What are the best shows on HBO?

[MVP of West Hollywd]

My rankings

1. Six Feet Under
2. Succession
3. The Sopranos
4. The Wire
5. Barry

 

[Babe Ruth]

5. Barry

Yeah, Barry was good. I think I missed some of the later episodes tho.

My favorite Barry scene: when Henry Winkler just announced a death to his goofy acting class.. And as everyone was dealing with their shock & grief and wanting to leave, he made it clear that since the class had already assembled.. there would be no refunds (for that day) on their tuition.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Really feels the the quality of shows went down the shitter on HBO.

Aside from House of the Dragon, there has been almost nothing good over the last few years (and i'm talking like master pieces). Chernobyl was great but even that was 5 years ago now.

 

[DaaaaB's]

Really feels the the quality of shows went down the shitter on HBO.

Aside from House of the Dragon, there has been almost nothing good over the last few years (and i'm talking like master pieces). Chernobyl was great but even that was 5 years ago now.

Watch Tokyo Vice if you can handle subtitles. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece but it's really good. The Last of Us is excellent too imo.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Watch Tokyo Vice if you can handle subtitles. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece but it's really good. The Last of Us is excellent too imo.

Ah right, forgot about The Last of Us, great show.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

Oz is possibly my all-time favorite show. The Wire is also excellent.

True Detective season 1 is also immaculate.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Controversial opinion: The Wire is overrated. It's a great show, but not as good as the hype suggests.

-The police used to call the showmakers and ask them not to put stuff on as criminals were watching to avoid incarceration
-They had a 5min scene where they only used the word F***, and it captured so many different connotations
-The xerox machine as a lie detector test was pure gold, and actually a common used technique
-The late and great MKW as Omar Little
-the vernacular used was specific to Baltimore area
-not all the actors were actors. The realism of the show almost made it feel documentary like
-the multiple viewpoints in story telling
-Every season had a different theme. Politics, educational sytem, social system, etc


Show was definitely not overrated

 

[whitez]

"The Sympathizer" and "Conan O'Brien Must Go," for me. Plus I started downloading videos from facebook, I found how to do it at setapp.com/how-to/download-facebook-video using apps such as Pulltube and Downie. Never thought it is so easy to do. I like to watch different videos and tv shows after hard day at work so now I can download my favorite videos for free.

 

[Hivemind]

1. True Detective (season 1 - it's a standalone product)
2. The Wire
3. Game of Thrones
4. Band of Brothers
5. The Last of Us

HM: Barry, House of the Dragon, Chernobyl, Tales from the Crypt, Da Ali G Show, Last Week Tonight, Mare of Easttown

If we count single seasons of a larger show, then Westworld season 1 could rank as high as #2. Pity that the show took a hard nosedive after S1.

 

[The Macho King]

"The Sympathizer" and "Conan O'Brien Must Go," for me.

I've been thinking about watching The Sympathizer. I generally really like Park Chan Wook but I want him to make movies god damnit.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

"The Sympathizer" and "Conan O'Brien Must Go," for me. Plus I started downloading videos fro facebook, I found how t do it at setapp.com/how-to/download-facebook-video. never thought it is so easy to do. I like to watch different videos and tv shows after hard day at work.

How come most of your posts contain links and just seem like advertisements?

 

[I am not exposed]

Love a lot of HBO shows, but always though True Detective season 1 is overrated. I recall enjoying half the episodes, and the other half were boring. And the final episode was underwhelming.

 

[shakes the clown]

Love a lot of HBO shows, but always though True Detective season 1 is overrated. I recall enjoying half the episodes, and the other half were boring. And the final episode was underwhelming.

I thought True Detective S1 is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Actually I would say it was one of the most offensive shows I've ever seen. Offensive in the sense that it was disgusting the way the producers took advantage of the audience. They offered up all this mystery in the early episodes only to have half of it completely ignored by the time the season wrapped up.

They threw out mystery after mystery to hook you in despite having no intention of answering any of those questions.

I refused to watch S2 or any subsequent season because I was so disgusted in the shady production tactics used in S1. Fool me once....

 

[shakes the clown]

My favorite HBO shows only includes shows that were great from start to finish. Not rewarding any shows that failed to stick the landing or got worse towards the end ala GOT, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Rome.

Favorites not in any order:
Veep
Boardwalk Empire
Silicone Valley
The Leftovers
Barry
Last of us
Band of Brothers
Chernobyl
The Night Of
House of Dragons

 

[Hivemind]

They offered up all this mystery in the early episodes only to have half of it completely ignored by the time the season wrapped up.

Favorites not in any order:
[...]
The Night Of

Now this is some juicy cognitive dissonance!

 

[SimGrindcore]

Very solid list here. Have you seen The Leftovers? Probably my favourite show on HBO.

Looks interesting. The trailer gave me some Handmaid's Tale vibes somewhat.

 

[les Habs]

Surprised that Curb Your Enthusiasm gets so few mentions in this thread. IMO it’s the funniest comedy series ever.

Tokyo Vice is a newer series that I’m enjoying.

HBO has plenty of mini-series/limited series worth watching. Empire Falls, Parade’s End, that Stephen King one (The Outsider?)… oh and of course the fantastic Sharp Objects.

Deadwood is the best show HBO has ever done - the writing is superb but what so impressive is the dialogue. It is lyrical and positively Shakespearean - I've never heard the C word used so splendidly. The monologues are riveting - seriously, go back to listen to Al hoot and swear and holler. Amazing. Deadwood was unfortunately canceled due to HBO's short sightedness but they did greenlight a movie which was also very, very good taken together with the work of the series (not really a stand alone movie though).

The Wire is the second-best thing that HBO has ever produced - listen take the pilot and the first two or three episodes and give it I chance, I know you'll be like WHAT is so good about this? But, trust me, binge a whole season. It's a rare show that is better with a second viewing. The characters arrive as they are for the entirety of the show in episode 1. You'll be like shit that's McNaulty..... It's an extremely slow burn and it drops your off right in the middle of it and expects you, the audience, to be able to keep up and pay attention. Little things pop out and then are never referenced again (in much less gotcha moments than the Sopranos for example).

Game of thrones, till season 5, was extremely good, tied with the two above. Thrones suffered when the dialogue was not ripped directly from the novels (forecasting the utter crash of quality of seasons 6+). Some Thrones scenes pop, others fizzle. The dialogue can be on the level of Deadwood or utterly pedestrian and juvenile.

The Wire and Deadwood stand above anything else HBO has produced, with the Sopranos probably coming a distant 3rd (contrary to the public, I loved the ending while not enjoying the last mega-season as much as the early ones). Boardwalk Empire had a GREAT pilot and was hitting its stride in season 2, then they killed of Jimmy, who was carrying the show. It never recovered. (I like Steve Buscemi but he was never interesting enough to carry the show as Nucky, the character never really popped.) I'll offer the Last of Us as a very good contender for number 4, and I think had one of the best first seasons of any HBO show with the exception of Deadwood and possibly Thrones (with its latter episodes becoming worse in quality, which do not bode well for season 2.....).

Yeah, I’d say it’s hard to dispute both Deadwood and then The Wire still to this day. Just wanted to add that what’s amazing about the Deadwood film is that it came so many years later and yet still worked amazingly well. Incredible really.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

The Sopranos, the Wire for dramas

Flight of the Conchords, the Life and Times of Tim, Ten Year Old Tom for comedies