The five HBO drama series that built the network’s prestige reputation are Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire, Succession and Band of Brothers. Each one changed what people expected from TV drama. Here is what each is about, the moment it took off, and why it still holds up.
Updated November 1, 2026.
Rewatch these years apart and the ones that hold up on a second pass are never the ones that seemed most shocking the first time. Shock value fades fast. What stays is whether the writers understood the people they built the show around. These days, with so many streaming services fighting for your attention, almost nothing gets everyone talking at once, and HBO still does it more than most. Anyone who’s scrolled through a streaming app for twenty minutes without picking anything knows how rare that is. A great HBO finale now gets the kind of morning-after talk that used to belong to Oscar night.
Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
Summary: Adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire,” Game of Thrones follows dozens of characters fighting over the Iron Throne across the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, which feel a bit like medieval Europe and Asia. Dragons, witches and the undead share the stage with plain human cruelty. Anyone who’s tried to explain Game of Thrones to a friend who hasn’t seen it knows the families and names alone take a while. The story eventually narrows to Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, and Jon Snow, the King in the North, both seemingly destined to rule and both unable to. Some of the best Game of Thrones characters never get near the throne at all.
Inflection Point: Two moments made the show must-watch TV. In “Baelor,” the ninth episode of season one, Ned Stark, the man most viewers assumed was the hero, is beheaded on the order of the boy-king Joffrey. Ned was played by Sean Bean and had been named Hand of the King, so most viewers never saw it coming, especially the ones who hadn’t read the books. Nobody near the throne was safe after that. Then came the Red Wedding in “The Rains of Castamere,” where Robb Stark, his pregnant wife Talisa and his mother Catelyn are murdered at a wedding feast by the Freys. I had read the books before the show aired, so I was really excited to see how the show would handle one of the roughest scenes I’d ever read. Mostly I spent that episode waiting to see how my friends who hadn’t would react, especially the ones who had grown fond of Robb. Their reaction is what turned the show from a hit into an event.
Legacy: Despite a finale most fans found disappointing, Westeros kept paying off for HBO. House of the Dragon continued the story, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered on January 18, 2026. Warner Bros. Discovery said in February 2026 that it was drawing about 14 million US viewers per episode, and it was renewed for a second season expected in 2027, per Wikipedia. HBO found a golden goose in Westeros, and it looks set to keep mining it.
The Sopranos (1999-2007)
Summary: The Sopranos came out in 1999 to wide critical praise. It follows New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano as he runs a crime family while trying to be a husband and father. Across six seasons, he works through panic attacks, depression and anxiety in therapy sessions that sit right next to scenes of him ordering hits. Turns out running a mob is a messy business.
Inflection Point: “College,” the fifth episode of season one, aired February 7, 1999. On paper it’s a quiet story about college visits. Tony takes his daughter Meadow on a college tour and spots Febby Petrulio, a former associate who turned informant and now lives as “Fred Peters.” The morning after he drops Meadow off for an interview, Tony strangles him. Few shows before it would let the hero kill a man with his own hands. It shows right away how Tony’s work and his wish to be a good family man keep colliding. The episode won the Emmy for drama writing, and Edie Falco won lead actress for it.
Legacy: The Sopranos is still in every conversation about the best TV ever made. Tony is cruel, yet we somehow still feel for him, and that kind of character runs straight through HBO’s later hits. Most of us have a favorite character we know we shouldn’t root for. Jaime Lannister and Logan Roy are characters you can’t stand and can’t stop watching, and both owe something to Tony.
The Wire (2002-2008)
Summary: David Simon’s The Wire ran on HBO from June 2, 2002, to March 9, 2008, five seasons and 60 episodes. It starts with the Baltimore police chasing a drug crew and refuses to call either side simply right or wrong. It treats the cops, the dealers and the users with the same care. Each season adds an institution: the port, city hall, the schools and finally the newspaper. The real subject is the city, and how its rules and institutions shape the people living in it.
Inflection Point: In “The Sentencing,” the season one finale, the detectives who spent the season building a case against the Barksdale crew watch most of the real power walk away. Some of the crew go to prison. Nothing on the corners changes. The police feel torn, because a little justice was done but not much else. Both the cops and the dealers end up stuck inside the same broken system.
Legacy: What was pitched as a police show turned into one of TV’s sharpest looks at American institutions. That same refusal to simplify anything is why it took years to find its audience. It’s a sober, serious show about systems that have stopped working, and it asks whether anyone can really win in a place this broken. It asks more of you than most crime dramas, and it pays you back for it.
Succession (2018-2023)
Summary: Succession is a dark comedy-drama that follows the Roy siblings, Connor, Kendall, Shiv and Roman, as they fight for control of their father’s media company, Waystar RoyCo. They are a spoiled, self-centered bunch, and Logan Roy watches them scramble with a mix of amusement and contempt. When he finally dies in the fourth and final season, the person who ends up on top satisfies almost no one.
Inflection Point: The moment everyone quotes came in season two’s “Dundee.” At a gala for Logan’s 50 years at the company, Kendall gets up and performs a rap, “L to the OG,” to win his father over. It is funny and painful to watch at the same time. Most families have that one relative who tries a little too hard to impress the head of the table. It shows Kendall at his silliest, and how highly he thinks of himself. It tells you everything about how this family works, and the track was later released as a single.
Legacy: Succession plays as a bleak joke about whether any of the striving means anything. It’s a dark mirror of the times we live in. What is all that wanting worth? What happens when you get what you wanted, or lose it, and feel the same either way? Roman spends four seasons treating the whole fight as absurd, and by the finale that looks like the only sane response in the room.
Band of Brothers (2001)
Summary: Based on historian Stephen Ambrose’s book of the same name, Band of Brothers is a miniseries that follows Easy Company through World War II on the Western Front: training at Camp Toccoa, the Normandy jump, the push into Germany, the liberation of a concentration camp and the war’s end.
Inflection Point: Like Saving Private Ryan, one of its inspirations, the series kicks into gear on D-Day. The Normandy jump still holds up more than two decades later, and it looks as good as the summer blockbusters of its day. Anyone who’s watched a great war movie knows how quiet the room gets during the opening battle. Once you’ve been dropped into that night with them, you’re invested in every man for the rest of the series.
Legacy: Each episode opens with interviews with real Easy Company veterans, men from Irish, Italian, Jewish and German backgrounds who fought as one unit. The series shows ordinary people giving up a great deal for something bigger than themselves. It also set the pattern for The Pacific and Masters of the Air.
Best HBO Drama Series: Common Questions
What is the best episode of The Sopranos?
“College,” the fifth episode of season one, is the usual answer. Time and Entertainment Weekly both rated it the best episode of the series, and TV Guide ranked it second on its 2009 list of the 100 greatest TV episodes. It won the Emmy for drama writing, and Edie Falco won lead actress in a drama.
How many seasons of The Wire are there?
Five seasons and 60 episodes, aired on HBO from June 2, 2002, to March 9, 2008. Each season looks at a different part of Baltimore: the drug trade, the port, city government, the schools and the newspaper. David Simon created it, and the show rewards watching in order from the first episode.
Which Succession episode has Kendall’s rap?
“Dundee,” the eighth episode of season two. Kendall performs “L to the OG” at a gala in Dundee, Scotland, celebrating Logan’s 50 years at the company. It is one of the most quoted scenes of the series, and the track was released as a single on May 20, 2020.
Is there a new Game of Thrones show?
Yes. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered on HBO and HBO Max on January 18, 2026. Warner Bros. Discovery reported about 14 million US viewers per episode in February 2026, and the show was renewed for a second season, expected in 2027. House of the Dragon is the other spinoff.