From juicy dramas about polyamory, bootlegging and the ‘golden age of porn’ to the most jaw-dropping documentary moment of all time, HBO is known as the home of prestige TV. As it turns 50, here are its greatest hits so far
‘It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” This was once the US premium cable network’s slogan. Home Box Office launched on 8 November 1972 as a pay channel for movies and live sport. It pivoted to original programming in the 90s and transformed the small-screen landscape.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, we’ve painstakingly picked and ranked its Top 50 shows. Unshackled from the limitations of broadcast television, HBO was able to attract top-tier talent, push boundaries and redefine what the medium could do. It ushered in the era of “peak TV” with an astonishingly consistent output of prestige shows.
