Consider it an early holiday present from jolly old Saint Nick: December on HBO Max sees a whole Santa sack worth of high-profile TV shows — like all seven seasons of "Mad Men," marking the show's return to streaming and the first time each episode will be available in 4K — buzzy new movies and freshly released specials coming to the streaming service throughout the month.
Among this month's notable releases are several new music documentaries, including one on the enigmatic legend Jeff Buckley; the long-awaited movie sequel to Ed Burns' enduring family favorite "The Brothers McMullen"; and a cackle-inducing comedy special from "Saturday Night Live" scene-stealer Sarah Sherman.
Here’s a look at December's highlights on HBO Max, plus a full list of all the month’s premieres. If nothing here catches your eye, check out our guides to the best movies on HBO Max and the best HBO Max shows for even more streaming recommendations.
New on HBO Max in December 2025: Top picks
'It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley'
As part of HBO Max's "Music Box" series, the Amy Berg-directed documentary "It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley" explores "the extraordinary life, singular talent, and untimely death of Jeff Buckley," the American singer-songwriter behind the seminal 1994 album "Grace" and the most hallowed version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." (Buckley died by drowning in May 1997 at the age of 30.)
Using rare archival footage, voice messages and interviews with those who knew him best — including Buckley's own mother, Mary Guibert, as well as close friends and colleagues like Aimee Man, Ben Harper, Chris Cornell and Rebecca Moore — Berg puts together "a comprehensive and graceful retrospective of an artist who was gone far too soon," per the critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, where the doc has an excellent 98% approval rating.
Stream on HBO Max from December 4
'The Family McMullen'
The holidays is all about spending time with family that you might not get to see that often and this year, that family is the McMullens. You first met the Irish-American clan in Edward Burns' 1995 dramedy "The Brothers McMullen" and now three decades later, that charming flick is getting a long-awaited sequel.
Along with Burns (who is also back as writer-director), OG castmates Connie Britton and Michael McGlone are reprising their roles from the first film, as well as welcoming newcomers to the ensemble, including Tracee Ellis Ross, Halston Sage, Juliana Canfield, Pico Alexander and Brian d'Arcy James. The new film tracks the romantic entanglements of a now-fiftysomething Barry McMullen (Burns) and his twentysomething kids, as well as his brother Patrick (McGlone) and widowed sister-in-law Molly (Britton), each facing unexpected romantic hurdles of their own.
Stream on HBO Max from December 5
‘Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh’
“Saturday Night Live” standout Sarah Sherman brings her “unholy alter ego, Sarah Squirm” to streaming with the comedienne’s first stand-up special. In the “festering and hilarious” hourlong special — which was directed by Cody Critcheloe and filmed in front of a live audience at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY — expect “bodily fluids, open-wound confessionals, and jokes that will leave scars on your soul,” per HBO.
Sherman's new comedy hour is the latest special for HBO, with the streamer's fall slate also including "Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian" (which debuted on September 19) and "An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally" (released on October 17).
Stream on HBO Max from December 12
Everything new on HBO Max in November 2025
DECEMBER 1
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After: Pillow Talk, Season 9 (TLC)
Adult Swim Yule Log (Adult Swim)
Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin' Out (Adult Swim)
Atomic Blonde
Battle of the Sexes
Bright Leaf
Christmas with the Kranks
Dames
DeLorean
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Girls Trip
Gunsmoke in Tucson
Hidden Figures
I'll See You in My Dreams (1952)
Illegal
Jim Thorpe: All-American
Jimmy the Gent
Key Largo
Kid Galahad
Larceny Inc.
Law of the Badlands
Little Caesar
Liz and the Blue Bird
Lu Over the Wall
Mad Men, Seasons 1-7
Mandalay
Millennium Actress
Mind Game
Miss Congeniality
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Mission to Moscow
My Dream is Yours
Ne Zha
Night and Day
Paul Anka: His Way (HBO Original)
Perfect Blue
Pierrot le fou
Racket Busters
Riffraff
Romance on the High Seas
Santa Fe Trail
Shin Godzilla (GKIDS)
Shining Victory
Shoeshine
Sing and Like It
Song of My City
Summer Wars
Table 19
Taking Woodstock
The Color Purple (1985)
The Colors Within
The Damned Don't Cry
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Goonies
The Matrimonial Bed
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Sea Wolf (1941)
The Seventh Victim
The Shop Around the Corner
They Won't Believe Me
Tiny Furniture
Trouble Along the Way
Walk Softly, Stranger
Walk the Dark Street
Wedding Crashers
Wilson
Wolf Children
X-Men First Class
DECEMBER 2
Capital One MLB Open
Chopped: Volume 4, Season 63 (Food Network)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East (HBO Original)
New Orleans: Soul of a City (CNN Original Series)
“The Hidden Homeless,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
DECEMBER 3
Fixer to Fabulous, Season 7 (HGTV)
DECEMBER 4
About Face, Season 1 (TLC)
Architecton (A24)
Cheap A$$ Beach Houses, Season 1 (HGTV)
Dunkman, Season 1
Dylan's Playtime Adventures, Season 1D (Max Original)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (HBO Original)
DECEMBER 5
Batwheels, Season 3A (Cartoon Network)
House Hunters International: Volume 9, Season 205 (HGTV)
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 247 (HGTV)
The Family McMullen (2025)
DECEMBER 7
The Christmas Showdown (OWN)
DECEMBER 8
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, Season 8 (TLC)
DECEMBER 9
Bugs Bunny Builders, Season 2I (Cartoon Network)
Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House (Magnolia Network)
DECEMBER 11
Wizkid: Long Live Lagos (HBO Original)
DECEMBER 12
Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh (HBO Original)
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Stolen Children (HBO Original)
This Is Spinal Tap
DECEMBER 13
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
DECEMBER 14
Toad and Friends, Season 1D
Very Merry Mystery (OWN)
DECEMBER 15
Assassination in the Valley of the Kings (Discovery)
The Bold Type, Seasons 1-5
Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread (CNN Original Series)
Truck U, Season 21
White House Christmas (HGTV)
DECEMBER 16
The Secrets We Bury (ID)
“MisinfoNation: White Genocide,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
DECEMBER 17
Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen (HBO Original)
DECEMBER 18
Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? (HBO Original)
Saving Yellowstone with Dennis Quaid, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
DECEMBER 19
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 248 (HGTV)
Teen Titans Go!, Season 9F (Cartoon Network)
DECEMBER 20
Adult Swim's The Elephant (Adult Swim)
DECEMBER 21
Secrets in the Sand, Season 2 (Science)
DECEMBER 22
Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (2025)
The Last Captains, Season 1 (Discovery)
DECEMBER 23
“The Exorcists,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
DECEMBER 24
Guy’s Grocery Games, Season 40 (Food Network)
Ne Zha II (A24)
DECEMBER 25
Happy And You Know It (HBO Original)
DECEMBER 26
Heaven (HBO Original)
DECEMBER 27
Junk or Jackpot?, Season 1 (HGTV)
DECEMBER 28
Home Reimagined, Season 1B (Magnolia Network)
My Pet Ate What!?, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
DECEMBER 29
Celebrity IOU, Season 11 (HGTV)
Two Guys Garage, Season 24
DECEMBER 31
Building Outside the Lines, Season 3 (Magnolia Network)
Sports schedule
College Football Playoffs
December 20
CFP Game, 3:30 p.m.
CFP Game, 7:30 p.m.
U.S. Soccer
December 1
USWNT vs Italy, 7 p.m.
World Sevens Tournament
December 5
Session 1 Matches (4 Matches), 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
December 6
Session 2 Matches (4 Matches), 11:10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Session 3 Matches (4 Matches), 4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
December 7
Semi Final Matches (2 Matches), 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
3rd Place Match, 3 p.m.
Championship Match, 4:30 p.m.
NHL on TNT
December 3
Buffalo Sabres vs Philadelphia Flyers, 7:30 p.m.
Utah Mammoth vs Anaheim Ducks, 10 p.m.
December 9
Vegas Golden Knights vs New York Islanders, 7 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators, 9:30 p.m.
December 10
New York Rangers vs Chicago Blackhawks, 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings vs Seattle Kraken, 10 p.m.
December 16
Edmonton Oilers vs Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche vs Seattle Kraken, 10 p.m.
December 17
Utah Mammoth vs Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
New Jersey Devils vs Vegas Golden Knights, 10 p.m.
December 23
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 p.m.
Dallas Stars vs Detroit Red Wings, 6:30 p.m.
Philadelphia vs Chicago Blackhawks, 9 p.m.
College Basketball
Men’s Big East
December 1
St. Francis vs Xavier, 7 p.m.
December 2
Eastern Michigan vs Butler, 7 p.m.
Nicholls State vs Creighton, 9 p.m.
December 3
UMBC vs Georgetown, 8 p.m.
December 5
Cincinnati vs Xavier, 7:30 p.m.
December 6
Rhode Island vs Providence, 12 p.m.
Boise State vs Butler, 2 p.m.
Arkansas Pine Bluff vs Depaul, 9 p.m.
December 9
Brown vs Providence, 7:30 p.m.
December 12
Missouri State vs Xavier, 7 p.m.
December 13
Iona vs St. John’s, 12 p.m.
Providence vs Butler, 2 p.m.
Pittsburgh vs Villanova, 4:30 p.m.
Men’s Big 12
December 13
Santa Clara vs Arizona State, 7 p.m.
December 19
Abilene Christian vs BYU, 9:30 p.m.
December 21
Southern vs Baylor, 1 p.m.
December 28
Winthrop vs Texas Tech, 2 p.m.
Women’s Big East
December 28
Connecticut vs Butler, 4 p.m.
Creighton vs Georgetown, 6 p.m.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
December 3
AEW Dynamite, 8 p.m.
December 6
AEW Collision, 8 p.m.
December 10
AEW Dynamite, 8 p.m.
December 13
AEW Collision, 4:30 p.m.
December 17
AEW Dynamite, 8 p.m.
AEW Collision, 10 p.m.
AEW Countdown to World’s End 2025, 11 p.m.
December 19
Celebrate the holidays with a new batch of your classic favorites - more AEW Dynamite, Rampage and Battle of the Belts from 2022.
December 20
AEW Collision, 2:30 p.m.
December 24
AEW Dynamite – Dynamite on 34th Street, 6 p.m.
December 25
AEW Collision – Collision Christmas, 9 p.m.
December 27
AEW World's End PPV, 8 p.m
December 31
AEW Dynamite – Dynamite New Year Smash 2025, 8 p.m.
**Live Sports available only on select plans. Plan availability varies by subscription provider. Check with your subscription provider for details. Select games available and blackouts may apply.
Please note this list may not be comprehensive and is subject to change. All times are in ET.
Pre- and post-event programming will also be available to stream live, along with condensed replay highlights available after each event.
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