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Our Flag Means Death and 10 other great original shows Max has brutally canceled

The cancelation of shows like Rap Sh!t, Our Flag Means Death and Julia are only the most recent executions made by Max. Max arguably has the best library of original scripted shows of any streaming service, and it seems determined to destroy all of it.

By Dan Selcke

Leslie Jones, Nathan Foad, and Rhys Darby in Our Flag Means Death - Photograph by Aaron Epstein/HBO Max
Leslie Jones, Nathan Foad, and Rhys Darby in Our Flag Means Death - Photograph by Aaron Epstein/HBO Max /
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Rap Sh!t
Rap Sh!t premieres July 21 on HBO Max, Aida Osman and KaMillion /

Rap Sh!t (Time of Death: January 2024)

From Issa Rae, creator of the HBO show Insecure, came Rap Sh!t, a dramedy about a pair of estranged high school friends who come back together to form a rap group and break into the music business in the age of social media. As expected from Rae, it was sharp, incisive, funny, and up-to-the-minute about the latest trends in entertainment, all tied together by the warm, believable friendship between the two leads.

Rap Sh!t leaned more into drama in its second season, and showed signs that it would continue to evolve in its third. But it won't get the chance. Rap Sh!t is the most recent show to be canceled by Max at the time this article is going up.

Issa Rae is one of HBO's recent big finds, someone who Time has included more than once on its list of the world's most influential people. Sometimes TV shows get canceled, of course, but if cancelation becomes the norm, you have to wonder how willing high-profile creatives like Rae will be to work with Max in the future.

love-life (4)
Love Life Season 1, Episode 1 - Courtesy of WarnerMedia/Jojo Whilden /

Love Life (Time of Death: December 2022)

Love Life was a romantic comedy anthology show (hello, high concept) that followed a different person every season, hitting on all of their romantic relationships until they found the person they were going to be with forever.

The first season starred Anna Kendrick and the second William Jackson Harper from The Good Place. Max and HBO shows have no problem pulling big-name actors when they want. The heyday of the romantic comedy movie is long over, but the genre has been having a revival on TV thanks to shows like Heartstopper and Emily in Paris, and seemed like an interesting, more HBO-esque spin on the idea. But alas, this Love Life is over.

Alright, let's honor two more casualties of Max's war on art before we bring this home:

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