The thing about any list ranking, if its honest, is that it’s going to shift over time. Which means that it’s time—right now, in 2022—for us to reevaluate the offerings from HBO, a network that has given us too much good for our own good.
Sometimes, you can’t help but recognize a show that redefined television with a little story about a coveted Iron Throne. How can you not tip a hat to the great Larry Sanders Show? And then there are newbies, like Euphoria, which has turned the often-melodramatic teen drama category into a cutting edge storytelling device about drug use and social pressures.
So here’s the rundown, best as we can imagine it: the top 35 HBO shows, including our takes on characters from Tony Soprano to Carrie Bradshaw. We know there are always some capital-o Opinions when it comes to the offerings from this beloved premium network, so sound off in the comments. And don’t even come at us with those Westworld takes—you know that show is off its rocker.
35. We’re Here
If Queer Eye opened the door, We’re Here kicked it down. Following three drag queens into communities across the United States, the docuseries chronicles how lives have been affected, in some way, by queerness. It mixes feel good optimism with a harsh dose of reality. Sometimes the world isn’t ready for a drag queen or for someone to live truthfully. In doing so it finds a profound truth: that’s not your problem. You’re here, baby.
34. Big Little Lies
In the crusade that is Reese Witherspoon’s takeover of media, Big Little Lies might be her most successful TV venture to date. Based on a novel of the same name, the series followed along with the book’s plot pretty closely before getting renewed for a Season Two. That’s when it went downhill. Hard. Had that second season not happened, Big Little Lies would be squarely sitting in Top Ten territory.
33. The Outsider
We hate this saying, but if you hang in for about two episodes of HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Outsider, it really starts taking off. The miniseries, starring Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, and Cynthia Erivo is a welcomed addition to the spooky-horror-adjacent television lineup and features masterclass performances from its major leads. The investigation of a young boy’s murder turns into something bigger than anyone expected, and it shakes one Georgia town to its core.
32. Westworld
No one wants Westworld to be on this list more than Westworld. At times, the show is so obtuse in how badly it wants to be the smartest show on television that it’s a turn off. But when Westworld turns out a solid episode, it’s one of the best on television. Also kudos to developing a cast led by such strong actresses.
31. Girls
Created by Lena Dunham, the show follows four young women as they step into their own living in New York City… for better or worse. They can be messy and hypocritical and privileged, but isn’t that the point? Have you met a New Yorker before?! What Dunham created is a triumph, documenting 21st century women who dare to be adventurous. What cements Girls‘ spot on this list is that it’s a series too cool to care if we remembered it at all.
30. Band of Brothers
Put briefly: it’s a miniseries developed by Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg. That’s kind of all you need to know, right?
The longer version is that the war epic was developed by Hanks and Spielberg, eventually coming to life in 2001. The story follows Easy Company. as they enter World War II and the 10-episode series continues to stand as one of the greats. At the time, it nabbed a Best Miniseries Emmy, making it “prestige TV” before the phrase had even become en vogue.
29. The Comeback
Well. I got it! The four words are a hallmark of the Lisa Kudrow staple. It’s also one of the inaugural shows to be cancelled and then years later get the revival treatment. Lisa Kudrow never quite got her due for the show or the strange brand of comedy she brought to it.
28. Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley nearly missed its window. The tech-brother of Entourage, Silicon manages to tell its story with considerably fewer jerks than its bro-y counterpart. The comedy continues to draw critical acclaim, even after its untimely end.
27. Chernobyl
Nothing like a massive nuclear accident to get the family around the television, right? The 2019 miniseries was a stalwart during awards season and holds a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But no review can sum up the performances in this dramatization of one of Russia’s biggest national disasters.
26. I May Destroy You
Michaela Coel’s HBO series is widely seen as one of the best series of 2020. Unrelenting and impossibly brave in its discussion of sexual assault, Coel’s character, Arabella, faces the truths of her assault and how it affects her job, her relationships with those closest to her, and most importantly, herself.
25. True Blood
Dark horror set in Louisiana, based around sharp-talking vampires with sharper teeth? Sign us up. The sexy premium cable drama features some of the best television work out there, and Anna Paquin shines in it.
24. Years and Years
This 2019 series is probably a bit too relevant for our times. The British series follows one family through the ups and downs of a 15 year span, often jumping in time from episode to episode, but it exists in our current timeline: desire for Trump is up, just like opposition to immigration. The series is a haunting collection of what-ifs, making for an uncomfortable watch that is as affecting as it is well-performed.
23. Euphoria
Listen. Euphoria is a lot to take in. (See: dozens o’ dicks.) It also will make you extra grateful to not be coming of age in the year of our Lord, 2022. The high school series is led by a flawless performance from Zendaya, with powerful performances from the supporting cast as well. The peephole into addiction and drug access is some of the most visually stimulating and thought provoking television right now.
21. Looking
Looking is one of the first of its kind. While Queer as Folk and Queer Eye may have cleared the path, Looking looked (no pun intended) to revolutionize the way that stories are told about gay men. The series was always a bit of a little engine that could, but its reverberations are still being felt after its ultimate demise.
20. Sharp Objects
Amy Adams’ psychological thriller, Sharp Objects, based on a book of the same name, seemingly dominated summer a couple years ago. Playing an alcoholic reporter, Adams returns to her hometown to investigate a murder and finds herself back under the thumb of her Missouri-dwelling mother (Patricia Clarkson). By the end, the whole story turns into something more complex than a brief summary could explain.
19. Oz
Oz is one of those shows that was far ahead of its time. Set in a fictional men’s prison, the series ran for six seasons and tackled topics that were, at the time of its 1997 premiere, too taboo for any other channel. It helped usher in a new era of television that skips the fluff and gets into difficult conversations.
18. Station Eleven
Placing a new series (let alone a miniseries) is difficult because you have the bias of newness at play. But Station Eleven, HBO’s newest entry into the canon, lives up to the hype. With standout performances from Lori Petty, Himesh Patel, and Mackenzie Davis, the series about a post-pandemic world is all about the poetry of being alive—and the bravery it takes to push through when survival isn’t enough.
17. Insecure
Issa Rae set out to create a show that captured a bit of her life, and by the end, she had created something beyond what she could have ever imagined. Insecure is phenomenal. The Issa Rae-creation deserves more love than it gets, and it provides a lens that we haven’t seen much in the television landscape: a comedic look inside the life of two black women trying to find success after college through the complications of being in their 20s.
16. Big Love
RIP Bill Paxton and the show that managed to corral Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Amanda Seyfried, and Jeanne Tripplehorn into one series about polygamous marriage. God only knows where we’d be without Big Love.
15. Barry
Bill Hader might have been strong on Saturday Night Live, but his turn on HBO’s Barry is the role he was meant for. The dark-comedy follows Hader playing the titular role, a Marine-turned-hitman who just happened to find his bliss (or, you know, get closer to it) by joining the theater scene in Los Angeles. The dream! Just remember to always yes and…
14. Getting On
Laurie Metcalf has always been a bit of an underrated actress. Pair her off with the likes of Niecy Nash and Alex Borstein, and you have one of the most accomplished casts on television representing overworked doctors and nurses in one of the most overlooked comedies on HBO.
13. Treme
Treme had a relatively quiet run beginning in 2010, which is a damn shame because it is one of the best HBO has ever released. Following the events of Hurricane Katrina, it serves as a love letter to New Orleans; it made the city a character, with all its food, music, and culture baked into a series with a lot of heart.
12. Succession
Succession might have been a slow burn when it came to building an audience, but after three successful seasons, the sardonic drama about an elite media family is a dark and deeply addicting look into wealth and dominance. (And my God, they’re awful. Comically, so.) With Brian Cox’s Logan Roy at the helm of the Roy family, he navigates the power hungry intentions of his children. This series might have made top 10, had it not been for Kendall Roy’s rapping.
10. Watchmen
Watchmen changed the television landscape in late 2019. Combining the talents of Damon Lindelof and Regina King, expectations were high for the miniseries. Watchmen surpassed them. Skewering conversations on race and LGBTQ people, the television adaptation of the graphic novel eclipsed the fanfare of the first film and left viewers hungry for more. In a rare move, Lindelof bowed out, leaving us with only one iconic season, but damn if it wasn’t great television.
9. Deadwood
Deadwood is the kind of period piece that feels like it just belongs on HBO. The drama, set in a lawless mining town in post-Civil War America, is one of HBO’s most recognizable exports.
8. Sex and the City
Revolutionary for its time, I couldn’t help but wonder… could this list ever include Sex and the City outside of the top five? With the advent of the reboot, things get tainted a bit. Is that fair? Perhaps not. But that’s the risk you take when you play with an existing story. The adventures of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte defined a generation and set up the idea that a show about women could be just a risqué as anything else on television.
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Improv on television? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But former Seinfeld co-creator Larry David managed to create one of the most hilarious comedies on television by simply basing the comedy on himself. More than that, you’ll never hear the theme song without knowing exactly what mood it provokes.
6. Game of Thrones
Placing Game of Thrones is difficult because it’s a phenomenon in its own right. If The Sopranos defined this genre of high-end television, then you have to give GoT the credit for reinventing it. The show has a following unlike anything in recent memory, as well as some of the most intense scenes we’ve seen on TV in a while. If you got a problem with where it landed on the list, tell Cersei it was me.
5. The Larry Sanders Show
Garry Shandling broke the mold when it came to The Larry Sanders Show. The series may have been a fictional talk show, but something about the way Shandling infused his natural hosting talent with the vibe of the pretend Larry Sanders is magic that hasn’t been recreated. It’s arguably the best comedy that HBO has ever released, and it’s gone on to influence television series that are coming out today.
4. Veep
Selina Meyer predicted something that we could have never seen coming: what happens when someone absolutely bananas ends up in the highest office in the land. But more than that, Julia Louis-Dreyfus created a character that set her far apart from her Seinfeld years, proving herself to be one of the most iconic comedic performers of our time.
3. The Leftovers
The Leftovers ends up toward the top because it dared to be adventurous in a way that many shows shy away from—big mysteries, a controversial ending, and a crash course in just how good Carrie Coon is.
2. The Sopranos
Never has a cut to black caused so much controversy. But well beyond its shockingly ambivalent ending, the mob series set the tone for modern, elevated television. The Sopranos is responsible for prestige TV as we know it, and ultimately, no other show on this list would be what it is without its guidance.
1. The Wire
At the top of every HBO list is one of the culprits: The Sopranos or The Wire. While The Sopranos may have edged out The Leftovers, it’s just impossible to beat The Wire: a show that captures the gravity of the Baltimore narcotics scene in a way that is hard to describe. The Wire isn’t just the top of the HBO list, but maybe all TV series lists.
Justin KirklandJustin Kirkland is a writer for Esquire, where he focuses on television, pop culture, food, and the south; he is from East Tennessee and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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