Summary
In the early 1970s, a time when cable TV was on the horizon and the concept of a streaming service was barely a gleam in Hollywood’s eye, Warner Bros. took a chance on a “pay television” project called Home Box Office (HBO). The network was officially launched on June 26, 2025, making it the oldest pay television network that’s still in operation.
Throughout HBO’s more than 50-year history, they’ve taken chances on subject matter that was subversive, controversial, or too experimental for network television to air. The result has been some of the best, most daring, and highly rated series in history.
7Todd Macfarlane’s Spawn
IMDb Rating: 8.1
Released the same year as the live-action movie of the same name,Spawnwas partly inspiredby the Japanese animation that was just starting to make an impact in North American media circles. It wasn’t just one of the earliest superhero adaptations, it was one of the first animated shows for adults made outside of Japan, with the writing by MacFarlane, the animation by French studio Madhouse, and the network that supported it was HBO.
The original Darkhorse comic books served as the majority of the source material, following the story of Al Simmons, a special forces officer who is murdered but returned to earth as a “hellspawn” or a ranking officer in Satan’s dark army. Now known by his new name, Spawn, this hellish entity discovers that he still has the agency to choose between good and evil, and this series is how he finds the strength to do so.
6Curb Your Enthusiasm
IMDb Rating: 8.2
Curb Your Enthusiasmis the show often cited as the main inspiration behind the wildly popular network show,Seinfeld, and it was HBO that first took a chanceon Larry David’s offbeat humor. Unlike Seinfeld, however,Curb Your Enthusiasmwas allowed to break the rules on HBO with more colorful language, quirky characters, and absurd situations.
David’s dry, often graveyard humor contrasts with the false optimism that he confronts every day, which is where the title of the show comes from. He essentially plays himself, with a job writing for Seinfeld, and what makes the show so immersive and funny is the fact that it’s grounded in real life. Celebrities often make appearances, also playing fictionalized versions of themselves, providing a unique and entertaining frame of reference for the viewer.
5Deadwood
IMDb Rating: 8.6
Forthose who like period pieces,Deadwoodis set in the Old West, specifically a humble outpost in South Dakota in the 1870s. The show consists of two seasons that track the growth of Deadwood into a full-fledged town, and all of the social and political drama that goes with it, and the story mixes real historical facts with creative fiction.
Deadwoodincludes an impressive ensemble cast, which is partly why it won 8 Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. A movie came out in 2018, 12 years after the series ended, that reunited the cast and tied up a few loose ends.
4The Last Of Us
IMDb Rating: 8.7
It was a dry spell for video game adaptations, with shows likeHaloandResident Evilgetting mixed reviews, but then HBO released their adaptation ofThe Last Of Usand all was forgiven. It was adopted by the popular franchise of the same name and tells the same post-apocalyptic story of the remaining human survivors and a fungal infection that devastates humanity.
The series started in 2023 to rave reviews from both fans and critics, so the second season has already been given an enthusiastic green light and it’s expected to be complete in 2025. Until then, there are variousmedia from the gaming worldto enjoy, along with plenty of source material for the expected third season.
3Game Of Thrones
IMDb Rating: 9.2
A visceral example of low fantasy, in which the story is less about epic battles and more about personal drama, Game of Thrones resonated with audiences and took the world by an icy storm. Based onA Song of Ice And Fire, a franchise of books by George R. R. Martin, this popular but controversial series lasted for eight seasons thanks to a generous budget and a stellar ensemble cast that broke records as one of the largest in history.
The story begins by introducing the viewer to Westeros via House Stark but expands to include their rivals as everyone vies to sit on the Iron Throne. The ruling Lannisters are the most notorious for their sadism and cruel machinations, and the nearby Greyjoys, whose son Theon is raised by the Starks as a hostage in response to a failed rebellion.
2The Sopranos
The saga ofThe Sopranostold the story of a New Jersey crime family in the same gritty style that contemporary crime dramas often do. It lasted for six seasons and 86 episodes before ending on a controversial note that fans still argue about to this day.
Tony Soprano is the patriarch of this particular corner of the mafia, specifically the DiMeo crime family. It’s not only his immediate family that’s involved, but also his loyal crew which includes cousin Michael, Uncle “Junior” Soprano, and cousin Tony, among others. One of the most important characters, and one that sets this show apart from other crime dramas, is Dr. Melfi, Tony’s psychiatrist, who furthers the plot by attempting to help him sort out his work-life balance.
1The Wire
IMDb Rating: 9.3
One of the most critically acclaimed shows on television and one that set the tone and gradefor crime dramas for yearsto come,The Wirewas one of the first TV shows to look at police work from a brutally realistic viewpoint. Casting was a big part of that effort, as lesser-known but more natural-looking actors were chosen for the parts as opposed to the usual Hollywood beefcakes, and also included some real-life politics and civic employees from the setting, Baltimore, who played bit parts as themselves.
Realism was the driving theme of the show, which delved deeply into how city institutions had become corrupted or dysfunctional to the point of being easily exploited by bad actors on both sides of the law. Most of the plot is driven by information gleaned through surveillance and related technologies, hence the title of the show.
