The Best TV Shows on HBO

Every HBO Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Showcasing over 20 shows from 1969 up until 2023, HBO stands as a beacon of television excellence. Discover the best of HBO with our list of over 20 series, meticulously updated for July 2025. Among HBO’s finest offerings are Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock, which debuted in 1969 and 1983, respectively.

  • The Sopranos
    The Sopranos (1999)8.7

    The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

  • Game of Thrones
    Game of Thrones (2011)8.5

    Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.

  • The Last of Us
    The Last of Us (2023)8.5

    Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.

  • True Detective
    True Detective (2014)8.3

    An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

  • Euphoria
    Euphoria (2019)8.3

    A group of high school students navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media.

  • House of the Dragon
    House of the Dragon (2022)8.3

    The Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.

  • Six Feet Under
    Six Feet Under (2001)8.1

    When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.

  • Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)8.0

    The off-kilter, unscripted comic vision of Larry David, who plays himself in a parallel universe in which he can't seem to do anything right, and, by his standards, neither can anyone else.

  • Westworld
    Westworld (2016)8.0

    A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.

  • Flight of the Conchords
    Flight of the Conchords (2007)7.9

    The trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band who have moved from New Zealand to New York in the hope of forging a successful music career. So far they've managed to find a manager (whose "other" job is at the New Zealand Consulate), one fan (a married obsessive) and one friend (who owns the local pawn shop) -- but not much else.

  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
    Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)7.9

    A half-hour satirical look at the week in news, politics and current events.

  • The Larry Sanders Show
    The Larry Sanders Show (1992)7.7

    Comic Garry Shandling draws upon his own talk show experiences to create the character of Larry Sanders, a paranoid, insecure host of a late night talk show. Larry, along with his obsequious TV sidekick Hank Kingsley and his fiercely protective producer Artie, allows Garry Shandling and his talented writers to look behind the scenes and to show us a convincing slice of behind the camera life.

  • In Treatment
    In Treatment (2008)7.7

    Set within the highly charged confines of individual psychotherapy sessions and centering around Dr. Paul Weston, a psychotherapist who exhibits an insightful, reserved demeanor while treating his patients—but displays a crippling insecurity while counseled by his own therapist.

  • The White Lotus
    The White Lotus (2021)7.6

    Follow the exploits of various guests and employees at an exclusive tropical resort over the span of a week as with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees and the idyllic locale itself.

  • Fraggle Rock
    Fraggle Rock (1983)7.4

    The Fraggles are a fun-loving community of creatures who live in a subterranean fantasy land where they love to play, sing and dance their cares away, sharing their world with the tiny Doozers and the giant Gorgs. The series teaches empathy and tolerance and encourages children to understand people different from themselves.

  • Sex and the City
    Sex and the City (1998)7.4

    Based on the bestselling book by Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City tells the story of four best friends, all single and in their late thirties, as they pursue their careers and talk about their sex lives, all while trying to survive the New York social scene. 

  • Veep
    Veep (2012)7.4

    A look into American politics, revolving around former Senator Selina Meyer who finds being Vice President of the United States is nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned her about.

  • Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
    Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (1995)7.3

    A monthly sports newsmagazine which was "spawned by the fact that sports have changed dramatically, that it's no longer just fun and games, and that what happens off the field, beyond the scores, is worthy of some serious reporting," according to Bryant Gumbel, the host.

  • The Ricky Gervais Show
    The Ricky Gervais Show (2010)7.2

    The Ricky Gervais Show is an American cartoon series produced for and broadcast by HBO and Channel 4. The series is an animated version of the popular British audio podcasts and audiobooks of the same name, which feature Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, along with colleague and friend Karl Pilkington, talking about various subjects behind the microphone. The TV show consists of past audio recordings of these unscripted "pointless conversations," with animation drawn in a style similar to classic era Hanna-Barbera cartoons, presenting jokes and situations in a literal context. The animated Ricky Gervais Show has aired 39 episodes across three seasons since it premiered in 2010. There were some plans for a possible fourth season which would have used newly recorded audio, but this was shelved in June 2012. Series 3 of The Ricky Gervais Show premiered on 20 April 2012 on HBO, and on 8 May 2012 on E4.

  • Sesame Street
    Sesame Street (1969)7.1

    On a special inner city street, the inhabitants—human and muppet—teach preschoolers basic educational and social concepts using comedy, cartoons, games, and songs.