{
  "id": 6061036,
  "title": "15 Best HBO Shows Of The 2010s, Ranked",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/15-best-hbo-shows-of-the-2010s-ranked",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-06T23:02:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TVLine",
    "slug": "tvline",
    "url": "https://www.tvline.com/2248517/best-hbo-shows-2010s-ranked/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Here is my original account of the story:\n\nHBO rewrote the rules of television in the 2010s, producing a diverse range of acclaimed shows from gritty dramas to dark thrillers to comedies. The network's output during this decade demonstrated its willingness to take risks and push the boundaries of quality television.\n\nTrue Detective, created by Nic Pizzolatto, was one of the decade's most significant TV events. The first season, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, became a cultural phenomenon. While subsequent seasons lacked the originality and cinematic brilliance of the first, True Detective still represents a defining HBO show of the 2010s.\n\nBig Little Lies, adapted from a novel by Liane Moriarty and created by David E. Kelley, found a delicate balance between soap opera intrigue and psychological depth. The 2017 series, starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and Zoe Kravitz, featured strong acting, writing, and editing. Though the second season had some issues, the original season remains a cinematically charged masterpiece.\n\nBarry, created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, is a rare comedy-drama that expertly blends absurdist satire with emotional darkness and tension. The show follows a contract killer who discovers a passion for acting and balances absurd humor with shocking realism. While only two seasons aired in the 2010s, Barry stands out as one of the finest character studies of the decade.\n\nGame of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, dominated the decade with its sprawling ensemble drama and vivid world-building. However, its later seasons often sacrificed logic for action and ultimately regressed in quality, making it difficult to rank alongside HBO's other masterpieces of the 2010s. Nonetheless, Game of Thrones remains the defining television series of the decade, with its best seasons rivaling any in TV history.",
  "summary": "The 2010s was a very, very memorable decade for HBO. Here are the 15 greatest shows the network put forth during that phenomenal run.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}