You may have noticed that there are far more reality shows than scripted series on Max, and you can thank Discovery for that. Rest assured that you will never see 90 Day Fiancé or any of its infinite spinoffs on our monthly list of underrated shows on Max. It’s just not what we’re into.
Our picks for the three underrated shows on Max include one of Adult Swim’s best animated series, an intense miniseries, and a very raunchy comedy featuring the star of The Punisher. Two of those three shows were also HBO originals, and a reminder that the Home Box Office brand still carries more weight than Max.
The Boondocks (2005-2014)
We recently wrote that the Good Times animated revival was one of the five worst shows on Netflix in 2024 so far. The Boondocks stands in contrast to that series with its biting and hilarious satire and a real political point of view from series creator Aaron McGruder. The series even spoofed the original Good Times in the fourth and final season.
McGruder originally created The Boondocks as a syndicated newspaper comic strip, but Huey and Riley Freeman (both voiced by Regina King) and their grandfather, Robert Freeman (John Witherspoon), were more fully realized on the show. The Boondocks had its share of criticism from some corners, but it was absolutely merciless in the way it picked apart modern race relations and Black culture. The Tyler Perry parody and the constant BET jokes were particularly funny and sharp. However, The Boondocks also made some moving commentary in the episode Return of the King, which imagined a world where Martin Luther King Jr. survived the attempt on his life in 1968 only to be greatly disappointed by what happened after he spent decades in a coma.
The fourth season was produced without McGruder, and there is a noticeable step down in quality at that point. But the first three seasons of The Boondocks are unrivaled.
Watch The Boondocks on Max.
The Night Of (2016)
Riz Ahmed won an Emmy for Best Actor in a Miniseries for his role as Nasir Khan in The Night Of, a gripping HBO original that should have been an even bigger hit. Nasir is a college student who “borrows” his father’s cab and picks up a young woman, Andrea Cornish (Sofia Black-D’Elia). After spending hours with Andrea getting high and having sex, Nasir discovers that she’s been murdered. And even Nasir has no idea what really happened.
As police try to extract a confession from Nasir, attorney John Stone (John Turturro) steps in to protect Nasir’s best interests. While the mystery unfolds, the series also explores Nasir’s ordeal behind bars, which may transform him into a very different man by the end.
Watch The Night Of on Max.
Hung (2009-2011)
Although Hung was only a short-lived HBO original comedy, it was very funny, and it allowed Thomas Jane to prove that he had comedic chops. The one-time Punisher actor portrayed Ray Drecker, a single father who suffers a severe financial setback that means his kids have to leave him and move in with his ex-wife, Jessica Haxon (Anne Heche).
The one thing Ray has going for himself is that he’s very well-endowed, which is why his friend, Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams), convinces him to let her pimp him out as a prostitute. Ray’s female clients make his life even crazier than before. But the more Ray gets pulled into the world of prostitution, the harder it is to pull out.
Watch Hung on Max.