HBO, the premium cable network, has been producing original content since the early 1980s. Over four decades, HBO has built a reputation for itself by creating some of the best dramas and comedies in recent history. Before they had the streaming service Max, they created masterpieces like Six Feet Under and The Sopranos.
The moments from these series have gone down in history as some of the most iconic moments in television. Looking at IMDB’s Top 250 TV Shows of all time, many of the titles on the list are HBO projects. These projects have left their mark on television history and have inspired many more series created today.
10. ‘Oz’ (1997-2003)
Top 250 Rank: 93 (8.7/10 stars)
You might think, with the name Oz, that this is a prequel series based on The Wizard of Oz. But no, we can leave that to Jon M. Chu and his Wicked movies. Instead, this series is set in a fictional prison. Oz was actually HBO’s first one-hour drama series. It ran for six seasons from 1997 to 2003.
The Wizard of Oz inspires the name, with the prison’s name being Oswald State Correctional Facility. Much of the story takes place in “Emerald City,” and the original poster for the series had the phrase “It’s no place like home” written on it. HBO’s Oz also launched the careers of J. K. Simmons and featured Nurse Jackie’s Edie Falco. Interestingly, while other prison series feature a mix of innocent and guilty inmates, Oz has all guilty characters.
9. ‘Rome’ (2005-’07)
Top 250 Rank: 92 (8.7/10 stars)
Rome is a historical drama series co-produced by HBO and the BBC. It was one of HBO’s most expensive series, with each episode costing about $10 million, according to The Telegraph. Rome ran for two series from 2005 to 2007 with 22 episodes. The series covers the birth of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC and features a large ensemble cast.
Rome features iconic historical figures like Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, but mostly follows the stories of two Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. The historical drama featured Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, and others. Rome won four Emmys but was cancelled only after two seasons. The series was planned for five seasons, but declining viewership and high production costs led to its early cancellation. The plans for a follow-up film also never materialized.
8. ‘Six Feet Under’ (2001-2005)
Top 250 Rank: 88 (8.7/10 stars)
Six Feet Under is widely recognized as having one of the best TV show finales of all time. The HBO series follows a family reeling from the loss of their patriarch and managing a funeral home. While a funeral home might sound like a perfect setting for a drama, Six Feet Under is actually a dramedy. The series masterfully interweaves humor with grief. Like other procedural series, every episode follows the Fisher family helping a new person with their loved one’s funeral.
The series was critically acclaimed and went on to win nine Emmys, as well as a Peabody Award, for “its unsettling yet powerfully humane explorations of life and death.” The ensemble cast features Peter Krause, who went on to star in Parenthood and now 9-1-1, Michael C. Hall, who went on to star in the HBO hit Dexter, and Justin Machado, who is best known for her role in Netflix’s One Day at a Time. If you want to watch a series that makes you rethink your view of life and death, all while laughing at its exceptionally dark humor, Six Feet Under is a great choice.
7. ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ (1999-2024)
Top 250 Rank: 61 (8.8/10 stars)
HBO hasn’t only created incredible one-hour dramas, but they’ve also created iconic sitcoms like Curb Your Enthusiasm. The series, created by and starring Larry David, ran from 2000 to 2024, with 12 seasons and 120 episodes. The series follows the life of the semi-fictionalized version of David. David also created Seinfeld, and both of these shows were about everyday life. Curb Your Enthusiasm is interestingly done with David writing a loose storyline for each episode, but most of the dialogue is improvised by the actors.
Many of the episodes featured celebrity guest stars who played fictionalized versions of themselves. The cast also included Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, and J. B. Smoove. Curb Your Enthusiasm was praised for its improvisational comedy and received 55 Emmy nominations, although it won only twice.
6. ‘True Detective’ (2014-2024)
Top 250 Rank: 43 (8.9/10 stars)
True Detective is HBO’s anthology crime series. Every season has a new cast and a new mystery to solve. The first season aired in 2014, and the series is still running, with season five currently in development. Each season’s cast includes an impressive cast, including Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Mahershala Ali, and Jodie Foster.
The series has an overall score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, but not all seasons were equally well-received. The second season was criticized and received a Rotten score of 47%. Although the other three performed better, the fourth season had the highest score of 93%. True Detective has received 22 nominations over its run with five wins so far. True Detective’s first season scored an average of 11.4 million viewers per episode, breaking Six Feet Under’s record for most-watched freshman series on HBO, according to Deadline.
5. ‘Game of Thrones’ (2011-’19)
Top 250 Rank: 13 (9.2/10 stars)
Game of Thrones is an international phenomenon and is likely the most well-known series created by HBO. This fantasy series is an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. It ran from 2011 to 2019 over eight seasons and 73 episodes. The series follows a fictional world where a huge cast fights over the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Filled with dragons and entire creative worlds, it’s not too surprising that the series was extremely expensive. By the final season, each episode was estimated to cost about $15 million, according to Variety.
Game of Thrones has had a massive cultural impact, from Halloween costumes to a rise in new fantasy series. While other HBO series have been praised for their endings, Game of Thrones’ last season was criticized by many fans and called a disappointment. Despite this, the series went on to spawn two spin-off series: the already-running House of the Dragon and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
4. ‘The Sopranos’ (1999-2007)
Top 250 Rank: 9 (9.2/10 stars)
It’s impossible to explain The Sopranos’ influence on television. The series is frequently credited with starting a golden era of television. Before The Sopranos, television wasn’t often seen as a medium that could portray complex characters. With the help of this series, we were able to get other dark and complex series like Six Feet Under and Breaking Bad. It also fully established HBO as a channel for the most premium content.
The series ran from 1999 to 2007 with six seasons and 86 episodes. The Sopranos received 112 nominations and 21 wins. The series follows Tony Soprano as he navigates life in the mafia and his personal family life. Tony Soprano was played incredibly by James Gandolfini. While Edie Falco was first on Oz, her role as mob wife Carmela Soprano fully launched her career. She won three Emmys for her portrayal. In 2021, The Many Saints of Newark was a prequel to The Sopranos, and James Gandolfini’s son, Michael Gandolfini, played a younger version of Tony Soprano.
3. ‘The Wire’ (2002-’08)
Top 250 Rank: 6 (9.3/10 stars)
The Wire is most praised for its ability to grow and expand its scope as its seasons went on. Based in Baltimore, this HBO show successfully depicted the city’s education system, its dock workers, its politics, and more. The series was praised mainly for accurately representing Baltimore in all of its colors. While each season highlighted a different aspect of the city, the series somehow managed to seamlessly tie it all in without leaving any of the previous characters behind. It never felt forced and creates a natural progression of the story.
Besides the incredible story, the series also launched the careers of stars like Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan. Despite receiving universal acclaim, The Wire received only two Emmy nominations throughout its five-season run. Despite the lack of awards, the series is widely recognized as one of the best of all time.
2. ‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
Top 250 Rank: 5 (9.3/10 stars)
Chernobyl is HBO’s historical miniseries that dramatizes the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The series was co-produced by HBO and the UK’s Sky Atlantic. The 2010s may have been filled with many incredible multi-season series, but they also had plenty of miniseries like Chernobyl. The series is seen as one of the best of the 2010s for its intimate and intense portrayal of the disaster and its aftereffects.
This cautionary tale shows us the heroes of the times, but also the horrifying enormity of such an event. We are shown the necessary actions taken to protect the rest of Europe and how this story must be remembered to prevent history from repeating itself. Chernobyl was nominated for 19 Emmys and won 10 of them, including the Outstanding Limited Series award.
1. ‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)
Top 250 Rank: 4 (9.4/10 stars)
Band of Brothers is another incredible one-season series and one of the strongest war shows of the 21st century. Created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the war series is based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book. It follows a dramatized version of Easy Company and chronicles them throughout World War II, including the Normandy Invasion. With only ten episodes, the series was the most expensive miniseries of all time at that point, with each episode costing $12.5 million.
Band of Brothers has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series received 20 Emmy nominations and 10 wins, including the Best Miniseries award at both the Emmys and the Golden Globes. The series masterfully had to walk the line between reflecting the heroism of its characters and the harsh realities of war.
