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Every HBO show ranked from worst to best, according to critics

We ranked them according to their ratings on the review aggregator Metacritic.

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Although HBO has attempted to separate itself from television — "It's not TV; it's HBO" — the premium cable network has brought us some of the greatest TV of all time, like "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones," throughout its history of original programming, which started in the early '80s.

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We ranked its shows according to their ratings on Metacritic, which aggregates critics' reviews and assigns each season of a show a score. (For shows with multiple seasons, we averaged their scores.)

The list is competitive. But like any other television network, HBO has released some stinkers in its lifetime.

Here's how HBO's shows rank, from worst to best, according to critics on Metacritic.

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(Note: We left off animated, children's, documentary/reality, and foreign programming, as well as miniseries, with a few notable exceptions.)

71. "Ja'mie: Private School Girl" (2013), one season

Metacritic score: 40

"It's a painfully obvious shtick, so camp and arch it's impossible to enjoy the joke." — TV Guide

70. "Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003-present), 15 seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 43

"Why would HBO, cable's most innovative network ... think it's a good idea to let Bill Maher bring the skeleton of his canceled ABC show, 'Politically Incorrect,' and stuff it into the tattered corpse of 'Dennis Miller Live'?" — Entertainment Weekly

69. "Lucky Louie" (2006), one season

Metacritic score: 47

"A show so vile, it makes you think the company's arrogant It's Not TV — It's HBO slogan isn't a brag — it's a threat." — USA Today

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68. "John from Cincinnati" (2007), one season

Metacritic score: 50

"Watching HBO's surfing drama 'John From Cincinnati' is like sitting through a bad play at a tiny experimental theater. ... In short, if Gary Busey were a TV series, he would be 'John From Cincinnati.'" — The Boston Globe

67. "Angry Boys" (2011), one season

Metacritic score: 50

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It "leaves only the flashes of comedic brilliance, and even they don't light up the sky very often." — The Wall Street Journal

66. "Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons" (2016), one season

Metacritic score: 51

"His interview style is an effective one — opinionated without being overbearing, with just enough smugness to give some of his questions a provocative edge." — Yahoo

65. "Sex and the City" (1998-2004), six seasons

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Metacritic score: 52

"" — People

64. "The Brink" (2015), one season

Metacritic score: 52

"The show operates at a tone of constant hysteria, which, as justified as that may be, begins to feel exhausting." — Variety

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63. "Vice Principals" (2016), one season

Metacritic score: 56

"There isn't much that can pass for comedy here, but there's plenty of compelling viciousness and two powerful performances." — The Wall Street Journal

62. "Hello Ladies" (2013), one season

Metacritic score: 58

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"We've seen this show before, in fresher settings, with stronger comic structure — from, in fact, the same creators: [Stephen] Merchant and American 'Office' writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky." — Newsday

61. "Tell Me You Love Me" (2007), one season

Metacritic score: 58

"Unfortunately, it is difficult to stay interested in what happens to any of these characters because most of them are so absurdly unlikable." — Los Angeles Times

60. "How to Make It in America" (2010-11), two seasons

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Metacritic score: 59

"As a portrait of struggling Manhattanites, 'How to Make It' effectively homes in on that hope-filled effervescence historically associated with the idealized American dream." — Slant Magazine

59. "Unscripted" (2005), one season

Metacritic score: 60

"A faux documentary on actors who are not famous but who are struggling to be isn't inherently interesting to non-actors ... 'Unscripted' isn't a complete flop. It's just rare that HBO fails like this." — The San Francisco Chronicle

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58. "Divorce" (2016) one season

Metacritic score: 60

"The laugh-out-loud viciousness of the opening, which involves both a gun and vomit, is clearly the work of series creator Sharon Horgan, who also co-writes and stars in Amazon's brilliant 'Catastrophe.' But 'Divorce' isn't always as biting as it is in those moments, leading to a solidly acted but somewhat mundane exploration of a breakup." — The AV Club

57. "Carnivale" (2003-05), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 61

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"A bloated mess ... 'Carnivale' is a little too full of itself. Believing that it has a fascinating story to tell with all the complex themes you could imagine, the series nevertheless fails the first test of television: Move forward." — SFGate

56. "The Newsroom" (2012-14), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 61.7

"The series is kind of a mess ... but one you can't really look away from." — SFGate

55. "Doll & Em" (2014-15, two seasons)

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Metacritic score: 63

"Despite its refreshing commitment to realism, 'Doll & Em' is ultimately too relaxed and meandering for its own good. There are times when you may wish it had embraced the occasional cliches with more gusto." — Vulture

54. "Da Ali G Show" (2003-04), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 63

"It's a nice gimmick, actually. Too bad the results seem so childishly undeveloped." — SFGate

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53. "Ballers" (2015-16), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 64

"[Dwayne] Johnson himself is the best part of 'Ballers,' a charismatic, mostly responsive force that is our window to the precarious world of retirement from football. His perspective on the life of the partying ball player is one of nostalgia. But in the absence of forward momentum, the camera turns to looking for shock value anywhere it can." — Salon

52. "Bored to Death" (2009-11), three seasons

Metacritic score: 64

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"'Bored' sometimes lags and drags, as if it took a few tokes, too. But when it's funny — and 'Bored' certainly can be — it's a winner." — Newsday

51. "Life's Too Short" (2011 and 2013), one season

Metacritic score: 64

"Measured against the yardstick of their own lofty standards, the show comes up a little short." — Variety

50. "The Comeback" (2005 and 2014), two seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 64.5

"It would all be terribly sad it if it weren't so incredibly funny." — TV Guide Magazine

49. "Hung" (2009-11), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 65.5

"I feel that there's a really good dark comedy about the decline of the American dream struggling to emerge from the often-forced plots." — Time

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48. "Entourage" (2004-11), eight seasons

Average Metacritic score: 66.8

"The show is vulgar, adolescent, and sexist — and seems proud of it." — The Baltimore Sun

47. "Vice" (2013-16), four seasons

Metacritic score: 67

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"'Vice' tries to go where other news, documentary, and magazine shows do not. That's okay, though it does at times overstate its pioneering prowess." — New York Daily News

46. "Summer Heights High" (2007), one season

Metacritic score: 67

"A funny/sad 'Office'-style mockumentary depicting a year in the life of an Australian public high school, this wildly talented writer-star loves making you squirm (à la [Ricky] Gervais) while submerging himself inside the skin of characters so diverse (à la [Tracey] Ullman) you can hardly believe it's the same guy." — TV Guide

45. "True Blood" (2008-14), seven seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 68

"It's creepy, steamy and funny at times, and it's also a muddle, a comic murder mystery that is a little too enthralled with its own exoticism." — The New York Times

44. "The Young Pope" (2017), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 68

"'The Young Pope' is TV's equivalent of a dorm-room poster of Bob Marley blowing smoke or the Lenny Bruce mugshot: a depleted symbol of a radical reaction to society that finally most clearly represents the status quo." — Collider

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43. "Rome" (2005-07), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 69.5

"'Rome' is most entertaining when it laces its wild, ancient antics with winks of the pedestrian." — Entertainment Weekly

41. "Oz" (1997-2003), six seasons

Metacritic score: 70

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"'" — LA Times

42. "Vinyl" (2016), one season

Metacritic score: 71

"'Vinyl' will leave you dancing to the music, but may leave you wondering why you should care." — New York Post

40. "The Leftovers" (2014-15), two seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 72.5

39. "Crashing" (2017), one season

Metacritic score: 73

"There is a lot of talk — practical and philosophical — about comedy, and 'Crashing' is very good with the details of low-level nightlife. But what most makes the show entertaining are Pete's episodic adventures with characters who will help form him, challenge him and wake him from his self-satisfied sleep into a better sort of happiness." — LA Times

38. "Westworld" (2017), one season

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Metacritic score: 74

"It's the kind of trippy conceptual project that would be unbearable if it weren't so elegantly made. So far, it works, mostly — not because it's perfect but because it gets under your skin." — The New Yorker

37. "True Detective" (2014-15), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 74

"It's an okay cop drama, to be sure, but it's definitely a cop drama you have seen many, many times before." — Vox

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36. "Family Tree" (2013), one season

Metacritic score: 74

"A quirky and hilarious gem." — The Hollywood Reporter

35. "Aril$$" (1996-2002), seven seasons

Metacritic score: 74

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"A pallid imitation of 'The Larry Sanders Show,' the series works best when its real-life guests are funny." — People

34. "Big Little Lies" (2017), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 75

"Just when you worry the show is a pageant of ugly cliches about female rivalry, it gives you a poignant, nuanced scene to deepen the whole." — Entertainment Weekly

33. "Six Feet Under" (2001-05), five seasons

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Metacritic score: 74

"This challenging show offers the viewer nary a morsel of TV comfort food. But uncommonly good writing and acting are satisfying too." — People

32. "Flight of the Conchords" (2007-09), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 74

"There are no big sociopolitical statements here, no guerilla-style confrontations, no scenes of squirmy awkwardness, no multilayered pop culture references. It's just a very smart, very funny show." — Entertainment Weekly

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31. "Looking" (2014-15), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 75

"'Looking' doesn't make the mistake of arguing that gay men are just like straight women, or straight men, or gay women, or even each other. Instead it tells the story of three guys who are friends in a strangely wonderful and difficult time and what that looks like. To them." — LA Times

30. "Luck" (2011-12), one season

Metacritic score: 75

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"The parts that do work possess the doom-laden yet strangely optimistic romanticism of [David] Milch's best work." — The Huffington Post

29. "Big Love" (2006-11), five seasons

Average Metacritic score: 75

"A very original, extremely well-acted and complexly written drama." — SFGate

28. "Togetherness" (2015-16), two seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 76

"It's a slower-paced, smaller-scale show about the sad reality of sticking it out in Hollywood into middle age. It also veers into weirder territory that would feel impossible outside California. But thanks to the chemistry between [Amanda] Peet and [Steve] Zissis, it's endlessly engrossing." — Entertainment Weekly

27. "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (2014-present), four seasons

Metacritic score: 76

"Oliver is terrific at mining humor from the most popular topics of the day, that is, the idiocy of the media and politicians. He's funny when he's knocking our intelligence." — The Denver Post

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26. "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" (2014), one-season docuseries

Metacritic score: 76

"'The Jinx' is wickedly entertaining: funny, morbid, and sad, at once exploitative and high-minded, a moral lasagna of questionable aesthetic choices (including reconstructions of ghastly events) and riveting interviews (of Durst, but also of other eccentrics, like his chain-smoking-hot second wife)." — The New Yorker

25. "John Adams" (2008), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 78

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"Both the book and the miniseries sketch admirably human portraits of historical figures such as Adams, Jefferson and Franklin." — Chicago Tribune

24. "Eastbound & Down" (2009-13), four seasons

Average Metacritic score: 78.3

"'Eastbound & Down' holds together so well that it's worth looking past the ugly for the solid performances and the charcoal-black humor beneath." — The New Yorker

23. "Girls" (2012-17), six seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 79

"It definitely has a voice, and it's a great one: witty and wise and warm and not exactly like anything you've heard before." — Uproxx

22. "In Treatment" (2008-10), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 79.3

"" — Chicago Sun-Times

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21. "Dream On" (1990-96), six seasons

Metacritic score: 80

"This is a rare TV union where cast, writers, and directors appear to be of a single comedic mind; the humorous results speak for themselves." — LA Times

20. "Getting On" (2013-15), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 81

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"It's a dark and astonishing gem of a show, with a bravely skillful cast juggling the petty obsessions of the workplace with Much Bigger Issues." — LA Times

19. "High Maintenance" (2016), one season

Metacritic score: 81

"'High Maintenance' stands out, not just because it's on the front end of what is apparently a reefer TV trend, but because it's so precisely made and has such an ambling, open heart." — Vulture

18. "Boardwalk Empire" (2010-14), five seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 81.2

"Like a good whiskey, it's rough and smooth in all the right ways. By a few episodes in, you'll want to order it by the case." — Time

17. "Veep" (2012-16), five seasons

Average Metacritic score: 82.2

"The series reserves its most blistering humor for the universal narcissism on display, always distracting from the real work at hand." — Slant Magazine

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16. "Treme" (2010-13), four seasons

Average Metacritic score: 82.3

"From scene to scene, 'Treme' is novelistic in the best sense — a long, complex, involving story that takes a while to settle into, but that you can't put down and don't want to end." — Salon

15. "Insecure" (2016), one season

Metacritic score: 84

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"It's a smart and often funny look at young people looking for love and professional satisfaction in Los Angeles, which is about as common a genre as TV has to offer these days. But taken in the totality of the TV landscape, Rae's voice is one that wasn't being heard and that voice is what makes 'Insecure' stand out, not necessarily as better than the Emmy winners or critical favorites in the field, but as gratifyingly distinguishable." — The Hollywood Reporter

14. "Enlightened" (2011-13), two seasons

Average Metacritic score: 84.5

"A black comedy working many shades of gray, 'Enlightened' is about dark mornings of the soul and the fool's-golden glow of the new convert, and it measures the weight of the world with an eccentric scale." — Slate

13. "Extras" (2005-07), two seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 84.5

"The most original and brilliant show on television." — The New Republic

12. "Show Me a Hero" (2015), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 85

"It's like a procedural drama, about the drama of procedure — it isn't ever dry. There are some superbly mounted, loud, crowded big scenes — [David] Simon is a great orchestrator of chaos — but there is an intensity to the quieter, more private moments as well. I wouldn't trade it for a bushel barrel of tortured detectives or all the kings and queens in Westeros." — LA Times

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11. "Deadwood" (2004-06), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 86

"To call 'Deadwood' great television doesn't begin to do it justice." — Seattle Post-Intelligencer

10. "Band of Brothers" (2001), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 86

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"It doesn't even look like a TV miniseries — it's more like 10 theatrical films that do an amazing job re-creating battles." — Deseret News

9. "Mr. Show with Bob and David" (1995-99), four seasons

Metacritic score: 86

"Manages to be outrageous and innovative at the same time." — New York Daily News

8. "The Pacific" (2010), one-season miniseries

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Metacritic score: 86

"Certain moments may verge on cliche (and once in a while, the dialogue is a little corny), but overall, 'The Pacific' is crafted and acted with such loving devotion that it's hard to find fault with its sincerity and sentimental forays." — Chicago Tribune

7. "Game of Thrones" (2011-16), six seasons

Average Metacritic score: 86.5

"The show beautifully depicts a massive game of musical chairs, a world at war with doom ever present just across the border." — The Boston Globe

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6. "Silicon Valley" (2014-16), three seasons

Average Metacritic score: 86.7

"Silicon Valley is a comedy, certainly, and a very funny one, but it doesn't spend all its time reminding you of the fact." — LA Times

5. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000-11), eight seasons

Average Metacritic score: 86.9

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"An insanely funny romp thanks to its unique storytelling technique and an inspired performance by the star." — Chicago Tribune

4. "The Night Of" (2016), one-season miniseries

Metacritic score: 90

"As complicated and layered as life itself, 'The Night Of' is an instant classic." — TV Insider

3. "The Wire" (2002-08), five seasons

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Average Metacritic score: 91.8

"It slowly develops into an engrossing look at the methodical nature of police work and the limits of individualism." — Time

2. "The Sopranos" (1999-2007), six seasons

Average Metacritic score: 94.5

"Combining dark comedy and psychological drama, the show achieves a fresh tone to match its irresistibly winning concept." — The New York Times

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1. "The Larry Sanders Show" (1992-98), six seasons

Average Metacritic score: 95

"Razor-edged satire of late-night talk TV from people with an ear for truth and a taste for blood." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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