Top 10 TV shows on HBO

We’re on the cusp of creating a TV DVD review section here on Filmchair and as such we thought we ought to do a little feature on the company which has been making the best TV around for the last few years, HBO, the Home Box Office. They produce TV shows which really are the benchmark of quality that all other channels should use to improve everything we watch.

H B O’ my god they are good.

From comedy to the greatest of drama, this top ten list has been one of the hardest I have had to compile, as only one or two stand out from the pack. From mafia hit men to Langley gangsters and from singing comedians to the most awkward man on the planet, here is the list of the best things on HBO.

10. Sex and The City

Well every lady loves it, they made a big screen follow up and it is full of hot ladies. That is all I know about this show but it had to be on the list. Here is a clip but I don’t know what it’s about, maybe it should be higher up, I can’t really say.

 

9. Summer Heights High

This is a mockumentary of life in an Australian high school with the same guy playing the majority of the key members of the show. It’s a classic from the nation of sun soaked soaps, all hail Australia.

 

8. Da Ali G Show

Before the onslaught of law suits for Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen was Ali G, the original gangster bad boy.  Strutting his stuff with the Langley massive and hanging out at the John Nike Leisure centre.

 

7. Flight of the Concords

New Zealand, mountains, sheep, The All Blacks rugby team, wanna be Australians and The Lord of the Rings, all things that come to mind when you think of the place, but now we also have Flight of the Concords. Check out the singing comedy duo who live on the simpler side of the life.

 

6. The Wire

Cult cop drama from Baltimore. Starts strong although it did slowly patter out over time a bit. Gritty but still able to add a little humour it shows the worse side of a dirty drug world.

 

5. 6 Feet under

Who ever thought a TV show set in a funeral home could be so good. Each week starts with a death, surprisingly the first week’s death was of someone who you think will be a main character. But following this is an intricate story of a family of misfits who are combined together for two reasons, the live in a funeral home, and they are family.

 

4. Curb your Enthusiasm

Meet Larry David, the king of awkwardness. As the brains behind the biggest sitcom in history, Seinfeld, his new project is a mockumentary of his own life. So believable I’m not sure what is scripted and what is not, be warned the clip I have added is triple X rated. Don’t look if you don’t like the c word.

 

3. Extras

Following on from the success of The Office, Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais put pen to paper once again and created a show with yet another loveable loser. Andy Millman is a struggling writer who we get to see go from zero to a slightly better nobody, who gets bullied and pushed around by a host of major celebrities, all the while making us laugh.

 

2. Entourage

The life and times of Vincent Chase, an actor whose status in Hollywood blows hot and cold. Based on Mark Wahlberg’s early career and life as an actor, this show exceeds all expectations, mixes some out of this world cameos with some ‘only in America’ behavior. The highlight of the show has to be Jeremy Piven’s character, Ari,  he’s Vince’s manager and the most angry little man in Hollywood.

 

1. The Sopranos

If you have a TV, then please let it show you it’s full potential and put The Sopranos on. This show was made for sitting and watching, then talking to people and then re-watching and then jaw dropping and then the raising of your eyebrows why you gently exhale and whisper quietly ‘Jesus’.

Becoming one of the most notorious mafia series ever made, this is what television is about. “Violence, strong language and nudity” said the warning before it was aired every week in Canada and every week it didn’t fail to deliver loads of each. You watch the life of the mob boss Tony Soprano whilst he struggles to keep control, has tens of mistresses and his kids who slowly figure out that their dad is not a dustman.

The beauty is you can sit down and watch an episode and walk away feeling that you have spent an hour well, the story was complete. However there are also story lines which will keep running over series which keeps you just coming back for more. If you got the ’stugots’, then watch this with your crew.