Why HBO Max’s New #1 Show Is Taking Over The US (Even Beating The Pitt)
By Cathal Gunning
March 17, 2026
Although The Pitt is one of HBO Max’s most popular shows of 2026, DTF St. Louis just managed to dethrone the show from the streaming service’s top spot. Jason Bateman’s new mystery series DTF St. Louis is something of a return to form for the actor, judging by his most famous earlier screen roles.
DTF St. Louis’s dark, bleak comedy borrows from Bateman’s iconic sitcom Arrested Development, while the show’s murder mystery storyline feels like a funnier version of Bateman’s later Netflix crime thriller Ozark. Even though the propulsive real-time medical drama series The Pitt is one of HBO Max’s biggest shows, DTF St. Louis’s quirky, unpredictable genre blend managed to outdo the series in March 2026.
DTF St. Louis Overtook The Pitt To Gain HBO Max’s Top Spot
DTF St. Louis became HBO Max’s most-watched show, ahead of The Pitt, with the release of its third episode on March 15. “The Go Getter” deepened the show’s central mystery. Originally developed from James Lasdun’s 2022 New Yorker piece “My Dentist’s Murder Trial: Adultery, False Identities, and a Lethal Sedation,” DTF St. Louis‘s story ended up being reworked into an original plot.
The seven-part series follows Bateman’s weatherman Clark, David Harbour’s ASL interpreter Floyd, and Linda Cardellini’s Carol, as the trio becomes embroiled in a love triangle that leaves one member dead. While the show’s time-twisting narrative presentation and central murder mystery call to mind Prime Video’s recent erotic thriller 56 Days, DTF St. Louis is a much more comedically minded affair.
As local detectives try to work out how one of the main characters ended up dead, DTF St. Louis’s story sees the show take satirical aim at the perils of modern dating, suburban disaffection, and shifting cultural mores around sex. DTF St. Louis’s title comes from an in-universe app that married people can use to set up affairs, but that’s only one clue in this twisty mystery.
DTF St. Louis Is A Dark Comedy With A Twisty Mystery Story
Comedic spins on the whodunit genre are enjoying a renaissance right now thanks to hits like Peacock’s Poker Face, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Netflix’s The Residence, HBO’s The White Lotus, and Apple TV’s The After Party. However, what makes DTF St. Louis’s mystery stand out in this crowded marketplace is the show’s sharp satire of modern relationships.
Even if it weren’t for the show’s manipulation of its timeline, the relationship between Clark, Floyd, and Carol is already a complicated and thorny one. This is what makes DTF St. Louis’s story so addictive, as viewers are never entirely certain whose perspective to trust and who they should be rooting for in this love triangle.
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With all the twists and turns of a first-rate psychological thriller but the barbed satirical wit of a character comedy, DTF St. Louis is the best of both worlds. The show is a perfect fit for anyone who enjoyed HBO’s earlier satirical mystery The White Lotus, so it should come as no surprise that DTF St. Louis is currently beating The Pitt to HBO Max’s top spot.
