In the streaming sphere, HBO Max has long been a treasure trove for TV enthusiasts seeking high-quality content. While they have seemingly produced a metric ton of award-winning and highly acclaimed hit shows, most never manage to get that 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. While some of these popular shows have earned the hundred for specific seasons, most have not been able to hang onto it. Bill Hader’s Barry, for example, earned 100% for Season 2 but holds an overall rating of 98%.
The problem with extreme popularity is a higher volume of reviews, and with more reviews comes a higher chance of dissenters. All it takes is one rotten critique to kill that perfectly fresh rating. That said, there are a few very special shows that have successfully pulled it off. Whether they are literally flawless or are simply great shows that have flown under the radar so far, these ten HBO Max series currently possess the coveted RT 100%.
10) Somebody Somewhere
HBO Max’s Somebody Somewhere is a dramedy known for its top-tier performances and near-perfect ending. Bridget Everett stars as Sam Miller, a woman in small-town Kansas trying to rebuild her life after the death of her sister, and her performance is nothing short of brilliant. With a mix of bawdy humor and vulnerability, Everett captures what it feels like to be lost in your own hometown, unsure of where you belong.
Across two acclaimed seasons, the series never once slipped from its 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Many reviews praise the full-spectrum emotional tapestry that the show weaves with threads of grief, warmth, and humor. Sam’s unlikely friendship with Jeff Hiller’s Joel is executed flawlessly; a reminder that sometimes the people who save us aren’t the ones we expect. It’s no-frills storytelling with an authentic core that struck a chord with critics and audiences.
9) The Lady and the Dale
The Lady and the Dale is another documentary series, this time chronicling the rise and fall of Elizabeth Carmichael and her Three-Wheeled car company during the 1970s fuel crisis. Ambition and controversy converge in the acclaimed but largely underappreciated miniseries, which offers a fascinating glimpse into how fraud emerges in the wake of fame, and all of the juicy complexities of self-reinvention that parallel stories like that of Elizabeth Holmes.
The docu-series captured critics’ imaginations with its compelling archival storytelling and gripping character arc that rivals many of the streaming platform’s best fiction series. Of course, the show earned its 100% critics’ score, and despite not yet reaching the full potential of its audience, the show stands as an intelligent, layered exploration of its super compelling subject.
8) A Black Lady Sketch Show
HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show is a bit-comedy gem featuring surreal setups and cutthroat social satire. The series, created by Robin Thede, amassed an ensemble of powerhouse performers, including Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis, Ashley Nicole Black, and Skye Townsend. From a group of doomsday preppers handling the apocalypse, to recurring sketches like “The Black Lady Courtroom,” the kaleidoscope of characters and scenarios was always smart, subversive, and brilliantly performed.
Over the course of its impressive four-season run, the series maintained a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. Even as traditional sketch comedy struggled to find relevance in the streaming era, A Black Lady Sketch Show proved there was an appetite for the genre. Earning multiple Emmy wins for both writing and guest performances, the show has managed to stay fresh thanks to universal praise for reviving sketch comedy with a unique perspective.
7) The Defiant Ones
If it’s common for miniseries to earn perfect marks, this four-part documentary is no exception. The Defiant Ones is the story of two men from very different worlds, Jimmy Iovine, the scrappy Brooklyn record producer, and Dr. Dre, the Compton-born rapper and producer, and the evolution of their relationship decades before selling Beats for $3 billion. Packed with rare archival footage and candid interviews, the series serves as a time capsule of this cultural moment and a biography of two industry titans
Cameos from Eminem, Stevie Nicks, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Patti Smith, and Bono offer firsthand accounts of how Dre and Iovine’s influence rippled across genres. One of HBO’s most definitive documentaries, The Defiant Ones boasts a perfect 100, but is no longer available on the streaming platform. Thankfully, you can still find it on YouTube TV and Apple TV+.
6) The Yogurt Shop Murders
Documentary mini-series, The Yogurt Shop Murders, dives headfirst into one of Austin’s most haunting unsolved crime cases: the 1991 yogurt shop killings. Directed by Margaret Brown and executive produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary, the four-part series probes the case and its aftermath via interviews with investigators, journalists, and family members.
Critics have praised the series for its thoughtful investigative approach, emotional potency, and standing apart from the endless stream of true crime slop, earning it a 100% RT rating. To be fair, the show is a recent release, and miniseries generally have an easier task than shows running multiple seasons, but The Yogurt Shop Murders still works hard to earn its perfect critical score and is definitely worth watching.
5) Like Water for Chocolate
HBO Max’s recent adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate brings Laura Esquivel’s 1989 novel back to life for a new generation. The story follows Tita de la Garza, a young woman in 20th-century Mexico who is forbidden to marry due to family tradition and instead pours her passions into the food she cooks. It’s a tale of love, repression, and resistance told through magical realism, and it’s one of the most unique romantic dramas on the platform.
The series has been lauded for its lush cinematography and devotion to the source material, earning the limited series a perfect critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Like Water for Chocolate offers a new take on the period romance: a love story where food itself becomes a conduit for revolution and self-expression. It’s as delicious and intoxicating as the recipes Garza creates.
4) Los Espookys
Seek out horror and comedy converging in a Latin American dreamscape, and you’ll find Los Espookys. The Spanish-language show follows a group of friends who turn their love of gory horror flicks into a business, staging elaborate supernatural hoaxes for paying customers. Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, and Fred Armisen created the series and also appear as central characters. Torres, in particular, became a breakout star thanks to his deadpan delivery as Andrés, the wealthy heir with a perpetually confused aura who may or may not be haunted by a demon.
Critics hailed the show’s oddball originality, earning it a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score across its two-season run. Its blend of magical realism, dry humor, and eccentric production design made it an instant cult classic. Fans were genuinely devastated when HBO canceled the show in 2022. Still, its Peabody Award confirms what the audience already knows: Los Espookys a masterpiece that has somehow flown under the radar.
3) The Larry Sanders Show
Before prestige comedy was a thing, HBO had The Larry Sanders Show, a groundbreaking satire of late-night television that ran from 1992 to 1998. Created and led by Garry Shandling, the series followed fictional talk show host Larry Sanders and offered a razor-sharp, behind-the-scenes look at the vanity, politics, and absurdity of TV production.
Critics and comedians alike consider The Larry Sanders Show one of the greatest television comedies ever made, and its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score holds up across its whopping six-season run. The show also earned 56 Emmy nominations and three wins, while influencing the careers of future comedy legends like Judd Apatow and Bob Odenkirk, who worked on the writing staff. The Larry Sanders Show was a trailblazing comedy and is truly deserving of its perfect score.
2) Random Acts of Flyness
When HBO greenlit Random Acts of Flyness, they were taking a big swing, and Terence Nance delivered one of the most experimental shows ever aired on the network. The sketch-esque series combines surrealism, Afrofuturism, musical performance, animation, and documentary fragments into an unclassifiable blend of art and television. Each episode delves into themes of Black identity, sexuality, technology, history, and resistance, but does so with imagery and structure that continually challenge our notions of traditional TV.
The result earned the series a Peabody award and a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating across both seasons, with critics calling it a “revolutionary” work of television art. Random Acts of Flyness is unapologetically dense, and its refusal to conform made it divisive among audiences yet undeniable for critics. Defying formula, Nance’s series is easily one of HBO’s most daring statements.
1) How To with John Wilson
On paper, How to with John Wilson is a simple instructional docuseries where filmmaker John Wilson narrates his attempts to explain everyday tasks, such as “How to Make Small Talk” or “How to Put Up Scaffolding.” In reality, it evolves into something much stranger, more beautiful, and more profound. Each half-hour episode begins with a seemingly mundane question, then unravels, veering into unexpected directions as Wilson’s wandering camera captures the lives of New Yorkers in all their eccentric detail, and the lessons they have to teach us. The result is part tutorial, part video essay, part existential comedy.
In their reviews, critics raved about Wilson’s singularity as a filmmaker and praised his ability to find absurdity in the mundane and poetry in the absurd. Across all three seasons, the show consistently maintained a 100% “fresh” score on RT. Equally beloved by its devoted cult following, How To with John Wilson ended on Wilson’s terms, cementing its perfect overall rating and place as one of HBO’s most original triumphs.
What’s your favorite HBO Max gem that fell shy of a hundred? Let us know in the comments below!
The post 10 Great HBO Max Shows With a 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score appeared first on ComicBook.com.