TOP 30: HBO’s Most Influential Series of the Past 30 Years
HBO officially launched on November 8, 1972, pioneering the paid-TV model. Initially pitched as a way for families to watch new-ish Hollywood films in their own homes — the acronym initially stood for “Home Box Office” — the channel rolled out original programming starting in 1973 with “HBO World Championship Boxing.”
Sporting events, documentary series, and children’s programming would define the first two decades of HBO’s existence, although it would see a few significant shows debut during that time — 1983’s kids show “Fraggle Rock,” 1989’s horror anthology “Tales from the Crypt,” 1990’s ambitious but largely forgotten comedy “Dream On.” But it wasn’t until the mid-90s that HBO ramped up its prestige original programming in comedy and drama, which would go on to inspire massive changes across television networks, inspire streamers, and have huge impacts on the entertainment industry generally.
For HBO’s birthday, we wanted to do a brief survey of its most significant shows of the past 30 years, selecting one pick per year. Read on for our picks, and brief thoughts. Disagree with our choices? Think there are other shows that are better representations for a certain year? Drop them in the comments.
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1995: “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”
It was a coup for HBO to lure NBC newsman Bryant Gumbel to be the face of its sports journalism magazine; the show would run through the end of 2023 and earn HBO 32 Sports Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards.
1996: “Tracey Takes On…”
One of HBO’s first comedies — along with “The Larry Sanders Show” — to be taken seriously by critics saw Tracey Ullman portraying a variety of characters tackling a new topic each episode. The show would win six Emmys, including Oustanding Music, Comedy, or Variety Show in 1997.
1997: “Oz”
Tom Fontana’s bold, gritty prison drama was HBO’s first foray into hour-long dramas, and launched the careers of J.K. Simmons, Edie Falco, and Christopher Meloni, as well as comebacks for Rita Moreno, Ernie Hudson, and others. Confronting and disturbing, “Oz” was ahead of its time.
1998: “Sex and the City”
When “Sex and the City” started, HBO was still not considered a “real” TV network by many viewers (and critics). By Season 2, the show was a pop-culture phenomenon, and by the end of its six-season run in 2004, it had helped establish HBO as THE place for premium television.
1999: “The Sopranos”
The other pillar show for establishing what we now know as the HBO prestige brand. David Chase’s family/mafia epic is widely credited as the start of TV’s second “Golden Age.” The show won 21 Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards, and 25 years later is still regarded as one of HBO’s best projects.
2000: “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Larry David followed up “Seinfeld” with a comedy featuring an even less likable protagonist — based on himself — and created TV magic that would go on, on and off, for 12 seasons spanning 24 years. “Curb” gave us some of the most quotable and hilariously cringe-inducing TV of the 21st Century.
2001: “Band of Brothers”
Thanks to “SATC” and “The Sopranos,” HBO was able to attract major Hollywood talent and bankroll massively ambitious projects. That was the case for this World War II mini-series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, which would go on to win a slew of awards and accolades.
2002: “The Wire”
In the early 2000s, HBO invested in promising creators with big visions. Sometimes these would pay off in quality, but fail to attract huge audiences. Such was the case with David Simon’s crime saga “The Wire,” which is beloved by critics and TV aficionados, but never broke into the mainstream.
2003: “Angels in America”
Another iconic HBO mini-series, this one adapting Tony Kusner’s two-part play dealing with America — specifically the AIDS crisis — at the end of the millennium. Mike Nichols directed a cast featuring Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Jeffrey Wright, and Emma Thompson all doing some of their best work.
2004: “Deadwood”
David Milch’s Western is one of the great heartbreaks in HBO history. By all measures a great show, it ran for only three seasons before being canned — a long-gestating wrap-up film dropped in 2019 — due to low viewership and high costs. A similar fate would befall 2005’s historical drama, “Rome.”
2005: “The Comeback”
Lisa Kudrow’s follow-up to “Friends” was likely ahead of its time, a high-concept show-within-a-show following a washed-up sitcom star getting her second shot at fame, and all the humiliations that go with it. It ran for one season, then returned nearly a decade later for another comeback.
2006: “Big Love”
Though never a massive hit, this five-season polygamy drama featured career-best work from stars Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin, and launched the career of Amanda Seyfried.
2007: “Flight of the Conchords”
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie captured the emerging hipster vibe with this two-season musical comedy about a New Zealand duo aiming for musical stardom in New York City.
2008: “True Blood”
A string of high-profile flops (“John from Cincinnati,” anyone? “Carnivale”?) left HBO badly in need of a new watercooler show, and it got one in Alan Ball’s sexy, supernatural Southern gothic soap. The show ran for seven seasons and gave us vampires, werewolves, witches, and fairies to lust after.
2009: “Eastbound & Down”
The first HBO series for Danny McBride, who would go on to deliver “Vice Principals” and “The Royal Gemstones” for the network.
2010: “Boardwalk Empire”
Martin Scorsese produced this mob drama set in 1920s New Jersey. While it found an audience, it never hit as big as HBO hoped, and was plagued with issues behind the scenes.
2011: “Game of Thrones”
HBO needed a mega-hit prestige drama, and it got one in this adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s sprawling fantasy epic. This was a huge gamble for the channel; the show was unbelievably expensive, with single-episode budgets rivaling Hollywood film budgets by the end. It was worth it.
2012: “Veep”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus won six consecutive Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Vice President Selina Meyer on this comedy, which at the time seemed like over-the-top satire, but which now seems tame compared to the actual insanity of contemporary American politics.
2013: “Vice”
This alternative news-magazine show, a partnership with Vice magazine, tackled political and social topics most mainstream media wouldn’t touch — like child suicide bombers — and won an Emmy for it. It ran through 2018 before moving to sister network Showtime.
2014: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
Taking elements of “The Daily Show” and “SNL”’s “Weekend Update” segment, this series quickly became not only reliably funny, but also a well-researched, insightful glimpse into this modern hellscape in which we live. We need it now more than ever. The show is renewed through 2026.
2015: “Ballers”
This sports comedy ran for five seasons, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starring as a former NFL player forced to become an agent after an injury. The fact that The Rock was starring on a TV series at the same time he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world is a testament to HBO’s power.
2016: “Insecure”
Issa Rae was catapulted into super stardom after this comedy — based on her web series “Awkward Black Girl” — hit big. The show ran for five seasons and netted Rae and others numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
2017: “Big Little Lies”
Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, and Zoe Kravitz starred in what was initially a mini-series adapting the book by Liane Moriarty. This inspired countless other prestige book adaptations that continue today on multiple streamers, as well as a sequel season that added Meryl Streep.
2018: “Succession”
What started as a satire of the billionaire class and corporate politics is, in hindsight, a too-honest portrayal of the terrible people who now calling the shots in this country for the foreseeable future. But hey, great performances from Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, and others.
2019: “Euphoria”
Sam Levinson’s eye-opening teen drama showed that the kids are definitely not alright. The show show heleped establish Zendaya as a serious actor, and created stars in Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi. The future for the show is uncertain, but the first two seasons are great, if over the top.
2020: “We’re Here”
HBO hasn’t done that much in the reality TV space, but this feel-good show saw “RuPaul’s Drag Race” queens bringing the joy of drag to small-town America. The series was discontinued after 2024’s Season 4, which encountered political pushback in a sign of things to come.
2021: “The White Lotus”
Mike White’s resort-based anthology was an instant hit, lulling viewers in with its exotic location and rich people behaving badly, and then knocking them down with bitingly funny black comedy conclusions. A third season set in Thailand is coming in 2025.
2022: “The Gilded Age”
Julian Fellowes’ chamber drama explores New York City society at the turn of the 20th Century. While the first season struggled to find its footing, the second was a triumph, giving us a spicier American counterpart to Fellowes’ iconic “Downton Abbey.”
2023: “The Last of Us”
Would you believe that one of the best TV shows of the year was based on a video game? It’s true; HBO’s “The Last of Us” adapted the zombie-apocalypse game of the same name, and blowing away with critics and audiences alike with gripping episodes that cemented Pedro Pascal as a star.
2024: “The Penguin”
The year isn’t over yet, and there have been several buzzy projects already, like documentaries “Ren Faire” and “Chimp Crazy.” So far the definitive HBO show of the year is “The Penguin,” the companion series to Matt Reeves’ The Batman film series. This is the culmination of the HBO/Warner Bros. synergy, along with the upcoming “Dune: Prophecy.”
What are some definitive HBO series that we missed? Leave a comment below!
