The best TV shows you can stream on Max Australia at launch

Whether you're a longtime fan of the games or a more recent convert, The Last of Us delivered not just one of the most exciting video game adaptations to date but one of 2023's most exciting TV shows.

Now in 2025, Season 2 of The Last of Us is finally upon us, releasing April 2025. 

The Last of Us Part II much longer than the first game and took place over a longer period of time but the showrunners have confirmed the events of the video game sequel will take place over multiple television seasons.

Kaitlyn Dever joins the cast as the deuteragonist Abby. Other newcomers include Jeffrey Wright (Westworld,) Catherine O'Hara (The Studio,) Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus,) and Young Mazino (Beef,) and Danny Ramirez (On My Block.)

What’s there to say about Game of Thrones that hasn’t been said already? It’s the most popular drama in history, and if you’re reading this list, you’ve probably already seen it. If the TV show’s divisive ending left a bad taste in your mouth, we’d recommend revisiting the show’s glory days (roughly seasons 1 to 4).

If the disappointment of the final season is still too raw after that, consider checking out the spin-off House of the Dragon, also streaming on Max. 

Dramas about rich people problems aren’t typically my cup of tea, and there was nothing about Succession’s intitial marketing that convinced me it wasn’t just another Billions. What I didn’t realise until consuming the first two seasons over a single week was that Succession doesn’t actually glorify the wealthy elite, but rather tears them apart limb from limb with whip-smart satire and a healthy serving of schadenfreude.

Brian Cox is perfectly cast as a Super Saiyan-level bastard, Logan Roy; the Roy family patriarch and co-founder of a fictional media giant Waystar Royco that is maybe definitely based on Murdoch’s media empire.

While it didn't reach the dizzying heights of Game of Thrones in terms of viewership, Succession was hands-down HBO's best replacement for Game of Thrones. 

The Penguin picks up just a week after The Batman's end and shows Oswald Cobb officially attempting to assert leadership over the Falcone Crime Syndicate.

However, as more suitors emerge from the shadows, including Falcone's own son and daughter (recently rehabilitated Arkham patient, Sofia Falcone,) the Penguin's shaky alliances are more fragile than ever. 

The Penguin only has one season but it's a chilling watch and will tide you over until Part Two of Matt Reeves' The Batman. 

With the end nigh, it's high time to check out all four seasons of the hilarious Righteous Gemstones.

Imagine if you set Succession in South Carolina and replaced the 24/7 news network with family of successful televangelists and you're halfway to The Righteous Gemstones. It's nowhere near as serious as Succession but it's just as funny (it was created by Eastbound and Down's Danny McBride, after all.) 

Come for Danny McBride's razor-sharp putdowns and stay for Walton Goggins' outrageous shyster Baby Billy Freeman. 

Mike White's The White Lotus is a dark comedy about the unbalanced power dynamics of elite tourism.

Imagine the messiness of a Bravo reality show spliced into a prestige drama with the satirical edge of Succession and you've got the idea.

Originally imagined as a six-part limited series, Season One of The White Lotus takes place at a Hawaiian resort of the same name. Told over the course of a week, the plot tracks the hijinks, horniness and thorniness between the various privileged guests staying at the hotel and the poor staff who have to deal with their unchecked privilege.

The second season of The White Lotus moved the action to a Sicilian version of the titular resort while the third travels to Thailand for some fun with two sons. 

If The Sopranos’ near-unanimous praise hasn’t been enough to get you tied up in Tony’s troubled and twisted family crime-drama, then it’s time to pull out the gabagool (capicola,) whipped cream, Neapolitan ice cream and buckle up for a Bada Binge.

Every season of the HBO classic is now streaming on Max in Australia.

Sam Levinson's surreal and strikingly cinematic high-school drama was one of the most talked HBO original series in years when it first released. Since the arrival of the second season in 2022, Euphoria has continued to explode in popularity.

The series follows a group of friends at an modern American high school, led by Zendaya's Rue, a young woman struggling to navigate her first relationship while recovering from a dangerous and destructive drug addiction.

While there are echoes of other series where edgey high school-aged characters push on the boundaries of likability and audience comfort (see also: Skins) here, Euphoria's diverse cast, mesmerizing cinematography, compelling performances and undiluted commitment to be extremely extra all of the time help it appeal to those who usually wouldn't bother with it given the genre and setting.

The first two seasons of Euphoria are now streaming on Max with a third in production and set to arrive in 2026.

Georgia Dixon