Cinemax - Programming - Original Programming - Max After Dark

Max After Dark is a late night adult programming block featuring licensed softcore pornography films and series. There are no set start or end times for the block, as they vary depending on the mainstream feature films (and original series on certain nights) that precede it and which programs are scheduled to air within the block. The main Cinemax channel generally does not air any adult programming before 11:30 p.m. ET, a policy enacted by the network in 1993. The block originally debuted on May 4, 1984 as a once-a-week block called "Cinemax Friday After Dark"; by the late 1990s, these adult programs were expanded to seven-night-a-week airings. Most of the programs aired during the block carry either a TV-MA or R rating (usually the former), primarily for strong sexual content and nudity.

The late night adult series that currently air first-run episodes are Co-Ed Confidential, Forbidden Science, Lingerie, Life on Top, Femme Fatales, Chemistry, Skin to the Max and The Girl's Guide to Depravity. Adult films also typically air alongside the adult series, though depending on the Cinemax multiplex channel and which programs are scheduled that night on each channel, this may not always be the case. The program block has often been the subject of both scrutiny in the media and a source of humor in popular culture, with references to Cinemax's late night programming having been featured in various films and TV shows. Because of the block's presence, Cinemax is most commonly given the jocular nickname outside the network, "Skinemax". The network itself has acknowledged this by using a play on this term for its 2011 documentary series, Skin to the Max.

Adult programming is not limited solely to the main Cinemax network: MoreMax also airs adult movies and series, sometimes airing an hour earlier than the main Cinemax channel would allow, airing at times as early as 10:30 p.m. ET; ActionMax, ThrillerMax and OuterMax also occasionally feature some adult films featured on the "Max After Dark" block, despite the fact that those channels are genre-based multiplex services and not all softcore adult films and series featured on Max After Dark fit those networks' respective formats. Conversely, Wmax and 5StarMax generally do not run adult films of any kind due to those channels' respective formats: Wmax is aimed at women, while 5StarMax features a format of largely critically acclaimed, mainstream feature films. Some of the adult films featured on the Max After Dark block also air late nights on sister channel HBO Zone, which is the only HBO channel to feature pornographic film content.