HBO's Flawless TV Shows Without a Bad Season

A report lists ten HBO series that maintained consistent quality across multiple seasons without a single weak installment. It is extremely rare for a television series to have a perfect run with no weak seasons, even on a network as reliable as HBO. Most HBO shows, even the very best, have at least one bad season. The Last of Us stumbled in its second season, The White Lotus stumbled in its third, and Silicon Valley was never quite as hilarious after Erlich Bachman left. True Detective has been up and down. Game of Thrones went downhill after the writers ran out of books. Curb Your Enthusiasm had a couple of weak seasons when it came back from hiatus. But there are a small handful of HBO shows that ran for a few seasons and managed to maintain flawless consistency.

The Righteous Gemstones

Danny McBride began his HBO career with Eastbound & Down, which arguably went on for one season too long, and continued with Vice Principals. But it was not until his third show, The Righteous Gemstones, that he finally perfected it. The show hit the ground running with a hilarious first season, then only got better. The fourth and final season was arguably the show's best.

Boardwalk Empire

After cutting his teeth in The Sopranos' writers' room, Terence Winter teamed up with Martin Scorsese to create his own mafia drama. Set in Atlantic City during Prohibition, Boardwalk Empire is just as captivating as The Sopranos, but with gorgeous historical costumes and design. It had one of the most star-studded casts on television, led by Steve Buscemi. It was just as compelling from beginning to end.

The Leftovers

Damon Lindelof made every season of The Leftovers count. HBO tried to cancel the show before season 3, but Lindelof managed to convince them to greenlight a final season. Despite being forced to wrap up soon, Lindelof stuck the landing with the series finale. Unlike his last supernatural mystery, Lost, he was able to satisfy fans with the answers this time.

Barry

Bill Hader's tale of a hitman who wants to become an actor sounded gimmicky when first announced. But Barry turned out to be one of the greatest TV masterpieces of the 21st century. It is a really funny comedy, but also a Breaking Bad-level character study and a David Lynchian psychological thriller. Its four-season run got darker, but never lost the magic.

Deadwood

After reinventing gangster shows with The Sopranos and cop shows with The Wire, HBO reinvented the TV western with Deadwood. Based on real historical events, it follows the titular territory's transformation from a small encampment to a town. Deadwood ran for three seasons, and showrunner David Milch spun gold every time.

The Larry Sanders Show The Larry Sanders Show is cited as perfect from start to finish, originating stylistic tricks later used in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Garry Shandling's portrayal of a neurotic talk show host brought unusual depth to a sitcom, creating a probing character study that still holds up.

Succession Succession told its modern-day King Lear story across four unified seasons. The first three painted a harrowing portrait of a dysfunctional family, while the fourth served as a climactic culmination, building to a bittersweet finale.

The Sopranos While some seasons of The Sopranos are reportedly weaker than others, it remained a brilliant masterpiece up to the very end. The source argues that even at its worst, it beats most other television shows at their best.

Six Feet Under Alan Ball used Six Feet Under's morbid premise, each episode begins with a death, for a powerful exploration of mortality. The series is a moving portrait of a dysfunctional family and a celebration of what makes life worth living.

The Wire The Wire reinvented itself each season, with each of its five installments tackling a different Baltimore institution. While seasons one, three, and four rank among the greatest ever, and seasons two and five have forgivable flaws, every season is a masterpiece in its own way. The report concludes that even the most contrived episode of The Wire is more realistic and profound than every other cop show.