With the arrival of streaming platforms for audiovisual content, a bit has happened like when the private ones arrived. The programs that we can see multiply, the options seem endless and you have to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. With the phenomenon of binge-watching (bingeing on series, watching an entire season) our way of watching television has also changed. Before, you had to wait a week to see a new episode. Now, platforms like Netflix premiere the entire season.
HBO is not like that. HBO was born as cable television, and continues to be so, although it has made its series catalog available to us at a price of 8 euros . It has thus made it possible for us to approach wonderful and legendary series that have made history on TV and that we can see from beginning to end. Without cuts. No waiting.
We recently showed which were the best complete series to watch on Netflix. Now it's HBO's turn. If you want to see complete series on HBO, you have come to the right place
The best complete series on HBO
The Sopranos
For many, the best television series in history, above The Wire or Breaking Bad. For everyone, the television show that marked the beginning of a new golden age. An era in which series would be considered quality products, at the same level, or even above, than movies.
Initially conceived as a feature film, this creation by screenwriter David Chase was extended to 86 episodes, spread over 6 seasons. The Sopranos wanted to renew the theme of mafia and gangsters . They managed to create a universe so well defined and recognizable that it turned its characters into authentic icons of popular culture. To speak of The Sopranos is to speak of contemporary history. And you have it, complete, on HBO.
The Wire
David Simon can boast of having created the best series in television history, according to critics specialized. The Wire, which in Spanish had the title 'Under listening', purported to be a scrupulously set portrait of contemporary Baltimore. An X-ray, through the Maryland State City Police Wiretaps.
Told through 5 seasons, each of them dealing with a relevant issue in our society: drugs, corruption, education, politics and the press. Each season is self-closing , although it is advisable to see it in order and in its entirety. Vargas Llosa compared viewing this series to reading greats like Dickens or Dumas.
Two meters underground
With this series, we close the holy trinity of HBO. Closer to The Sopranos than to The Wire, due to the family affair, Two Meters Underground shook like an earthquake the emotional foundations of the spectators who decided to give it a try.
Under a soap opera disguise starring a dysfunctional family, in charge of an undertaker, this creation by Alan Ball (True Blood) has 63 episodes spread over 5 seasons . Crying and laughing in a unique and special series. For many, unrepeatable.
The entourage
Better known by many for its original title, Entourage, 'The entourage' worked for its fierce satire of the Hollywood of the stars , that Los Angeles that seems to shine on the outside but that, on the inside, runs on the same gasoline as everything: money. A young actor decides to take his childhood friends with him to a new life of luxury and waste so that, in return, they will remind him of his humble origins.
No less than 8 seasons and a film finale for a series full of cameos by celebrities from the film mecca, whose main incentive is to see them interpret themselves. 8 seasons and a fan movie about the ins and outs that take place behind the scenes.
Sex in New York
And from Los Angeles we go to the other coast: Sex in New York premiered in 1998 and became, automatically, a benchmark for bolder and more modern television : it had rarely, if ever, been seen on television a series starring self-sufficient women, talking about sex without mincing words, often on rugged subjects, at that time. Abortion, homosexuality, cancer and sporadic sex were treated in the same way as other important issues in the lives of the protagonists.
It had two sequels in movie form years later, but what really matters is what we can get, directly, on the HBO app. 96 chapters to relive the stories, or engancharte for the first time, with stories of Carry Bradshaw and company .
Blood brothers
The sum of Steven Spielberg + Tom Hanks + HBO should give an indisputable 10. And he gave it. Critics fell at the feet of this 10-episode miniseries set in World War II. Blood Brothers is based on the true events documented in the book 'Band of brothers', written by historian Stephen Ambrose, that occurred to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
A series for lovers of military exploits , with documentary rigor and the style of the best Spielberg, that of the opening half hour of Saving Private Ryan.
The Pacific
And if we talk about Blood Brothers, we can't forget about The Pacific. Again, the miraculous sum Spielberg + Hanks + HBO worked the miracle: a new 10 - episode miniseries, delving into the recent history of World War Muncial, specifically the operations that occurred in the Pacific Ocean during the war.
Boardwalk empire
If Scorsese has a show on HBO, it has to be on the list. And period. The Italian-American director was involved in this huge project at the very beginning, shaping the entire project and directing the pilot episode. Set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Boardwalk Empire tells, through 56 episodes, the history of the United States during prohibition . Critics highlighted, above all, the portentous interpretations of its protagonists, the historical rigor and the trustworthy portrait of an era.
The Newsroom
And we finish our review of the best complete series you can see on HBO with a creation by Aaron Sorkin. Prestigious screenwriter, writer of Oscar-winning film scripts such as La Red Social and creator of such influential series as The West Wing of the White House , in The Newsroom he analyzes the world of television news.
Starring Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom keeps the Sorkin playwright's personality intact: long uncut scenes with sharp dialogue, always keeping the tension on the edge. 25 episodes to see the guts to the writing department of the news of a cable television .
We have left many more complete series on HBO to comment: 'Up and down', 'The Larry David show', 'Girls', 'In therapy', 'Big Love' ... Herein lies the greatness of HBO: few Sometimes you will err in your choice, especially if you take a look at its classics section. A sure hit.