3 best feel-good HBO Max shows to add to your watchlist

(Image credit: HBO Max; Shutterstock)

Listen, things are tough enough out there, and sometimes we don't want to watch TV that feels like hard work. We want to watch a show that feels like a good hug or a fun hangout with friends, low in stakes and stress but high in comfort and, ideally, comedy.

While HBO and its streaming platform HBO Max are home to some of television's most intense prestige dramas, from "The Sopranos" to "Game of Thrones" to "Succession," the network also has given us softer, sweeter titles that are pure feel-good TV. And we've made things super easy for you by choosing three of the Home Box Office's best feel-good shows, from a recently departed awards juggernaut to a small-town charmer starring Bridget Everett.

Consider this your guide to HBO when you want comfort over carnage.

'Somebody Somewhere'

If you want a feel-good show that will help you fight off any Sunday Scaries, this is the one: In "Somebody Somewhere," comedienne-slash-cabaret star Bridget Everett is equal parts hilarious and heartwarming as Sam Miller, a fortysomething loner who returned to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas to care for her dying sister and now is trying to rebuild her life after that profound loss. (It's way funnier than it all sounds, we promise!)

It's through Sam's dormant love of full-throated karaoke that she finds connection and community with the local townsfolk, including her coworker Joel (Jeff Hiller, in an Emmy-winning supporting performance), a soil scientist named Fred Rococo (the always-welcome Murray Hill) and her own sister, boutique owner Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison). Across three tender, slice-of-life seasons, Sam gets the uplifting boost she's been needing, and we get a new dream friend group to hang out with over French toast for the table.

Stream "Somebody Somewhere" on HBO Max now

'Starstruck'

Starstruck Official BBC Trailer - YouTube

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Is there a more inherently feel-good genre than the rom-com? And there's romance and comedy in spades in "Starstruck," a screwball British comedy that originally aired for three seasons on BBC Three from April 2021 to August 2023. The first season has a perfect 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Series creator Rose Matafeo stars as Jessie, a twentysomething New Zealander living and working as a nanny in East London. Her average existence, however, takes a turn when she has a New Year's Eve one-night stand with Tom Kapoor (Nikesh Patel), who just happens to be a very famous movie star. That unexpected encounter evolves into a "will-they-won't-they" relationship over the course of several years, with both characters trying to move on with other people, only to continuously find their way back to each other.

Stream "Starstruck" on HBO Max now

'Hacks'

Hacks Season 1 Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV - YouTube

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Now, we're not happy that "Hacks" ended after five delightful seasons this spring, but we are glad that Deborah (Jean Smart), Ava (Hannah Einbinder), Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), Kayla (Meg Statler) and the rest of our beloved Vegas crew all got their respective versions of happily ever after. (Though no spoilers here!)

For half a decade, the Emmy-winning HBO Max comedy followed the hilarious hijinks and professional ambitions of Joan Rivers-esque stand-up legend Deborah Vance and her Gen Z comedy writer Ava Daniels, from Las Vegas casinos to late-night TV. But somewhere along the way, "Hacks" transitioned from a funny workplace comedy and sharp entertainment-industry satire into a nuanced, moving celebration of female friendship in all of its messiness and loveliness.

Stream "Hacks" on HBO Max now

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Christina Izzo is a writer-editor covering culture, food and drink, travel and general lifestyle in New York City. She was previously the Deputy Editor at My Imperfect Life, the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York.