HBO shows on Netflix: stream Insecure now, with more on the way

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Several HBO shows are going to be streaming on Netflix soon.

Issa Rae in Insecure
Issa Rae in Insecure (Image credit: Glen Wilson/HBO)

It's not TV, it’s HBO… and Netflix now. After previous reports that HBO could license some of its original TV shows to Netflix, the news is official, with Insecure being the first of many arriving on the streaming platform. Deadline was the first to report it.

Insecure won't be the last to make the move to Netflix, however. Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Six Feet Under and Ballers are all going to become available on Netflix in the US, while True Blood is going to become available to stream for Netflix subscribers outside of the US (the Anna Paquin series currently is streaming on Hulu in the US). An exact date for the Netflix premiere of these shows has not been announced.

With Insecure, all episodes of the series are now available to stream on Netflix, including Insecure season 5, which was the final run of the show. Issa Rae created and starred in Insecure, which followed the awkward situations and tribulations of a modern-day Black woman living in Los Angeles. In addition to Rae, the series starred Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Kendrick Sampson, Lisa Joyce and more.

Throughout its run, Insecure was nominated for 14 Emmys, including three nominations for Rae in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy category and one for Outstanding Comedy series.

The arrival of HBO shows on Netflix comes at an interesting time for HBO and its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The company's own streaming service, Max (formerly HBO Max), has removed some shows from its library to cut costs. This decision to license some of its original shows to Netflix is another decision meant to find additional revenue.

This also should be a bit of a call back for long-time Netflix subscribers, who can likely remember Netflix previously having premiere cable content available, though HBO was a rare exception.

Insecure and the rest of the shows that are making their way to Netflix are still going to be available to stream on Max. So if you are a subscriber to that service already, there’s no need to worry that you’ll have to add Netflix to watch them.

Whether more and bigger HBO shows make their way to Netflix (maybe Game of Thrones), is TBD.

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Michael Balderston
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.