Few streaming services can match the sheer number of TV shows on Max. Unfortunately, Max only reliably promotes HBO and Max original series, while many of the acquired series are overshadowed and undervalued. Even some of the HBO sagas don’t get the numbers that they deserve.
This is why we feel the need to throw the spotlight on Angie Tribeca, The Undoing, and Scavenger’s Reign. In order, they are an uproarious comedy, a mystery thriller, and a dazzling sci-fi epic. They are also the three underrated shows on Max that you need to watch in December.
Angie Tribeca (2016-2018)
The Office‘s Steve Carell and his wife, Nancy Carell, co-created Angie Tribeca for Rashida Jones, another veteran of The Office, and it’s one of the funniest shows that never quite managed to get a large following. This series plays like an updated version of The Naked Gun or Police Squad, as Detective Angie Tribeca (Jones) and her partner, Lt. Jason “Jay” Geils (Hayes MacArthur), encounter the most bizarre and hilarious criminals as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
This show demands attention as it never stops serving up visual gags or other punchlines. Only Angie Tribeca could be so audacious that the final season jumps ahead twenty years and features Bobby Cannavale (an actor who is six years older than Jones) as Angie’s adult son, AJ. Compared to this show, the other modern sitcoms look tame.
Watch Angie Tribeca on Max.
The Undoing (2020)
HBO lined up Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman to headline a thriller miniseries called The Undoing, and it lives up to its name. Grace Fraser (Kidman) and her husband, Jonathan (Grant), are a successful and prominent couple in New York City. Or at least they were, until a much younger woman, Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis), entered their lives. Elena inserts herself in Grace’s path multiple times, leaving her confused by their interactions.
A short time later, Elena is found dead and Jonathan emerges as the prime suspect in her murder. Since Elena was his mistress, Jonathan had motive and opportunity. But even the appearance of guilt before a trial may be a scandal that’s big enough to destroy the carefully crafted lives of both Grace and Jonathan.
Watch The Undoing on Max.
Scavengers Reign (2023)
Scavengers Reign is one of the most inventive original series of 2023, and this sci-fi animated show looks like a Studio Ghibli paradise where every living creature is seemingly out to get anyone foolish enough to come near them. When a spaceship called the Demeter 227 is heavily damaged, the survivors take refuge on the beautiful alien planet known as Vesta.
The survivors don’t realize until too late that Vesta’s creatures and plant life are incredibly dangerous. And even this short period on the planet is physically and mentally transforming the surviving crew members in ways that they could not have imagined.
Watch Scavengers Reign on Max.
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