If your New Year’s resolution to save some coin pushed you to cancel your HBO Max account, it’s time to call it. As we wrap up the 2023 television cycle and retweet jokes about the year’s Golden Globe and Emmy winners, we look ahead to the next television cycle. TV is back in a big, big way, and there’s a lot to look forward to, especially if you’re an HBO fan.
This year, our content slates are set to be full with no streamers left barren. Here’s what we can’t expect from HBO Max in 2024: Euphoria, The White Lotus, The Last of Us, or Succession (RIP). What can we expect? Everything else. Read on to see what awaits us on Max this year.
True Detective: Night Country
After five years off our screen, True Detective is returning to HBO Max this year. The anthology series’ fourth installment, True Detective: Night Country, begins streaming on January 14. The new season stars Oscar-winner Jodi Foster and Kali Reis as a pair of detectives in the frigid landscape of Ennis, Alaska—a far cry from the True Detective settings of yore, which included Louisiana and the Ozarks of Arkansas.
Hacks Season 3
The 2024 calendar is as follows: Winter, Hacks Season, Summer, Fall. This spring marks the return of Hacks, the hit HBO comedy we’ve been starved of for two years. Little is known about the season three plotlines, but in case you need a reminder, season two saw Deborah and Ava beefing over Ava’s NDA breakage, Deborah recording a slay of a stand-up special, and promptly firing Ava in a “be free little bird” type of way.
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12
In another grand return, Curb Your Enthusiasm is back on Max for its final season this winter. Premiering February 4, the 10-episode season will end on April 7, the last episode of Curb to ever grace our screens. Pay your respects, clear your schedule, and mourn.
The Regime
One of the buzziest new series on our content calendars is The Regime, a political drama starring Kate Winslet as the chancellor of a fictional autocracy navigating the fall of her regime. The six-episode miniseries marks Winslet’s return to HBO following her Mare of Easttown run in 2021.
The Sympathizer
This new satirical thriller comes from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name and stars Robert Downey Jr. as a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy living out his post-Vietnam War exile in the United States. The novel, which was written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, debuted in 2015 and largely relies on narrator commentary, which puts RDJ in the hot seat for next year’s awards circuit.
The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3
Pack your sh*t, we’re going back to Essex. Mindy Kaling’s hit comedy The Sex Lives of College Girls will return for its third season in spring 2024. That’s the good news. The bad news is that our current pop It Girl Renee Rapp will not be a regular cast member in season three, only appearing in a “handful” of episodes before formally exiting the show. The remaining three of our core four will be fully on display in the new season, likely kicking off their second year of college.
House of the Dragon Season 2
House of the Dragon was unquestionably one of HBO Max’s biggest hits in 2022, and the series’ second season is sure to land in the same way. Based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, House of the Dragon follows the fall of the house of Targaryen before the original series’ fated “Dance of the Dragons.” Nerds, unite!
Industry Season 3
While we have Game of Thrones on the mind, Kit Harington is joining the season three cast of the hit series Industry. Harington will play dual roles—the CEO and founder of a green tech energy company and the latest love interest for Yasmine. The new season will pick up where season two left off—spoilers ahead—with Harper’s firing following the reveal of her fraudulent education history, and Yasmine’s firing following her speaking out against the sexual assault and harassment culture at Pierpoint.
The Franchise
Lifetime’s UnREAL is to The Bachelor, what The Franchise is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new HBO comedy series is still mostly spoken about in whispers, but is said to follow a film crew producing a big-budget superhero film, aka the current state of affairs in Hollywood. The series comes from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, plus the creator of Veep and Avenue 5, Armando Iannucci.
The Penguin
While we have multi-million dollar comic superhero projects on the mind, The Penguin arrives at HBO Max in late 2024. A spin-off from the Robert Pattinson helmed The Batman from 2022, the series sees Colin Farrell reprise his role as the Penguin, charting his rise in the criminal world of Gotham City.
Jerrod Carmichael: Reality Show
If you don’t know Jerrod Carmichael, you probably don’t have a Max account, and if you’ve made it this far into this list, it’s time to get one. The young comedian landed a two-year deal with HBO following his initial 2014 debut, his two-part video diary special, and his 2022 Emmy-winning special Rothaniel. This year, he’s coming back to Max with a comedy documentary series of his own, set to follow Carmichael through his personal life and sure to recreate the rich vulnerability the comedian is known for.
The Jinx: Part 2
Big news in the true crime world: The Jinx is reborn on HBO Max. A sequel series to the 2015 hit The Jinx, The Jinx: Part Two will consist of six episodes continuing the investigation into Robert Durst, who confessed to murder on a hot mic moment in the original series. Following the filmed confession, Durst was arrested and the production team continued to investigate his crimes, collecting prison interviews and previously hidden evidence.
Dune: Prophecy
This year will be big for Dune fans. Not only will we be graced with Dune: Part Two in March, but come later in the year, we will all be seated for the television adaptation of our favorite sci-fi universe, Dune: Prophecy. The series takes place 10,000 years before the events of the first film, focusing on a powerful sisterhood of superhuman soldiers on a mission to save humankind.