[imagesource: Craig Blankenhorn / HBO]

If you’re familiar with HBO, which launched 50 years ago this week, then there are two series that should immediately come to mind.

The Sopranos and The Wire helped cement the US premium cable network’s reputation as the home of prestige television.

In fact, long before Netflix became the behemoth that is today, HBO was responsible for transforming the small-screen landscape and giving viewers moments that will live long in the memory.

The Guardian decided to take on the onerous task of ranking the 50 greatest HBO series, admitting that it had to leave some favourites out due to the volume of excellence:

What remains is a half-century of gamechanging dramas, coruscating comedies and landmark documentaries. Their settings span from Los Angeles funeral parlours to London pubs, Manhattan boutiques to Baltimore stash houses. Their protagonists range from sexy vampires to sweary media moguls, dragon riders to depressed mobsters.

Rather than present the list in order, I’m going to throw a few spoilers in for a series you’ve certainly heard about and probably watched.

The Sopranos and The Wire are first and second respectively, Entourage comes in at 44th, Big Little Lies is 33rd, Euphoria is 29th, and The White Lotus is 21st.

Sorry, dragon lovers, but Game of Thrones was only good enough for eighth and Succession snagged third place.

From the rest, I’ve picked five you might want to consider sinking your teeth into.

The Night Of (30th) – 2016:

Adapted from underrated BBC drama Criminal Justice, this riveting miniseries worked as a tense thriller and a searing critique of the US legal system. As a student accused of murder, Emmy-winner Riz Ahmed led an ensemble including John Turturro and Michael K Williams.

I had always hoped we might somehow get a second season. Thankfully, that is not the case because it works perfectly as it is:

Veep (25th) – 2012 to 2019:

When Armando Iannucci remade his splenetic Westminster sitcom The Thick of It as a Washington satire, a politician as venally incompetent as vice-president Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) seemed cartoonish. Midway through its run, Donald Trump moved into the Oval Office. A year after its finale, Rudy Giuliani hosted a press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Sue, did the president call?

You don’t have to enjoy politics or even be of a certain leaning to enjoy the cutting humour:

Sharp Objects (48th) – 2018:

Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson excelled in this slow-burn psychological thriller, based on Gillian Flynn’s novel, about an alcoholic crime reporter returning to her Missouri home town to cover the murders of two local girls. Clammy and claustrophobic with a killer twist.

A one-season wonder with eight action-packed episodes and a twist to boot:

The Deuce (41st) – 2017 to 2019:

David Simon’s sixth HBO creation was this immersive drama set in 70s NYC during the “golden age of porn”. Maggie Gyllenhaal shone as the sex worker turned adult film director, with James Franco doubling up as twins working for the mafia. Vividly realised and stylishly seedy.

It’s as close as you can get to watching porn without having to clear your browser history:

One more for the road and I have to pick something with Frances McDormand in it.

Olive Kitteridge (36th) – 2014:

The miniseries adapted from Elizabeth Strout’s novel earned every one of its eight Emmys. McDormand was mesmerising as the misanthropic “math” teacher from Maine, strongly supported by Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan, Jesse Plemons and Bill Murray.

She killed it in 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and 2020’s Nomadland, winning an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for both.

McDormand also won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie in 2015 for this role:

You can see the full list here.

[source:guardian]