60. Ballers
HBO
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starred as retired NFL player Spencer Strasmore in Ballers, a dramedy about sports management that ran for five seasons on HBO. The pilot was directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, and explored the world of professional athletes who must find a new life for themselves after their playing careers are over.
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59. The Gilded Age
Barbara Nitke/HBO//HBO
Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon in fancy dresses? Sign me up! Following women in 1882 New York City, this period drama explored the conflicts between old and new money in a rigid and exclusive society.
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58. The Young Pope
Gianni Fiorito//HBO
Jude Law starred as the titular Young Pope in this drama about a cardinal from New York who becomes the new Pope Pius XIII. Exploring the inner workings of the vatican’s politics, the series was followed by The New Pope, where Law was joined by John Malkovich.
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57. Irma Vep
Carole Bethuel//HBO
One of the oddest and meta series ever created, French director Olivier Assayas remade his 1996 film of the same name for HBO, this time starring Alicia Vikander. Irma Vep, already, is about a film crew that is remaking the famous silent film, Les Vampires. But what seems like a simple recreation quickly turns into both a sequel and a reflection of their real lives—and by that, I mean the real-life actors and directors.
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56. Mare of Easttown
Michele K. Short//HBO
Kate Winslet starred in this True Detective-inspired crime drama as a detective who must solve the murder of a teenage mother outside the city of Philadelphia. With rich accents and a cold case that has scarred Marianne “Mare” Sheehan for years, the character begins to doubt her abilities as she also battles divorce and a son recently lost to suicide.
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55. My Brilliant Friend
Eduardo Castaldo//HBO
Elena Ferrante’s popular coming-of-age novels were brought to life in My Brilliant Friend, the story of two women growing up in Naples. While Elena is able to focus on her studies and her career, her friend Lila gets married at the age of 16.
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54. Eastbound & Down
HBO
A major comedy vehicle for The Righteous Gemstones’ Danny McBride, Eastbound & Down featured the comedian as a burnt-out pro-baseball player who returns to his hometown to teach physical education. The series also had several celebrity cameos, including Will Ferrell, Adam Scott, Craig Robinson, Matthew McConaughey, Lily Tomlin, and Jason Sudeikis.
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53. High Maintenance
David M. Russell//HBO
Technically 10 seasons long if you count the prior web series, High Maintenance was the first major comedy to focus on a weed dealer. Largely consisting of vignettes, the series explored various characters as they came in contract with “The Guy” who brought them their cannabis.
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52. Random Acts of Flyness
HBO
Writer-director Terence Nance masterminded this bizarre late-night sketch comedy series for HBO, tackling issues of trauma, white supremacy, romance, and death.
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51. The Other Two
Greg Endries//HBO
An under-the-radar comedy that flew too close to the sun, The Other Two’s three seasons on HBO followed a Justin Bieber-like childhood celebrity and his family of aspiring fame moochers.
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50. In Treatment
HBO
In Treatment was one of HBO’s largest experiments. The psychotherapy drama’s first season consisted of 43 (!) episodes, which ran every day over the course of nine weeks. Paul, played by Gabriel Byrne, would see a different weekly client on the episodes scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.–just as if their therapy appointment was happening in real time for the audience. While In Treatment wasn’t the breakout hit that HBO needed it to be if it was going to run over 40-episode-long seasons, you have to respect its boldness.
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49. We’re Here
HBO
If Queer Eye opened the door, We’re Here kicked it down. Following three drag queens into their communities across the United States, the docuseries chronicles how various lives have been affected, in some way, by queerness. It mixes feel-good optimism with a harsh dose of reality—sometimes the world isn’t ready for a drag queen, or anyone, to live truthfully. But in doing so, We’re Here finds a profound truth: that’s not your problem. You’re here, baby.
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48. The Deuce
HBO
James Franco starring in a drama set during the ’70s porno industry? It may not sound like ideal Sunday-night viewing. But The Deuce was too damn fun—with a stellar performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal—to leave off this list.
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47. Big Little Lies
HBO
In the crusade that is Reese Witherspoon’s complete takeover of media, Big Little Lies marks her most nuanced performance. Based on a novel of the same name, the series closely followed along with the book’s plot during Season One to winning effects. Big Little Lies’s renewal for a second season? It proved to be a curse for the show. Had that second season not happened, Big Little Lies would be sitting squarely in the Top 10.
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46. The Outsider
HBO
If you hang in for more than two episodes of HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Outsider, it really starts taking off. Following the investigation of a young boy’s murder, the miniseries starring Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, and Cynthia Erivo is a welcome addition to TV’s horror lineup—and features masterclass performances from its major leads.
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45. Westworld
HBO
No one wants Westworld to be on this list more than Westworld. But when Westworld turned out a solid episode, it was one of the best things on television. We’ll miss you, Dolores and Teddy.
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44. Girls
HBO
Created by Lena Dunham, the show follows four young women as they step into adulthood while living in New York City… for better and worse. They can be messy and hypocritical and privileged, but isn’t that the point? Have you met a New Yorker before?! What Dunham created is a triumph, documenting 21st-century women who dare to be adventurous. And what cements Girls’s spot on this list is that it’s a series too cool to care if we remembered it at all.
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43. True Detective
HBO
If only True Detective ended after its first season, it may be better remembered as one of the best detective dramas of the past decade. Would we have shows like Under the Banner of Heaven, Mare of Easttown—or the similarly named Mayor of Kingstown—without True Detective? Would the true-crime boom have still happened? Maybe, but at least we wouldn’t have to watch Vince Vaughn walk around in the desert for so long.
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42. The Comeback
HBO
Well. I got it! Those four words are a hallmark of the Lisa Kudrow staple, but The Comeback was trendsetting in other ways. It was one of the first shows to be cancelled and then years later receive the revival treatment. Lisa Kudrow never quite got her due for the show, or the strange brand of comedy it introduced.
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41. Years and Years
HBO
This 2019 series was probably too relevant. The British program follows one family through the ups and downs of a 15-year span, jumping in time from episode to episode—and it exists in our current timeline, tackling a rise of nationalism and increasing fear of others. The series is a haunting collection of what-ifs, making for an occasionally uncomfortable, but always rewarding, watch.
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Justin Kirkland
Writer
Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today.
Books and Fiction Editor
Adrienne Westenfeld is the Books and Fiction Editor at Esquire, where she oversees books coverage, edits fiction, and curates the Esquire Book Club.
Assistant Editor
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
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