Over two decades ago, HBO boldly staked out its own corner of the television landscape with cinematic shows that quickly outshined network dramas. That’s why The Sopranos, The Wire, and The Larry Sanders Show are still fondly remembered today. In the present, HBO is still the high watermark for comedy and drama, with shows like House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, and more keeping the brand alive and well. And although only a few shows are offering new episodes this month, there’s never a bad time to get up to date with the best HBO series streaming right now.
Not finding what you’re looking for on HBO? We regularly update our lists of the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Disney+, and the best shows on Hulu as well.
The White Lotus is back for a second season, and the dead bodies are already piling up! This will surely not be good for the Yelp score. While the first season took place at a White Lotus resort in Maui, the second season moves the story to a hotel destination in Sicily. Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) is the unfortunate manager who has to deal with these fickle guests, including season 1 veterans Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge) and Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), a newly married couple. But there’s trouble in paradise and tension between Tanya and Greg when she drags her assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), along on their “romantic” getaway. Comedy, drama, and possibly murder will ensue.
Nick Perry is a freelance writer who bounced from Hollywood to Silicon Beach to pajama pants. His work has been featured on Digital Trends, Good Morning America, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and more media outlets.
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and emerging technology, Rick has been writing for Digital Trends since 2011.
Over the years, Rick has served as an editor for MTV News and Wizard Magazine, as well as a columnist for Time Inc., Movies.com, Fandango, and IFC.com. He is a member of Critics Choice Association and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic for films and television series. A voracious consumer of movies and TV series, as well as a lifetime fan of comic books, video games, and all manner of geekery, his work can also be found in Mental Floss, Space.com, and various other print and online outlets.
Dubbed a "Professional Geek," Rick has appeared on Spike TV, MTV, ABC, CBS, Fox Business, and NPR to offer commentary on entertainment and pop culture trends. He served as co-producer and host of WAMC Northeast Public Radio's "RetConned" podcast, interviewing a wide spectrum of pop-culture personalities and creators from 2016-2018.
A native of New York's Capital Region, Rick began his journalism career at the alternative newsweekly Metroland. He was named the New York Press Association's Writer of the Year while covering local, state, and national news around New York's capital city and surrounding region.
Rick attended college at SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Albany, earning degrees in Computer Science, Environmental Science, and Journalism. He is a proud father of two great kids, husband to an endlessly patient partner who tolerates his love for "The Transformers: The Movie," and a big fan of good beer.
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.