Just curious as to which HBO series are the favorites around here. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode of each of the series listed below. You can find a list of shows at hbo.com. Here’s my list:
(1) The Sopranos – I really love everything about this show. Even the “wasted” episodes I’ll watch again and again. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen better acting than the performance in the Whitecaps episode.
(2) The Wire – More or less in a dead heat for me with The Sopranos. I sometimes find the pacing a little off, which is why I gave the nod to The Sopranos.
(3) Curb Your Enthusiasm – Prettaaaay prettaaaay prettaaaaay good. I’m a huge Seinfeld fan, and this is more or less Seinfeld with obscenities. I love how I can often predict how all of the elements are going to collide at the end, but I still laugh my ass off when it happens.
(4) Rome – Just really solid television. It’s not quite as compelling as the three above it, but it’s damned good TV.
(5) Entourage – A guilty pleasure. The 22-ish minutes really fly by on this show.
(6) Deadwood – Swearingen is fantastic, but no other character really does anything for me. Except maybe Calamity Jane, but watching her is exhausting.
(7) Oz – Pretty meh. Some decent characters, but they really stretched this show out for too long.
(8) Carnivale – The only show on this list I really don’t like. I can’t believe I watched the entire series run. I was bored just a few episodes in and I should have gotten out. The little guy (Samson?) did a great job, though. Plus, I hate that I had to read stuff online posted by the series writers to make any sense of the show whatsoever. TV with homework assignments? Pass.
I haven’t seen The Wire. I have the first season on DVD (birthday gift) but I haven’t watched it yet. I’ve seen all or most of the others. I like drama better than comedy.
(1) The Wire - Best TV show of all time. Maybe. Not a bad episode in the whole run that I can recall ( which is simply remarkable ) and perhaps the most believable continuity.
(2) Deadwood - Almost as good, but The Wire beats it out in terms of consistent longevity. The “actor” plotline lagged in the last season of Deadwood and the last season of The Wire beats out the best season of Deadwood by an inch. I found almost all of the characters compelling. I even grw to like “Clench” by the end ;).
(3) The Sopranos - The big daddy and it scores points for that alone. But while a benchmark for excellence, it has had a few more off days than the two above.
(4) Rome - Sentimental favorite. Started a little slow, but grew mightily on me. Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy in particular made for wonderfully believable and human Caesar and Antony.
(5) Carnivale - Another sentimental favorite. I loved the surreal spookiness of it and the clever setting. But I saw it in a concentrated On Demand format over several days which I think greatly alleviated the slow first season pace that bothered so many.
(6) Six Feet Under - Strong first couple of seasons, but my interest petered out after that.
(7) Big Love - Holding my attention, certainly quite solid and better than 90+% of network TV. But I’m not quite enthusiastic.
(8) Curb Your Enthusiasm - I’ve tried and I did like Seinfeld. But the CYE’s even rawer humour of humiliation is just a bit to much for my tastes.
Never having watched Carnivale or the Wire, here’s my list of the HBO shows I really liked:[list=#][li]The Larry Sanders Show[/li][li]Deadwood[/li][li]Rome[/li][li]The Sopranos[/li][li]Dream On[/li][li]Six Feet Under[/li]Big Love[/list]Others that were okay but not spectacular include Tales From the Crypt, Sex and the City, and Extras.
Deadwood. Wonderful writing, brilliant acting from Ian McShane and good performances from most of the cast. The acting troupe in the last season made little sense to me, but maybe it would have come together in the next season (which HBO didn’t give it).
Six Feet Under. The first two seasons absolutely stunned me. Third and fourth season not so much, and the first bit of the last season was meh. Still, good performances from most of the cast, interesting discussions about the complexities of life and death.
Rome. Full frontal male nudity, gory deaths, a bit of history, and good acting. I heart Pullo. Who knows what it would have been in later seasons?
The Sopranos. Tony and the crew are strangely complex, but I’ve never been completely sold on the brilliance of the show overall.
I’ve never seen one episode of The Wire or Oz. For some reason, these series didn’t appeal to me. I also disliked Carnivale. I absolutely loathe Curb Your Enthusiasm (also hate Seinfeld). Extras has its moments. Entourage is another one that I’m not wildly enthusiastic about. I never understood the appeal of Sex in the City.
The Wire. Absolutely the best TV show I’ve ever seen, period. It’s best is as good as the best of any of the other shows, but it’s incredibly consistent. No off-episodes, or off-seasons, or characters you don’t care about. Stunningly real. Gripping. I can’t say enough good things about this. Everything else on HBO is just a very good TV show of some sort or another, The Wire is in an entirely separate category.
Deadwood. Would be nearly neck and neck with The Wire except for the tedious and universally disliked actor storyline from season 3, and the generally unsatisfying way things were tied up. Still, incredible acting, nearly flawless writing, and the greatest morally ambiguous character of all time, Al Swearengen.
(sizeable gap)
Six Feet Under. If it had maintained its initial level of quality, it would be nearly up there with The Wire and Deadwood. Still, gripping drama and perhaps the best female performance I’ve ever seen (Ruth).
(sizeable gap)
Rome. Never a show I took all that seriously, but consistently entertaining and exciting.
Entourage. Lots of fun, but basically forgettable
The Sopranos. Don’t be fooled by this being at the bottom of the list. It’s still a darn good show. BUT, I just don’t think I enjoy it as much as most people do. I’ve watched every episode, and I honestly couldn’t tell you much of what happened in any of the previous seasons. It’s all kind of run together. It’s certainly a good show, but why it’s gotten such a level of adulation I have no idea.
Not yet ranked: Big Love. After only one season, I don’t know quite where to put it yet, but I certainly enjoy it and am looking forward to more.
Oh, and Band of Brothers would be #2, pushing down Deadwood.
Those that I have seen the most (In order of best to good):
The Wire - best TV show of all time. Worth the price of having HBO all by itself.
I don’t own many DVDs, but the first three seasons of The Wire I own (and will purchase the last two seasons whenever they become available).
1a) Band of Brothers - miniseries. I also own the DVD for this.
Deadwood - great acting and dialog; disappointed with the way the series ended.
Sopranos - very good acting and interesting story lines. Characters, at times, can be frustrating or annoying to watch (and listen to), but are believable and not one dimensional.
Six Feet Under - first two seasons very good; last two a bit uneven. I am a huge Rachel Griffiths fan (Brenda from the series), so I watched mostly because of her. Was impressed with Michael Hall, who now plays Dexter on Showtime (I haven’t seen it, but the wife has and she loves it…).
Entourage - fun show, light entainment; Jeremy Privin and Kevin Dillion are very good, as is Kevin Donnelly (Eric). Enjoy the camoes of real life actors playing themselves…
Sex in the City - entertaining, but could be annoying at times…
Carnivale - interesting story line, great cast of characters but started off slow. By the time the story line picked up and got more interesting, the show was cancelled.
From the Earth to the Moon - there isn’t a year that goes by I don’t pull this down and watch it. And I still get tingles.
Rome - big, epic…everything it was supposed to be.
Entourage - every week, EVERY WEEK, I’m pissed off this is only a half hour. It’s just so much fun.
Big Love - I was surprised how much I was into this show. Very surprised. But it was pitch-perfect.
Dream On - maybe it was because I was like ten, and there were boobies! But I still remember laughing.
Larry Sanders Show - if the only episode ever aired was the David Duchovny one, it would still be on this list.
Sopranos - lost some steam, but still good.
Deadwood - I fell out of love quicker with this one than the Sopranos.
Carnivale - WTF?
The Wire - Ok, some people think it’s the greatest thing on tv. I don’t get it. I’ve given it three chances, and each time I hated it. And I just don’t mean I didn’t like it. I actually got angry. First, because my time was being wasted in such a hideous fashion, and second because I was naive enough to listen to those con men who said it was good. Same feeling I got with Blair Witch.
I loved Extras, but I hesitate to count a show that was shown in England six months before we got it as an original HBO show…but that’s my issue.