It’s a bizarre time for Warner Bros. proper now. As the legendary movie and tv studio faces acquisition by Paramount-Skydance, the long run of Warner’s status cable model HBO is just a little unsure. Just what’s going to HBO appear like in a yr from now? Five years? Ten years? Who is aware of. But proper now, in 2026, the channel/streamer is as stable as ever.
In 2026, HBO launched a number of acclaimed dramas and comedies which have helped us maintain our HBO Max subs lively. At the identical time, a handful of unscripted documentary reveals and actuality programming had made HBO versatile past simply Sunday evening status. There’s The Dark Wizard, a brand new documentary collection that profiles the late free climber Dean Potter. There’s additionally Neighbors, an enthralling have a look at center America as advised by beefing next-door neighbors. There’s extra to HBO than dragons and scummy wealthy folks, and these reveals show why.
The first half of 2026 has additionally seen a couple of new, probably long-lasting hits for HBO too. Rooster is a brand new consolation comedy from Bill Lawrence that may make us miss our school days. DTF St. Louis is relatively extra grim, being a homicide thriller set towards the mundanity of midwestern suburbia. But watching a rotund David Harbour shake and shimmy as a live performance signal language interpreter is fairly rattling humorous, too. And mates: The Comeback is again, child!
We nonetheless have a lot extra of 2026 to get by way of. But for now, these are the perfect reveals on HBO and HBO Max that may final us by way of the summer time.
The Dark Wizard
Hold your breath, as a result of The Dark Wizard will take it away. Following its premiere at SXSW, the riveting docu-series The Dark Wizard is now streaming on HBO Max. The present chronicles the rise and tragic demise of free climber Dean Potter, who achieved notoriety for his death-defying ambitions and brash character till he died in 2015. Even if you understand nothing about motion sports activities, The Dark Wizard is a spell-binding have a look at a person with out concern.
Like Water for Chocolate (season 2)
The luxurious Mexican drama produced by Salma Hayek is again for its second season, with its plot adapting the second half of Laura Esquivel’s celebrated 1989 novel. In season 2, Azul Guaita returns as Tita, who should determine between her timeless love for Pedro (Andrés Baida) or Dr. Brown (Francisco Angelini). HBO romances have greater than addicted youngsters and hockey twinks, and Like Water for Chocolate is the sultry romance that every one ravenous yearners are searching for.
Hacks (season 5)
It’s Madison Square Garden or bust, child. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder return for the fifth and final season of Hacks, which sees Deborah (Smart) in a make-it-or-break-it run for a solo present in New York City. While Deborah and Ava (Einbinder) have advanced in what you may name a friendship, is their bond robust sufficient to resist what’s to return? Maybe, possibly not. But they’ve come a great distance since Vegas.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Game of Thrones had its share of laughs. But A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is really a riot. Set between Game of Thrones and its epic prequel collection House of the Dragon, the adventures of too-tall hedge knight Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey) and his friendship with bald “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell) are chronicled on this live-action adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. In a time when it’s actually unsure if audiences have the urge for food for extra medieval thoughts video games anymore, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms dares to provide those self same fatigued HBO viewers one thing to cheer for.
Neighbors
“Love thy neighbor,” God commanded. But even the heavenly father couldn’t have foreseen Ring cameras, privateness legal guidelines, and HOA disputes. Neighbors is a brand new HBO anthology collection that dives into the juicy blood feuds between bickering neighbors throughout America. From Florida to Montana to New Jersey, Neighbors highlights actual folks with actual axes to grind… and solely on HBO are these neighbors taking a swing.
The Comeback (season 3)
It’s actually a comeback for The Comeback, which returns after 12 years for its third and remaining season. Lisa Kudrow is again as Valerie, who stars in a brand new sitcom written by AI. It’s a model new Hollywood as Valerie tries to make a meal out of autogenerated slop whereas placing up with social media groups and harrowing Hot Ones appearances. The Comeback is a delirious examination of the place Hollywood is true now, and the uncertainty of the place it’s all going.
Rooster
Entering the glory roll for Esquire’s finest TV is Rooster, the most recent Bill Lawrence sitcom. Steve Carell stars as a novelist who takes a job educating inventive writing at a liberal arts school to assist his daughter (Charly Clive), an artwork historical past professor, get by way of a heartbreaking divorce. Witty and heat in the way in which Ted Lasso was, Rooster is price enrolling for an extended binge weekend.
DTF St. Louis
One of the buzziest new reveals of the yr has all of it: infidelity, a homicide thriller, hookup apps, and Jamba Juice. Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini star in DTF St. Louis, a simmering grownup drama about an affair that ends with one particular person lifeless, and two investigators (Joy Sunday and Richard Jenkins) on the case to seek out out who did it on this darkly hilarious whodunnit.
The Pitt (season 2)
It’s time for one more shift at Pittsburgh Medical Trauma Center. Set throughout Independence Day, the medical doctors and nurses of PMTC survive one other twelve hours of affected person emergencies and private points. Water park accidents, gross scorching canine consuming contests, fireworks explosions, and an deserted toddler are only a handful of the chaos that unfolds in season 2. We can’t wait to see what the night shift has to offer.
