Looking for something new to watch on HBO Max this week? The O.G. premium TV service is still one of the best places to go to find seriously great series and movies, and its 131 million global subscribers tells us that people are still really interested in finding it.
March and April have been great months for new shows and seasons of shows on HBO Max, and for this week’s list, I’ve flagged a few, including a darkly funny and bizarre comedic drama you need to see to believe, a new Steve Carell comedy, and a hugely successful comedy now in its fifth season.
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DTF St. Louis
Midlife crises, a love triangle, and a murder heat up St. Louis
There is absolutely nothing that Jason Bateman can’t do. The insanely talented actor, director, podcaster, and producer just keeps knocking it out of the park, and having recently finished his latest miniseries on HBO Max, DTF St. Louis, I am more convinced than ever. The seven-episode dark comedy is now all there for your binge-watching pleasure, and it’s a slow-burning tale of suburban, midlife-crisis weirdness that culminates in a love triangle and a murder.
But to be clear, DTF St. Louis is not totally the Jason Bateman show—it features a brilliant ensemble cast. Bateman is local St. Louis weatherman Clark Forrest, who’s lost the spark in his marriage and life, and is seeking some excitement. While covering a tornado, Clark meets Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour in one of the best roles I’ve seen him in), a sign-language interpreter who’s also struggling with middle age, diminished sexual prowess, and his ability to please his wife, Carol (the also-excellent Linda Cardellini). Floyd and Clark become complex best friends, but things get twisted when Clark and Carol have an affair, and Floyd turns up dead. But it is definitely not what you think, as the show slowly peels back the layers to uncover what really happened.
DTF St. Louis is one of the more interesting and creative series I’ve seen on HBO Max in a while, largely due to creator Steve Conrad’s juicy and weird writing, supported by superb performances all around that make it a great binge. DTF St. Louis has a solid 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
DTF St. Louis
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Steve Conrad
- Directors
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Steven Conrad
Cast
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Jason Bateman
Clark Forrest
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David Harbour
Floyd Smernitch
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Linda Cardellini
Carol Smernitch
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Richard Jenkins
Donoghue Homer
2
Rooster
Steve Carell goes old school in this campus comedy
HBO Max’s new comedy series Rooster was created by the perfect recipe of people who baked up a series that is 100% a product of its ingredients. When you combine the creators of Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and Scrubs (Bill Lawrence and Matt Tares) with the wily charm of Steve Carell, what you get is a smart campus comedy that’s a little of all three of those shows, with a bit of Old School thrown in for fun.
Carell plays Greg Russo, a novelist who writes action-thriller paperback novels about a masculine P.I. named Rooster, who’s a hyper version of himself. When Greg’s daughter Katie (Charly Clive), an art history professor at the fictional Ludlow College, finds herself in a messy divorce from Archie (Ted Lasso‘s Jamie, Phil Dunster), Greg takes a job at the college to be there for her.
Rooster has a killer supporting cast, too, including John C. McGinley (one of Office Space‘s “Bobs”) as Ludlow’s eccentric dean (a good campus comedy needs a kooky dean, am I right?), and Nashville‘s Connie Britton as Greg’s wealthy ex-wife. Season one of Rooster is almost done, which means you could start binging it now and be caught up for the final episodes. It’s funny and heartwarming, and has so far garnered an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rooster
- Release Date
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March 8, 2026
- Network
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HBO
- Writers
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Bill Lawrence, Matt Tarses
1
Hacks
It’s time to binge this Emmy-monster comedy series
If you’ve yet to binge the heck out of HBO’s mega-Emmy-winning series Hacks, now is the time to remedy that situation. For the uninitiated, the smart and hilarious generation-clash comedy was created by Broad City‘s Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello, and Paul W. Downs, so you know it brings clever writing, intense friendship chemistry, and often raunchy comedy.
Now in its fifth season (that just started this month), Hacks revolves around Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary Joan Rivers-type stand-up comedian struggling to stay relevant after her Vegas residency is canceled. Deborah needs to reinvent herself, so her manager Jimmy (played by Downs) sends in young, entitled comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) to write jokes for her. Egos clash, insults are slung, they hate each other (at first), but somehow the complicated pairing makes for comedy gold, and a TV relationship for the ages.
If you need more reasons to start your binge of Hacks, it’s an absolute Emmy monster, with Smart having won four best lead actress awards for the role, Einbender one for supporting actress last year, and an additional seven for the series. It also has a 99% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a comedy beast, and you should watch it.
Hacks
- Release Date
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2021 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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HBO Max
- Showrunner
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Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky
- Directors
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Desiree Akhavan
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Carl Clemons-Hopkins
Marcus
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HBO Max’s bar is so high when it comes to prestige shows that it rarely lets you down. Whether you’re in the mood for warm campus comedy, razor-sharp generational wit, or a darkly twisted murder mystery, HBO Max has you covered this week.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $10.99/month
- Simultaneous streams
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2 or 4
HBO Max is a subscription-based streaming service offering content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, and more. In 2025, the service re-branded itself as HBO Max after having previously cut “HBO” from its name.
