And speaking of shows that were almost canceled, this month also sees the long-awaited return of His Dark Materials (Dec. 5), concluding the TV adaptation of the beloved Philip Pullman YA series. Though it’s a far better take on the books than the big-screen movie, the show never quite lived up to the initial hype. But I’m glad HBO and the BBC managed to scrape together one last batch of episodes, if only to see how they manage to wrestle one of the weirdest and most incendiary kids’ books ever written into something resembling an action-adventure show. (Spoiler alert: The endgame involves a literal attempt to murder God).
His Dark Materials: Season 3 | Official Trailer | HBO
Elsewhere on the streamer, you can watch returning seasons of a few Max Originals that you’ve probably never heard of (because HBO is almost as bad at promoting its niche streaming shows as Netflix). December sees the launch of the second seasons of the Gossip Girl reboot (Dec. 1), the awkward comedy Sort of (Dec. 1), the Spanish-language thriller series Paradise (Dec. 1), the claustrophobic suspense anthology series The Head (Dec. 22), and the Billie Piper vehicle I Hate Suzie (Dec. 22).
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Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) HBO Max in December, including the streaming premieres of recent theatrical releases Amsterdam (Dec. 6) and The Banshees of Inisherin (Dec. 13). Titles with (HBO) next to them are available on HBO and HBO Max; everything else is exclusive to HBO Max.
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