There is a wealth of great HBO Max series that have flown under the radar in recent years despite receiving critical acclaim and a strong fanbase. These are Screen Rant’s picks for the 10 best underrated series streaming right now, exclusively on HBO and HBO Max.
HBO has had a remarkable year in 2025, earning a record-breaking 142 Emmy nominations, mainly for The Penguin, The Pitt, The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and Hacks. Several of these underrated shows have also received multiple Emmy nominations, but that still wasn’t enough to push them into the mainstream fold.
Warrior
Warrior is a very underrated martial arts series streaming on HBO Max. Originally created as a Cinemax series, HBO Max produced its third and final season. The series ran from 2019 to 2023 and was inspired by an original concept of legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee.
Warrior stars Andrew Koji (Black Doves, Bullet Train) as Ah Sahm, a Chinese martial arts prodigy who immigrates to San Francisco in the late 1800s and becomes a revered enforcer. The series earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 93%, an audience score of 96%, and was nominated for three Emmys, mostly for Stunts.
Warrior also stars Olivia Cheng (Marco Polo), Jason Tobin (A Thousand Blows), and Dianne Doan (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). Its full-throttle and expertly shot action scenes make for a thrilling viewing experience and an excellent series that deserves way more recognition than it got.
The Other Two
Even though it earned 2 Emmy nominations and a near-perfect Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%, The Other Two is one of the most underrated HBO comedy series of all time. The third and final season of The Other Two scored a perfect 100% RT score, ending the acclaimed show on a series-high note.
The Other Two follows Cary, an aspiring actor, and his sister, a former professional dancer, who adjust to and eventually feed on their younger brother’s overnight internet fame. The Other Two was created by Chris Kelly (Broad City) and Sarah Schneider (Master of None), both writers on Saturday Night Live. If you like showbiz comedies like Hacks, then The Other Two is essentially required viewing because it is downright hilarious.
Bored To Death
Bored to Death features a stellar comedic trio of Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), and Ted Danson (Cheers), making it truly unique, hilarious, and highly entertaining. Despite this rare ensemble, Bored to Death remains widely slept on among HBO’s slate of esteemed comedy series.
Bored to Death received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79% and an IMDb rating of 7.8, as well as an Emmy Award. It also has a star-studded supporting cast that includes Oliver Platt (The Bear), Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live), Patton Oswalt (The Sandman), Jenny Slate (Dying for Sex), David Rasche (Succession), and Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers).
How To Make It In America
How to Make It in America is an HBO hidden gem that has developed a cult classic following since it was released in 2010. A portal back to millennial-era New York City, How to Make It in America is very similar in style and tone to HBO’s classic series Entourage.
How to Make It in America also features an ensemble cast led by Bryan Greenberg (Suits LA), Victor Rasuk (Lords of Dogtown), Kid Cudi (X, Trap), Lake Bell (In a World…), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie), and Luis Guzmán (Wednesday). The series only lasted two seasons, but How to Make It in America season 2 earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 78% and the series received an overall rating of 7.9 on IMDb.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a gangster crime drama set in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s. It takes a deep dive into the Golden Age of Porn during that time. James Franco (The Disaster Artist) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight) lead an ensemble cast that also includes Chris Bauer (True Blood), David Krumholtz (The Studio), and Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid).
The Deuce earned a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, including a near-perfect 99% rating for its second season, and still never took home any Emmy nominations. Fans of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights will surely get a kick out of The Deuce.
Our Flag Means Death
Our Flag Means Death earned a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score across two seasons and was notoriously canceled by HBO Max, sparking outrage from fans. The series was executive-produced by Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, best known for Jojo Rabbit and What We Do in the Shadows.
In Our Flag Means Death, the protagonist Stede Bonnett (played by Rhys Darby) is a wealthy landowner who has a midlife crisis and decides to become a pirate. The series takes place in the year 1717 and blends several genres, such as action and comedy. It’s a one-of-a-kind show that definitely should have stuck around longer on HBO Max.
My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend is a critically acclaimed coming-of-age series with a 98% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score. The series concluded with season 4 just last year after premiering back in 2018 and was consistently snubbed at the Emmys, somehow earning zero nominations.
My Brilliant Friend follows Lila, played by Gaia Girace, as told through the perspective of her best friend Elena, played by Margherita Mazzucco. Elena describes Lila as her best friend and her worst enemy. The series is entirely in Italian and takes place in Naples, Italy. Those who have seen the series adore it. The only problem is, there hasn’t been much marketing for it, so the show has slipped through the cracks.
Vice Principals
Out of Danny McBride’s several HBO shows, Vice Principals feels like it gets the least recognition, even though season 2 earned a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. It stars McBride and Walton Goggins (Fallout, The White Lotus), as well as Shea Whigham (American Primeval), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), and Righteous Gemstones star Edi Patterson.
Vice Principals follows Neal Gamby, played by McBride, a vice principal at his local high school. He fights for power with the school’s other vice principal, Lee Russell, played by Goggins. This collaboration between McBride and Goggins is what led to them working together on The Righteous Gemstones, which is a much more celebrated HBO comedy series.
How To With John Wilson
How to with John Wilson is one of the most idiosyncratic series on HBO Max. A blend of fiction and documentary, the series was nominated for 3 Emmys, including Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program twice, and earned a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% for all three of its seasons.
How to with John Wilson has a similar tone to Nathan For You and Jury Duty as a “meta” sort of docuseries. It was created by John Wilson, a New Yorker who makes stark observations about everyday life and captures otherwise overlooked moments on his camera. Each episode acts as a tutorial-like video essay, depending on the subject, such as “How to Make Small Talk” and “How to Track Your Package.”
Tokyo Vice
Tokyo Vice might just be the most underrated series on HBO Max, period. Lead actor Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) actually learned Japanese for the role of Jake Adlestein, a U.S.-based reporter who worked for a prestigious newspaper in Tokyo in the early 2000s. Jake investigates a yakuza gang, which gets him into some seriously hot water.
Tokyo Vice has an outstanding cast, including Ken Watanabe (Inception), Rachel Keller (Fargo), and Shô Kasmatsu. The first season mostly focuses on Jake, but it dives deep into the yakuza gang war in Tokyo Vice season 2, making it a tried-and-true gangster series. If there’s any show you should take away from this list of HBO Max’s most underrated series, make it Tokyo Vice – you won’t be disappointed.
