Over the years, there have been many exceptional HBO shows. Starting out as a cable-originated TV service, HBO has since expanded into streaming, moving with the times to maintain its relevance. There are very few names in television as widely respected as HBO, as it has served as a platform for many of the best TV shows of all time. The best HBO TV shows are truly iconic, with some of its programming widely celebrated and retaining loyal fan bases even decades after concluding their respective runs. It’s not just a testament to their quality, but also to their ability to resonate with audiences through their timelessly engaging stories.
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Many of the truly great HBO TV shows aren’t just remembered as great television, but as shows that actually shaped the medium moving forward. The very notion of prestige TV was once alien, but HBO managed to normalize the idea that TV shows should be every bit as cinematic and enthralling as their big-screen counterparts. The following shows all worked toward that very notion, building up HBO’s reputation as one of the most influential names in television history.
7) The Wire
Although The Wire starts off a little slow, it builds into one of HBO’s perfect TV masterpieces as its story unfolds. It follows the stories of various institutions in the city of Baltimore, all of which are directly impacted by the city’s criminal underworld and connected to law enforcement agencies. The Wire‘s rich crime drama proved massively popular and earned cult classic status, and it is now more widely remembered as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
The Wire‘s constantly shifting and evolving story redefined the parameters of television show narratives. The show’s relatively low ratings in comparison to its quality and later success also proved that even exceptional television can be easily overlooked, but that doesn’t have to undermine a show’s quality by forcing it to change in pursuit of more tangible success. By sticking to its core identity throughout, The Wire subtly reshaped television in an image much closer to its own.
6) Sex and the City
While some consider Sex and the City an HBO TV show that aged poorly, its legacy speaks for itself. Spawning a major franchise that includes spin-offs and movies, the show, which first aired between 1998 and 2004, told the story of four female professionals living in New York City, following their professional and romantic lives as well as their friendship with one another. Despite being retroactively criticized for its use of stereotypes, its narrow-minded view of feminism, and its various sexist and otherwise insensitive jokes, it remains a massively influential show by almost every conceivable metric.
For a start, Sex and the City cemented the need for prestige TV created to cater specifically to a largely female audience. It established that major TV shows didn’t need a main cast featuring male characters, and that well-written female leads were more than enough to carry a show to massive success with fans and critics alike. It helped to open many eyes in terms of the rapidly evolving feminist awakening of the late ’90s and early 2000s, and helped TV cross over into a whole new millennium.
5) Curb Your Enthusiasm
Once best-known for being the co-creator of Seinfeld, Larry David secured his comedic legacy with Curb Your Enthusiasm, which ran for 12 seasons between 2000 and 2024. In a similar vein to Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm follows a fictionalized version of David as he navigates the minutiae of everyday life while living as a semi-retired television writer and producer. Its use of awkward cringe comedy and established unique style saw it become one of the best-loved comedy shows of all time.
As well as serving as a pioneer of the cringe comedy genre, Curb Your Enthusiasm did away with the traditional laugh track of sitcoms and found its comedic groove through collaborative improvisation. The stories were only outlined by David, who reportedly allowed the cast to largely improvise their lines, making for a far more organic comedic experience. By proving that good comedy television didn’t need to be rigidly scripted or fit into a specific genre, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm changed the game for many other comedy shows.
4) Game of Thrones
Now considered one of the greatest fantasy TV shows of all time, Game of Thrones was a massive success for HBO. Adapted from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the live-action world of Westeros gripped viewers around the world, helping to cement HBO’s near-universal appeal. As well as rekindling a widespread love of the fantasy genre, Game of Thrones managed to prove that TV could still deliver true water-cooler shows.
Of course, the massive success of Game of Thrones and the wider franchise of spin-offs and video games it inspired prompted countless other fantasy book adaptations to be greenlit. While many of them proved to have a much shorter shelf-life than Game of Thrones, the implication is clear. The HBO show demonstrated that with a clear vision, a solid cast, and a considerable visual effects budget, fantasy stories could prove some of the most exciting and profitable TV source material, and could potentially spawn massive franchises to boot.
3) Band of Brothers
When it comes to listing the best HBO shows of all time, Band of Brothers is almost always a part of the conversation. The World War II drama miniseries consists of just 10 episodes, following the real-life story of “Easy” Company of the 101st Airborne from their paratrooper training right through D-Day and all the way to the end of the war. A truly powerful World War II TV show, Band of Brothers boasted an exceptional cast of talented actors as well as incredible production values and a gripping historical story.
Band of Brothers is often cited as the true beginning of prestige television. Its quality proved that even on the small screen, cinematic creatives like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks could achieve feats of gripping movie-quality storytelling. Its unprecedented budget paid off massively, securing its legacy as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and marking Band of Brothers as the beginning of a brave new era of television courtesy of HBO.
2) The Sopranos
There might be no shortage of great HBO TV shows that have aged well, but The Sopranos stands out for several reasons. Its story, which follows Tony Soprano, a New Jersey Mafia boss, and his various business associates, won many awards over the course of its run, cementing its legacy as one of the most influential TV shows of all time. It’s one of the best-known TV series ever made, and its continued popularity, even years after concluding its run, sets it apart even from similarly successful shows.
The Sopranos redefined the parameters for what constituted a solid TV protagonist. Previously, shows had largely focused on at least one morally upright character, helping the audience to clearly understand who they should be rooting for. The Sopranos flipped that idea, establishing its protagonists as anti-heroes with a skewed moral compass that audiences simply couldn’t help but love. In doing so, The Sopranos ushered in a whole new era of television, opening the door for many other great shows following complex criminal characters.
1) Oz
Set in the Oswald State Correctional Facility, HBO’s Oz was a truly groundbreaking show. A prison drama largely set in the prison’s experimental rehabilitation unit, Oz painted a fascinating picture of life behind bars, examining a cross-section of society while also exploring much deeper narrative themes. With a great cast and a uniquely dramatic premise, Oz was a real game-changer for HBO in more ways than it gets credit for.
First airing in 1997, Oz was HBO’s first real foray into the realm of prestige television and cemented the potential of hour-long, dramatic episodic storytelling that touched on mature themes and ideas. Its depiction of nudity and brutality further set it apart, establishing a dark and deeply engaging narrative that was as gripping as it was groundbreaking. In its format, ideas, and execution, Oz helped pave the way for almost every majorly successful HBO drama that came after it, and though it’s often forgotten in favor of better-known HBO shows, it’s by far one of the most influential in the platform’s history.
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