’s Golden Age at the beginning of the century. This is for several reasons: It was a television show made for teenagers on a new network for teenagers, and by the time it premiered in 2009, Twilight had saturated the culture whether you liked it or not, so a lot of people were sick of vampires already. It was also not that serious. While The Vampire Diaries is no Mad Men (or is it?), it is thrilling, clever entertainment that is only occasionally dumb, with fun performances and lore that actually makes sense when the incredibly hot actors — all with eyes more sparkling than the other — deliver it in tight expository dialogue.