Ask anyone to name the greatest TV series of all time and HBO/HBO Max headlines will crush the top of this list faster than you can say, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” With prestige shows The Sopranos for White LotusThe bar that HBO has set is still one that others have jumped over, and their huge library offers great TV options, new and old.
Heading into its final week from April 3rd to May 3rd, the pictures have strange, perfect timing. One is the sober historical drama, which celebrates its 40th anniversary yesterday with a real-world theme. One the phenomenon of fantasy has redefined prestige television, and today we got some exciting launch news for one of its spinoffs. The latter is a beautiful multi-world steampunk epic with three seasons where you can cook.
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Chernobyl
A thrilling mini-series about the worst nuclear disaster in history
April 26, 2026, marked the 40th anniversary of the worst nuclear disaster in world history, making this important HBO miniseries a must-watch this week. When Chernobyl Premiered on HBO in May 2019, it shocked critics and audiences, including myself, with its devastating account of the 1986 disaster, the cleanup efforts that followed, and most compellingly, the people involved and the politics that got in the way.
created and written by Our last writer Craig Mazin, the five-part series dramatizes the disaster and follows Soviet scientist Valery Legasov (Foundation‘s Jared Harris), who led the investigation into the disaster; Deputy Prime Minister Boris Sherbina (Stellan Skarsgård)he was sent to look down on the incident until he saw the wreckage; and nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson), a scientist working with Legasov to uncover the truth of what happened and how it happened. The series is poignant and surprising as it depicts a meltdown and explosion that spread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and left a radioactive plume that devastated the nearby city of Pripyat, killing most people instantly from lethal doses of radiation.
Chernobyl It was an Emmy darling that year, nominated for 19 awards and winning 10, including Outstanding Director for Johan Renck. It has a 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and is a poignant reminder of the event and the lives it affected.
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Game of Thrones
George RR Martin’s fantasy epic that changed television forever
The release of a new teaser trailer and the announcement of the release of the third season for the sister series, dragon house, today made me nostalgic for the epic series that started it all and changed TV forever. Not only have I read George RR Martin’s work A song of ice and fire book twice (come, George, give us Winter windsalready), but I’ve watched all eight seasons of HBO’s crushing series multiple times, and I think I might be ready for another go. And you?
- Operating system
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tvOS
- Resolution
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4K
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For the uninitiated (I know you’re still out there), Game of Thrones by creators David Benioff and DB Weiss depicts the expansive world of Martin’s Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the battle for his coveted seat of power, the Iron Throne. It boggles the mind how Martin envisioned a fictional universe so detailed and timeless and filled with iconic characters and warring houses—among them (for starters) the blonde-haired dragon riders, the Targaryens, the cunning and ruthless Lannisters, and the powerful and honorable wolves from the North, the Stars.
Game of Thrones earned an early reputation for its central characters (no one is safe), an epic production scale that rivals any full-scale motion picture, and some of the craziest plot twists and jaw-dropping episodes in television history. While the final season drew all kinds of anger and vitriol from overzealous fans, it remains the top-grossing scripted series in Emmy history with 59 wins out of 164 nominations and, of course, spawned two spin-offs and counting, including House of the House. Dragon and the latest hit, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. If you’re looking for pure escapism and some of the best world-building ever put on television, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Game of Thrones
- Release date
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2011 – 2019-00-00
- Showman
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David Benioff, DB Weiss
- Directors
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David Nutter, Alan Taylor, DB Weiss, David Benioff
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His Dark Materials
A wonderful steampunk fantasy trilogy worth checking out
Don’t click past His Dark Materials considering it’s a kid’s show – if you like steampunk fantasy, give it a shot, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Based on the fantasy trilogy of the famous British writer Philip Pullman (Northern lights, fine knifeand Amber Spyglass), airing on HBO from 2019 to 2022, this three-season series is a complex journey between parallel worlds that is loved by young and old alike.
The series follows Lyra (Logan’s Daphne Keen), a young orphan living at Oxford College, is not our Oxford, it’s a parallel world where human souls live outside their bodies as animal companions called demons. When Lyra’s best friend Roger goes missing, she embarks on an epic journey to the vast and wild North to find him. His journey brings him into conflict with the mysterious and powerful Magisterium and their agent, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson), who capture children and separate them from their demons.
Flying adventurer Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manuel Miranda) helps Lyra along the way, including a warrior polar bear named Iorek Byrnison and her uncle Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), a scientist conducting interdimensional research that could change the world forever. His Dark Materials is a beautifully crafted adventure series with an overall Rotten Tomatoes score of 83% and a satisfying final season of 90%.
His Dark Materials
- Release date
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2019 – 2022-00-00
- Network
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BBC One
- Directors
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William McGregor, Amit Gupta, Leanne Welham, Charles Martin, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn, Dawn Shadforth, Harry Wootliff, Jamie Childs
HBO Max’s back catalog can keep you busy for years, and these three shows barely scratch the surface. If these options excite you more, we have all kinds of options streaming recommendation lists Here at How-To Geek for you.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $10.99 per month
- Synchronous streams
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2 or 4
HBO Max is a subscription-based streaming service that offers content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC and more. In 2025, the service rebranded itself as HBO Max after previously dropping “HBO” from its name.
