Within television’s meteoric rise to being universally celebrated as one of the defining mediums of prestige entertainment in the 21st century, one network brand has stood out. That, of course, is HBO, with the esteemed pay television service producing such defining icons of the small screen as The Sopranos, The Wire, and Game of Thrones. However, not every masterpiece the premium TV channel has offered has been sprawling series that go on and on season after season.
Keeping things concise, these 10 series highlight HBO’s enduring brilliance, and watching through them in their entirety isn’t a monumental commitment that will take months to get through. Whether they’re magnificent miniseries, four-season phenomena, or even initially overlooked shows that were prematurely canceled only to develop a following later on, these television series are nothing short of quintessential classics of small-screen entertainment.
10
‘Barry’ (2018–2023)
Four Seasons
A relatively recent triumph from HBO, Barry is a brilliant mixture of poignant character drama, elaborate crime intrigue, and hilarious black comedy that coasts off the talent of star and co-creator Bill Hader. He features as Barry Berkman, a depressed veteran still reeling from his time in Afghanistan who gets by working as a hitman for hire. When a job takes him into an acting class in L.A., however, he discovers a great love for the stage and strives to become a professional actor, an aspiration complicated by his criminal past.
Bolstered by strong writing, note-perfect performances, and a unique ability to blend dark humor and complex themes such as PTSD, identity, and redemption with marvelous results, Barry is consistently as peculiar as it is endearing and addictive. The series concluded with its fourth season in 2023, with its finale a perfectly bleak conclusion that, in its refusal to conform to an easy, comfortable ending, delivers a thought-provoking and challenging story that will be pondered and discussed for many years to come.
Barry
- Release Date
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2018 – 2022
- Network
-
HBO Max
9
‘My Brilliant Friend’ (2018–2024)
Four Seasons
Whether it is due to its status as a foreign language series or its quiet veneer of coming-of-age drama that doesn’t demand attention like other, more bombastic series tend to, My Brilliant Friend is an underrated gem of modern television. Based on Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels series, it unfolds as an elderly author learns her best friend since childhood has gone missing without a trace. Struck by the disturbing mystery, the author reflects on her childhood in 1950s Naples, the blossoming of the focal friendship, and the ways it evolved and strengthened over the decades.
With a focus on femininity and friendship, the series stuns as a sprawling epic, one that, with its setting spanning across decades, is equipped to engage with such issues as the environment of a post-WWII Italy, how women’s ambition was neglected through the mid-20th century, and relationships between sexes over time. It casts it most confronting and desolate of moments against the rapturous beauty of Italy, making for a visually transfixing and thematically mighty series that concluded with its fourth season in 2024.
My Brilliant Friend
- Release Date
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2018 – 2023
- Directors
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Saverio Costanzo, Alice Rohrwacher, Daniele Luchetti
8
‘Treme’ (2010–2013)
Four Seasons
David Simon, who created The Wire among other great series, has established himself as a societally-minded critical thinker who uses his enchanting and palpably authentic stories to highlight the shortcomings of the institutions millions of Americans depend upon. Focusing on members of a New Orleans community in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Treme again illustrates these societal pitfalls in poignant and piercing detail, examining how masses of impacted people were left to pick up the pieces of their life while striving to uphold their distinct cultural heritage, and receiving little to no help from the government in the process.
While it is smaller in scope than The Wire, the series still delivers an all-encompassing look at the issues that befall the neighborhood of Tremé following the storm, including the ramifications of political corruption, the public housing controversy, faults in the criminal justice system, and efforts to reignite the city’s tourism appeal. Rife with interesting and intricate characters, dense yet detailed plotting, and, unsurprisingly, an abundance of great music, Treme is a powerful social drama that stands as one of the most underappreciated series HBO has aired this century.
treme
- Release Date
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2010 – 2012
- Network
-
HBO
-
-
Dr. John
Creighton Bernette
7
‘I May Destroy You’ (2020)
One Season
A truly daring marriage of black comedy and social drama, I May Destroy You serves as a magnetically authentic yet harrowing examination of issues such as consent, sexual assault, and the trauma following attacks. Michaela Coel (who also wrote, co-directed, and co-created the series) stars as Arabella, a young novelist working on her second book when a night out with friends leads to her being raped in a bar toilet. As she tries to piece together the night from her fragmented memories and conflicting stories from her friends, she must also confront her own views on her friends and her career.
The premise’s mystery element is ingenious, allowing for Arabella’s trauma and her unearthing of the true nature of some of her friends to unravel in a manner that challenges audiences, but not to the extent that the story or themes become incoherent or overburdened. Delicate yet bold, and brought vividly to life by Coel’s emphatic and nuanced performance, I May Destroy You is a timely triumph of the current miniseries trend that leaves an indelible impression on viewers with its impact and its findings.
6
‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)
Three Seasons
Using a high-concept and provocative supernatural premise in order to explore themes of guilt, grief, and faith with profound depth, The Leftovers has only grown in stature since the conclusion of its third season in 2017. It transpires in the aftermath of a cataclysmic event known as the “Sudden Departure”, in which 140 million people simply vanished without explanation. As mainstream religions diminish and new cults emerge, it follows the Garvey family and their acquaintances as they struggle to come to terms with the new world.
All three seasons of the series unfurl with a deliberate and measured purpose, an awe-inspiring confidence that reaches for ambitious heights and always hits its mark. The cast, which features such names as Justin Theroux, Liv Tyler, and Carrie Coon, is ceaselessly magnificent, able to handle every complex scene with incredible elegance and might, while the writing never wavers in its intent to procure strong reactions from viewers. Many regard it as being the best series of the 2010s and one of HBO’s defining achievements.
The Leftovers
- Release Date
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2014 – 2017-00-00
- Showrunner
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Damon Lindelof
5
‘Rome’ (2005–2007)
Two Seasons
Perhaps released fractionally too soon, just a handful of years before television truly boomed to be the prestigious entertainment medium it is today, Rome had its planned five-season run abandoned due to high production costs. While this is a tragedy, the show’s two seasons still provide plenty of intrigue and drama. Loosely following two ordinary soldiers in the Roman army, it explores the downfall of the Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire, depicting the schemes, betrayals, and alliances that brought about such monumental shifts, while also exploring how the political turmoil impacted the lives of Roman citizens as well.
Lauded for its historical accuracy, the series offers an entrancing and immersive look at Ancient Rome, with everything from the precise writing to the sharp performances, and especially the astonishing production design elevating the spectacle to be one of the greatest the small screen has ever seen. While the condensed narrative of Season 2 does lead to some pitfalls, the series as a whole remains an engrossing epic that brings one of history’s most fascinating settings to life with visceral and vivid splendor.
4
‘Deadwood’ (2004–2006)
Three Seaons
Alongside series such as The Sopranos, The Wire, and Oz, Deadwood stands as a defining chapter of HBO’s ascent to being one of the most respected and esteemed premium television services in the world. The grueling Western drama takes place in the titular South Dakotan town, as the population booms as hopeful prospectors flock to the Black Hills Gold Rush with aspirations of finding their fortune. The treacherous inhabitants of Deadwood make life far from simple, however, with law enforcement completely outmatched by the rampant criminal depravity of the town’s most prominent figures.
Acclaimed for its characters, bold narrative threads, and the confronting authenticity it brings to the often-glamorized frontier lifestyle, Deadwood is an enthralling exploration of the Old West that soars with its moral ambiguity and David Milch’s outstanding writing. Sadly, despite its universal acclaim and popularity, the series was effectively canceled following its third season due to its high production costs and creative differences between Milch and execs at HBO. In 2019, Deadwood: The Movie premiered on HBO with many of the original cast returning to offer a resolution to the story and bring a sense of closure concerning the major characters.
Deadwood
- Release Date
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2004 – 2006-00-00
- Network
-
HBO Max
3
‘Succession’ (2018–2023)
Four Seasons
A modern-day spin on King Lear, Succession is a skewering satire of power, wealth, and influence in the current social climate that operates with a deliciously acidic and often vulgar black comedy and a keen eye towards evolving trends. Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is the aging patriarch of Waystar RoyCo., an entertainment, media, and news conglomerate that reaches around the globe. When a decline in health forces Logan to consider stepping away from his responsibilities, his scheming children begin to vie for power and prominence within the hierarchy of the company.
Often utilizing a deranged absurdity that one suspects may be painfully and disturbingly true to how such powerhouse companies operate, the series strikes a balance between being a brutal exposé of big-business duplicity and a hysterical lampooning of the most privileged people in the world. Still, within this callous appeal, it makes sure that each of the characters are complex and deeply flawed people capable of resonating with viewers. Coming to a perfect conclusion at the end of its fourth season, Succession is a snappy skewering of social elites that stands as one of HBO’s best titles in recent years.
Succession
- Release Date
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2018 – 2023
- Network
-
HBO Max
2
‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
One Season
Historically accurate, manically intense, and executed with a brilliant eye for the political ramifications of the disaster, Chernobyl is simply a masterpiece of television that, even with a run of just five episodes, has cemented itself in the annals of the medium’s history for decades to come. In 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant blows, jeopardizing the population of mainland Europe if the leaking radiation remains uncontrolled. Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) and Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) oversee the lengthy containment process, with hundreds of people risking their lives to aid the clean-up effort.
Armed with a perpetual and creeping dread that ensnares viewers from the outset, Chernobyl uses its sprawling scope to showcase the vastness of the operation to curtail the disaster, as well as the ingrained institutional corruption that very nearly disrupted the entire effort. Bleak, confronting, and yet hypnotically impressive at the same time, Chernobyl is truly a miniseries of uncommon excellence that stands among the finest shows of any length that HBO has ever produced.
Chernobyl
- Release Date
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2019 – 2019
- Network
-
HBO
1
‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)
One Season
Among the finest series HBO has ever produced and quite possibly the greatest display of war drama the small screen has ever seen, Band of Brothers is a visceral and violent miniseries that, even almost 25 years since it premiered, is still celebrated as a quintessential classic of the medium. It follows the campaign of Easy Company through World War II, opening on their experiences in training and tracking their progress through the European Theater right up to their presence in Germany at the end of the war.
It can’t be overstated how difficult it is to balance honoring the sacrifices of soldiers against criticizing war as a whole, and executing both ideas in earnest. Band of Brothers does this with aplomb. At its best, it is a confronting, brutal, and relentlessly immersive exhibition of combat that encompasses the sheer destructive might of the war without exception. However, it is also a testament to the heroism and valor of the troops, and a tender exploration of the camaraderie that kept them going through such a torrid hellscape. A perfect military series, Band of Brothers is technically faultless, historically accurate, and emotionally overwhelming, making for one of the greatest feats television has to offer.
