HBO is closely associated with landmark dramas such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Succession and Game of Thrones, but its catalog also includes series that drew far less lasting attention. Some arrived in an overcrowded television landscape, some were canceled too soon, and others simply faded from collective memory. According to the source article, five of these shows stand out for their quality and significance.
Rome received considerable praise when it aired, but it fell short of its envisioned five seasons and ran for only two. The series chronicled the fall of the Roman Republic and the transition into the Roman Empire, balancing large-scale political upheaval with the stories of two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). Its epic production scale, attention to historical accuracy and gritty depiction of the city made it a critical success, but it was canceled because of high production costs. The show was an early precursor to Game of Thrones and an ambitious example of a massive international period production.
The Outsider was an HBO miniseries adapted from a Stephen King work and created by Richard Price, a writer on The Wire. The story begins with the brutal murder of a young boy, after which Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) is arrested when all evidence points to his guilt. His alibi, however, places him far from the crime scene. With the help of private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) tries to solve an almost impossible case that moves closer to the surreal. The series works as both a detective procedural and a supernatural thriller. Its pace can slow to a crawl, but it builds an oppressive atmosphere and gradually shifts into outright horror. It was received well but did not become a cultural touchstone on the scale of HBO detective series such as True Detective.
Treme was created by David Simon, the creator of The Wire, and Eric Overmyer. Set in the historical Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, it follows residents after Hurricane Katrina as they cope with the aftermath and rebuild their homes. Across four seasons, the show remains one of HBO's more meditative dramas, and its distinctiveness is its biggest selling point. It is a compelling look at what happens after the storm rather than at the events leading up to it, offering a gripping depiction of resilience. The series does not rely on exciting plotlines, mysteries or satisfying narrative build-ups. Instead, it is a humane and emotional story about the local community, focusing on ordinary lives as people try to recover what they lost and move toward a more hopeful future.
Oz, which debuted in 1997, was HBO's first experiment with the one-hour drama series format and remains one of the network's most important shows. Executive producer Barry Levinson told the Television Academy that it marked a giant change in the direction of HBO, which had previously shown movies and then suddenly had its own series content. Despite not maintaining a long-term following, the gritty prison saga remains one of HBO's best offerings. Like The Sopranos, it features a stacked ensemble of characters whose morality is dubious. The show occasionally sacrifices logic for sensationalism, and its violence can be gruesome. The first three seasons are especially strong because of their relatively grounded, contained story, and while later plotlines become more outlandish, such as the aging pill storyline in Season 4, the series maintains enough momentum to justify finishing it.
Show Me a Hero, another David Simon project, takes the relatively unassuming subject of municipal housing policy and turns it into a compelling political thriller. Set in Yonkers, New York, it follows Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) as he takes office amid a court-ordered plan to create public housing in a majority-white suburb. The show details Wasicsko's dilemma and the community's reactions to the court order, while connecting the political to the personal through single mothers facing the burdens of neglected neighborhoods. Balancing dramatization with a high level of accuracy, it uses its limited episode count efficiently by focusing on both sides of the conflict. By following different perspectives, particularly Mary Dorman's (Catherine Keener) changing attitude toward the housing plan, the series refuses to reduce the policy to a simple clash of opposing sides. It serves in some ways as a thematic prequel to The Wire by painting a more complete picture of the birth of crime in urban neighborhoods.
Sources: TVLine.