Best HBO Shows of All Time

It’s easy to forget that many of the greatest TV shows of all time come from one company: HBO.

They’ve been around longer than any pay television service in the U.S., and they’ve adapted to compete with young guns like Netflix and Hulu by continuously producing some of the highest quality TV ever.

Because they’ve been around so long, HBO Has arguably the most impressive catalogue of shows, ranging from operatic drama masterpieces like The Sopranos to boundary-pushing, side-splitting comedies like Curb Your Enthusiasm. In other words, there’s truly something for everyone to binge on HBO.

Read on for the top 10 HBO shows of all time, and see if your favorite series made the list. And start streaming with a 7-day free trial to HBO here.

Photo by HBO/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

1. Big Little Lies

HBO’s most recent hit is Big Little Lies, which follows the seemingly perfect lives of three wealthy California moms (played by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley). Through their eyes, we see the backstabbing battlefield of overbearing, gossiping moms beneath the surface of their perfect seaside town.

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2. Silicon Valley

The tech industry produces the most important inventions of our time, but it’s also ripe for making fun of. Silicon Valley does this masterfully by showing us the outrageous world of Silicon Valley and all its childlike geniuses.

The main cast consists of five ambitious (but incredibly awkward) start-up underdogs. Among them are Richard and Elrich, played by Thomas Middleditch and TJ Miller, who have been made into stars thanks to their hilarious performances on Silicon Valley.

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3. Boardwalk Empire

When alcohol becomes outlawed in Atlantic City under prohibition, the town treasurer, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), uses his influence and gangster friends to start supplying the illegal beverage. But after gaining a reputation in the underworld by working with high-profile gangsters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, Nucky is put on the fed’s radar by his former protégé.

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4. Sex and the City

Sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw and her best friends Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda take on Manhattan to observe and report the sex lives of single city dwellers. Of course, even though their mission is to chronicle, they end up falling for more than a few of the guys that they encounter along the way.

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5. The Larry Sanders Show

HBO has a knack for making great TV shows that have one leg in reality and the other in fiction. But before Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, there was The Larry Sanders Show, a comedy set behind-the-scenes of a fictional talk show hosted by Larry Sanders (Garry Shandling). With guests playing themselves, hollywood shenanigans, and a monumentally hilarious performance by Garry Shandling, this is a binge-worthy show – even at 26 years old.

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6. Veep

One of our many lessons in politics over the last couple years has been that it can be embarrassingly funny. Veep perfectly roasts just about everyone in Washington D.C., largely thanks to hysterical performances by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, and the rest of the endlessly witty cast.

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7. Game Of Thrones

HBO was big before Game of Thrones, but the fantasy epic made them into a titan of modern TV.

The incredibly addicting drama tells the story of families battling for the Iron Throne of Westeros, all while a larger, more dangerous army mounts beyond their sight. And unlike most TV shows, even main characters can die in the world of Westeros. And they do. A lot.

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8. The Wire

As somewhat of a counter-argument to one-sided serial TV shows of cops busting bad guys, HBO has The Wire. The sweeping, gritty drama shows the lives of Baltimore drug dealers, and the homicide/narcotics police detail assembled to clean up the streets. The city’s bureaucracy, news media, schools, and life on the street are all realistically explored.

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9. Curb Your Enthusiasm

In plain words, Curb Your Enthusiasm is pretty, pretty, pretty good.

The hit comedy is led by Seinfeld co-creator and head writer Larry David, who plays an annoying, bumbling version of himself. This character, combined with Seinfeld-style structure and knee-slapping improvisation from the whole cast makes Curb Your Enthusiasm one of the best comedies of all time.

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10. The Sopranos

The golden age of binge-worthy TV that we’re currently enjoying wouldn’t exist without The Sopranos. The era-defining drama flows from hilarious dark humor to mafia business to realistic family drama, all while tackling issues like mental health and morality. And almost 20 years later, the show has aged like a fine bottle of Italian wine.

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