(Apologies to Real Sex fans.) New series that are currently airing will have to wait for some future update. We also left off children’s shows (no Fraggle Rock, sorry) and animation and because the emphasis is on scripted entertainment, we excluded all the sports and documentary series. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) that later became regular, ongoing series. We’re excluding made-for-HBO movies, with the exception of the movies ( The No. What is HBO doing here that other media outlets aren’t?Ī quick note about what’s not on the list.
Each has their merits - and, no doubt, fans who’ll be mad they’re not ranked higher - but in determining which was a “somewhere in the 50s” show versus “somewhere in the 20s,” we tried to consider not just entertainment value, but originality and ambition. Everything in between falls into more of a loose continuum. The bottom ten would be the dregs: The real misbegotten products of the whole HBO experiment. Generally speaking, the top ten here should be considered canonical television: Shows that didn’t just distinguish themselves with their quality and cultural reach, but which suggested entirely new approaches to making TV.
We looked back at every HBO original comedy and drama series and miniseries: from the ’80s shows that were “regular TV but with naked gals and cusses,” through the explosion in the aughts of some genuinely fresh and even radical television.įiguring out what to put where wasn’t easy. As the network expands into the streaming market with HBO Max - not long after the new owner AT&T began reportedly pushing for more of a Netflix-style “quantity first, quality if there’s time” approach to making television - it’s a good time to reassess what HBO’s programming team has brought to our screens, past and present. Starting in the late 1990s - and especially after the debut of The Sopranos in 1999 - the network developed a reputation as the place to find the kind of sophisticated original storytelling broadcasters and basic-cable outlets wouldn’t touch.īut not everything HBO executives sign off on has been solid gold.
These days, HBO is still one of pay TV’s top draws, but it’s mostly because of shows like Watchmen and Succession and not because subscribers are eager to catch up with Ocean’s 8 and The Predator. ĭuring the rapid expansion of cable and satellite television in the 1980s, HBO was one of the new services’ biggest selling points, thanks to a lineup that featured uncut recent theatrical movies, concerts, stand-up-comedy specials, and even the occasional Broadway show … and not the same ol’ sitcoms and dramas. This story was originally published in 2019 and has been updated to reflect HBO’s more recent titles. We're basically in line already.Photo-Illustration: Emily Denniston/Vulture and Photos by HBO
The whole Q&A focuses on how the movie came about, the filming process, what it's like to be on set with a group of famous people who are actually real-life friends (insert Illuminati joke here), and why This Is the End will probably be the funniest movie you see this summer. I think it will make the joke way funnier."įranco: So there was this scene in the script where Danny was supposed to have masturbated on my Penthouse and ruined it.įranco: Your Highness? That movie sucks. Goldberg: And Michael said to all of us, "I'm going to ask her if I can slap her butt for real. Michael Cera asked if he could slap Rihanna's butt, fo realz.Ĭera: In the script, I think it just says, "Michael Cera does a line of cocaine and slaps Rihanna on the ass. It stars James Franco and Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel and Craig Robinson and Danny McBride and Jason Segel and Michael Cera and Rihanna and Emma Watson and Aziz Ansari and Kevin Hart and Mindy Kaling.Īnd, if "apocalypse during James Franco's party" didn't convince you to see this film as soon as humanly possible, then GQ's Q&A with the cast will certainly take care of that for you. The upcoming apocalypse film This Is the End focuses on a gaggle of celebrities that show up for a party at James Franco's house and then THE BIBLICAL APOCALYPSE STARTS.