HBO Max landed in Aotearoa last month with a suitably glossy launch party at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre, complete with highly Instagrammable food, an endless bar tab and a guest list stacked with influencers keen to be seen. Its arrival has left Sky’s streaming platform NEON looking a little less luminous, after losing its strongest content.
The HBO name is iconic. First launched in the US in the seventies, the network has been behind some of television’s most celebrated series, from The Sopranos and Sex and the City to Game of Thrones. It has also delivered a wealth of unforgettable queer characters and stories. Here are five of our favourites:
Veep
The greatest comedy series ever made? Veep was savaging American politics long before reality made the joke too easy. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is sensational as Selina Meyer, a wildly self-absorbed vice president desperate to escape the world’s worst job.
Euphoria
Across three flawless seasons, Euphoria dives into the chaotic lives of teens at a California high school awash with sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. With pitch-perfect casting, the series helped turn Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and trans actress Hunter Schafer into major stars.
I Love LA
Following the trail blazed by Lena Dunham’s Girls, Rachel Sennott’s I Love LA is a sharp, stylish ode to ambition, excess and a generation that can barely look up from its phone. The perfect antidote to doomscrolling.
I May Destroy You
Like Richard Gadd’s brilliant Baby Reindeer follow-up Half Man, I May Destroy You is a co-production between HBO and the BBC. Michaela Coel writes, directs and stars in this powerful exploration of how disturbingly common sexual assault is, told through a predominantly Black British cast.
Enlightened
Before The White Lotus, Mike White co-created and co-starred in Enlightened alongside Laura Dern. This earlier HBO gem turns its gaze towards self-important saviour complexes, set against the bleak world of corporate workplaces. It is laugh-out-loud funny and quietly thought-provoking.
