“It’s Not TV. It’s HBO!” Ever since HBO pioneered modern pay television on November 8, 1972, the network has maintained its reputation as the home of quality productions. That includes The Sopranos, Deadwood, Succession, The Wire, and Game of… Scratch that last one. The network’s standards are so high that execs rejected Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone. Many of HBO’s hits run from four to six seasons, but once in a while, a great miniseries pops up, too.
Unknown to many, HBO actually wouldn’t be where it is today without a specific miniseries. Before the mid-80s, the network concentrated on movies and high-profile boxing matches. However, after investing in All the Rivers Run, a four-episode adaptation of Nancy Cato’s historical novel, they realized they could keep viewers glued on multiple nights. They thus began producing more exclusive TV shows. After more than three decades of great miniseries, now is the perfect time to ask: which are the 10 most flawless ones on the network?
‘Mare of Easttown’ (2021)
It’s been a long time since Kate Winslet watched the waves of the ocean with Leonardo Di-Meme-King in Titanic as Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” played. Since then, she has done plenty of great work that no one should miss. If you missed out on Mare of Easttown, now’s the time to check it out. In the miniseries, she plays Detective Mare Sheehan, who attempts to solve a teenage mother’s murder.
Nominated for 16 Emmys and two Golden Globes, this nail-biting, hard-boiled crime drama boasts mature dialogue, realistic detective work, and scene-to-scene transitions that are sharpened to a point. However, it’s Winslet’s acting that makes Mare of Easttown so memorable. The “Delco accent” — a regional dialect common in Delaware County — is notoriously difficult to learn, yet Winslet pulled it off so perfectly that everyone couldn’t stop saluting her on social media. To be honest, Mare of Easttown should have been a 10-season show.
‘Watchmen’ (2019)
Watchmen is that rare thing: an intelligent superhero TV show. Here, series creator, Damon Lindelof, chose to avoid the Cold War rails of other Watchmen adaptations. Instead, he set the show 34 years after the events of the comics. The HBO gem takes us to modern-day Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a white supremacist gang is causing so much havoc that members of the Tulsa Police Department are forced to conceal their faces with masks.
Nominated for 11 Emmys (the most of any 2019 show), Watchmen uses fiction to bring to light the injustices of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre while condemning all forms of discrimination at large. In a smart stroke of casting both per and against type, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is superb as the now-disheveled, now-dapper, Dr. Manhattan. Regina King is equally winning as Detective Sister Night (Regina King), who wants justice for the cruel deaths of her friend and the police chief.
‘The Young Pope’ (2016)
Filmmakers and TV show creators have been throwing jabs at the Vatican for decades, and it wasn’t surprising when Paolo Sorrentino chose to do so, too, in The Young Pope. In the satirical drama, tensions understandably rise when Lenny Belardo (Jude Law), a young cardinal from New York, chooses to change 99% of the rules after he is elected as pope.
Far from the weak nuns-and-conspiracy drama that has dominated our screens since the 1970s, The Young Pope is smart, funny, psychologically tense, and to be honest, silly as hell. But that’s what makes it so good. Yes, there are a lot of serious religious storylines in this politically charged story. However, one of the best things about watching it is figuring out exactly why the new Pope is such a rebel. (Thankfully, an answer is provided later). The show’s first two episodes had screenings at the Venice International Film Festival, the first time in the history of the festival that a TV series had been part of the program.
‘I May Destroy You’ (2020)
HBO collaborated with the BBC for I May Destroy You, and the tag-team effort resulted in a powerful series with nine Emmy nominations. The series won the BAFTA for Best Miniseries. British actress Michaela Coel directed, wrote, and starred as Arabella, a writer and social media star who investigates her own rape incident.
The world is indeed cruel, as proven by this thoroughly original and affecting drama of a woman determined to get justice for herself. As with other celebrated HBO productions, some of the inherent pathos is leavened with some comic moments. However, the message and serious nature of the subject matter never fade away. Coel’s choice to do almost everything by herself is indeed a major reason why the show is so perfect. Other departments (like sound editing) are perfect, too. Anyone would struggle to find anything worth criticizing here.
‘Angels in America’ (2003)
Struggling to come up with a good story? Adapt a Pulitzer Prize–winning play. That’s what Mike Nichols did with Angels in America, drawing as much as possible from Tony Kushner’s celebrated 1991 work about the AIDs epidemic. At the center of the story is Walter (Justin Kirk), a man visited by an angel. There’s also Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), a closeted, go-getter lawyer, and a Mormon couple.
The miniseries thrives by exploring a wide variety of heavy themes, including the effect of Reaganomics on society. Beyond that, solid direction, appropriate music, imaginative editing, and crisp cinematography design take Angels in America even further into nail-biting realms of disease-related crisis. At the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards, the play adaptation became the first of only three shows in Emmy history (alongside Schitt’s Creek and The Crown) to sweep every major eligible category.
‘The Night Of’ (2016)
The Night Of could have been James Gandolfini’s second HBO hit, as the lead role had been reserved for him. Sadly, he died before it could happen. Thankfully, John Turturro proved to be a good replacement, playing the lawyer of a Pakistani-American college student accused of murdering a woman.
A masterpiece of existential inquest, this expansive, well-written, and well-directed show makes men grasping at routine and tradition interesting. In the prison scenes, people of various ages, missions, health, and sanity go through various arcane daily rituals, with danger always lurking in the corners. At the same time, the accused keeps up the appearance of decorum and strength. Consequently, there’s endless tension that chauffeurs viewers easily across the eight episodes. 14 Emmy nominations came, with five awards acquired.
‘Olive Kitteridge’ (2014)
In Olive Kitteridge, the miniseries adapted from the 2008 novel by Elizabeth Strout, Frances McDormand played the titular retired schoolteacher who has a complicated relationship with her kind-hearted husband and their resentful son.
McDormand’s character is our entry point into a chaotic small-town world in Maine, and she makes use of all emotions until there are none left. With a haunting score and a roaming camera, this austere, detailed, deeply felt saga unfolds like a book. Covering topics like mental illness and infidelity, the show hits so hard from all corners that one is left unsure of whether to treasure it as a piece of entertainment or as a warning.
‘Tanner ‘88’ (1988)
Mockumentary TV shows don’t get better than Tanner ’88. Revolutionary for mixing scripted plots with real-life events (most of it was filmed on the actual 1988 campaign trail), the miniseries tells the behind-the-scenes story of the campaign of fictitious former Michigan U.S. Representative Jack Tanner (Michael Murphy), during his quest to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for POTUS.
The great Robert Altman made the show, and he clearly wanted viewers to feel anxious. Will Tanner get rid of his undesirable habits soon? That’s the loose hinge on which this funny miniseries swings. Better yet, it features cameos from real political figures, including Bob Dole, Jesse Jackson, Kitty Dukakis, and Pat Robertson. What Tanner ’88 does best is show how the media shapes America’s political landscape. Everything feels so real, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is an actual documentary.
‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
At 1:23:45 am on April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR. First responders thought that it was a normal fire incident, but when blisters appeared on skin and faces began melting, everyone knew that it was serious. Chernobyl tells the story of that horrific incident, accurately and compassionately, with no actor struggling at all.
Craig Mazin, known for his work on The Last of Us, has a real range, creating Chernobyl and, believe it or not, writing movies for the Hangover and Scary Movie franchises. He buries all the jokes here, creating an atmosphere that is melancholy from start to finish. With zero sensationalism, viewers are forced to sympathize. Chernobyl would receive 19 Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing. It also won Best Miniseries or Television Film at the Golden Globes.
‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)
After their amazing work on Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks chose to go down the TV route, adapting historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book into the miniseries Band of Brothers. The show traces “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in their World War II missions, from paratrooper training to D-Day and the occupation of Berchtesgaden.
Band of Brothers is widely considered the greatest WWII TV show and credited with ushering in Peak TV, thanks to its movie-like production values. Most of the credit goes to the actors, as well as Hanks and Spielberg. Part of the credit goes to the book’s author, Ambrose, who came up with much of the plot after interviewing the veterans. It was no surprise when the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries. Be on the lookout for that brutal Normandy invasion scene where paratroopers are gunned down midair.
Do you agree with our list? Are there other HBO miniseries that you enjoyed?
Source link
Add Comment