HBO’s Raunchy New 8-Part Series Remains a Near-Perfect Streaming Smash Ahead of Season 2

It’s been six weeks since HBO debuted its latest raunchy series, and thus far, it shows no signs of slowing down on streaming anytime soon. Created by and starring Sharon Horgan, the smash hit has been a staple in the Top 10 since it launched, and rightfully so when you consider it scored a near-perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

HBO’s Latest Raunchy Hit Is “Equal Parts Hilarious and Vulnerable”

Released on Sept. 20, Youth stars Horgan as Alex, a 50-year-old divorced literary agent living in London who is juggling a career, aging parents and a son whose stint at university didn’t go as planned. Searching for something more, she decides to re-enter the dating scene, but soon learns that balancing everybody else’s needs with her own happiness is a lot harder than she thought it would be.

Also starring Rupert Friend (Jurassic World Rebirth), Sharlene Whyte (Waterloo Road), and Aran Murphy (Klara and the Sun), Youth is filled with the same sharp dialogue, uncomfortable situations, and raunchy humor that Horgan became known for thanks to her previous acclaimed hits, Pulling and Catastrophe. It’s no surprise, then, that the HBO series quickly became a smash hit, and has remained that way ever since its debut.

Per Flix Patrol, Youth is currently the third most popular series on HBO Max’s global Top 10 list, and fourth in the United States. Of course, it helped that episodes were released each week instead of all at once, which aided in making Youth must-see TV every Sunday. The final episode of Season 1 aired on Nov. 1, so if you’ve never seen it, now is the perfect time to binge-watch what critics have called “a tale of menopausal love and sex that’s equal parts hilarious and vulnerable.”

Speaking of critics, they were flabbergasted by the brutal honesty on display in Youth. The series holds a near-perfect score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Phillip Maciak from The New Republic calling it “a sexy, dazzling, often devastating comedy of middle motherhood.” Chelsea Hui from Mamamia echoed those sentiments, adding that the series “is fun and an absolute flex for midlife storytelling that will have you hooked from the very first scene.”

‘Youth’ Has Officially Been Renewed for Season 2

Thankfully, Youth won’t be a one-and-done series. One day after the finale of Season 1, HBO renewed Horgan’s hit for another season, with the creator and star saying in a statement that the response to the series has been “beyond what I could have hoped for.”

“I’m so happy to get another opportunity to live out my emotional and biological crises on HBO. I can’t think of a better platform to air my UTI problems on. The response to Youth has been beyond what I could have hoped for. I’m so grateful for the response and the chance to work with this incredible cast and creative team once more.”

No release date has been set yet for Youth Season 2, but if it follows a yearly schedule, viewers can look for it to most likely return next fall. In the meantime, be sure to stream all eight episodes of the first season now on HBO Max.

Release Date

September 20, 2026

Network

HBO

Directors

Jim O’Hanlon, Dawn Shadforth

Writers

Sharon Horgan, Sarah Simmonds