8 Near-Perfect HBO Miniseries That Nobody Remembers Today

Published Sep 2, 2026, 1:30 PM EDT Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. There are so many great miniseries on HBO, but these are the eight that nobody seems to ever remember. The list of original miniseries on HBO is so astoundingly good that you have to imagine the network has a seriously rigorous vetting process before it allows a miniseries into its library. Band of Brothers, Mare of Easttown, and Sharp Objects are consistently ranked among not just the best miniseries ever, but the best TV shows ever. Nearly any one of HBO's miniseries could be considered for that list. With so many great miniseries available, it's not all too surprising that some would get lost among the ranks. The Corner (2000) The Corner was David Simon's first attempt at a Wire-like story. The series, based on Simon and Ed Burns' non-fiction novel, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood which would be partially adapted into The Wire, focuses on the life of one family in West Baltimore. The series centers on DeAndre "Black" McCullough (Sean Nelson), a 15-year-old drug dealer whose father Gary (T.K. Carter) and mother Fran (Khandi Alexander) are deep in the throes of drug addiction for most of DeAndre's childhood. Pulled between childhood and maturity, DeAndre struggles to strive and thrive in the open-air drug market of West Baltimore. The series features many actors who would go on to major roles in The Wire including Lance Reddick, Clayton LeBouef, Tootsie Duvall, and Robert F. Chew. It's a harrowing series, and unlike The Wire, focuses on a single family, showcasing the brutality that results from the problems illuminated in The Wire. Empire Falls (2005) Credit: MovieStillsDB Adapted from Richard Russo's 2001 novel of the same name, Empire Falls is a 2005 miniseries set in the titular Maine town. Empire Falls is old, decaying, and way past its prime. The main characters of the show have mostly lived in the town their whole lives and are struggling to come to terms with its imminent end. Empire Falls is about a town and a group of people intimately tied to one another even if they can't stand one another. True to life, there is laughter and love, but also intense moments of tragedy and even unimaginable horror of the terribly ordinary variety. Empire Falls paints the human spectrum without an ounce of over-sentimentality. It stars perhaps one of the most talented casts you'll find in any miniseries. Ed Hardy, Helen Hunt, Paul Newman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright Penn, and Joanne Woodward round out the main cast, but you'll recognize just about every character who comes through Empire Falls. John Adams (2008) John Adam, as you may guess, tells the story of one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the second president of the fledgling country. Played with sharp wit and boiling righteousness by Paul Giamatti, John Adams is a fascinating portrait of what went into molding one of the most important figures of the 18th and 19th centuries. The series begins before the Revolution, and follows Adams through his presidency and retirement. John Adams forgoes battles and warfare for journeys to Europe, where Adams tries to get the rest of the world to understand that the United States of America is a country to take seriously. Through tact, empathy, and honesty, Adams proves the value of the country as well as the value of himself. It's a focused, elegant story that could have become a slog in the wrong hands, but the gravity on display and the atmosphere of loneliness and courage make it heroic. Mildred Pierce (2011) MovieStillsDB Mildred Pierce is a period piece adapted from James M. Cain's 1941 novel of the same name which was made into a movie starring Joan Crawford in 1945. Kate Winslet stars as the titular Mildred Pierce, a divorcée in the Great Depression attempting to start up a restaurant business. Evan Rachel Wood plays her eldest daughter, Veda, who is spoiled and self-centered and for whose attention and respect Mildred desires above all. The production is astounding, as is Winslet's performance, which ranks among her very best. It's a powerful series, filled with heartbreaking scenes. It's a fairly standard story, a tense relationship between a mother and daughter, each with their own faults, but Mildred Pierce uses this familiarity to create something captivating and unique that makes the past relevant and relatable. Parade's End (2012) Credit: MovieStillsDB A co-production between the BBC and HBO, Parade's End is a five-part miniseries based on Ford Madox Ford's early 20th-century novel series of the same name. Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, and Adelaide Clemens co-star as Christopher Tietjens, Sylvia Tietjens, and Valentine Wannop. Set before World War I, these three Britons are drawn into a sordid love triangle filled with regret, anger, bitterness, and a staunchly British attitude of keeping calm and moving on, even when one would be forgiven for saying "stop!" and halting. It's a role that Cumberbatch feels made for. An icy character, with a tumultuous sadness underneath. An utterly artful miniseries, Parade's End is a difficult and painful story, but with performances so moving and direction so classic, it's hard to look away from. The story may feel a bit alien at first, particularly to American viewers, but anyone will quickly be enveloped by its atmosphere. Olive Kitteridge (2014) Olive Kitteridge is an acting showcase for Frances McDormand, who plays the title character in all four episodes of the HBO miniseries, portraying her at different points in her life over 25 years. There is much, much more to the series than one acting performance, however. The story of Olive Kitteridge is the story of a misanthropic school teacher living in a seaside town in Maine with her sweet but browbeaten husband played by Richard Jenkins and her resentful son, Christopher. A lifetime of depression has left Olive equal parts strong-willed and resigned. Her journey through life is a crushingly relatable one, filled with the mundane traumas and inevitable ends that we all must confront. At the start of the series, it's hard to like the often unintentionally cruel Olive, but as the series goes on and the sadness of age sweeps in, you begin to appreciate Olive's indignity and ferocious attitude as a bulwark against trying times. Show Me A Hero (2015) Credit: MovieStillsDB The second David Simon show on this list (do you think maybe he's a tad underappreciated), Show Me a Hero, is centered on real-life Yonkers, NY mayor Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac). Using information from Lisa Belkin's 1999 nonfiction book, Show Me a Hero details a tumultuous period in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Shows Created by David Simon for HBO Year Show 2000 The Corner 2002-2008 The Wire 2008 Generation Kill 2010-2013 Treme 2015 Show Me a Hero 2017-2019 The Deuce 2020 The Plot Against America 2022 We Own This City A complex figure in American history, Wasicsko was elected as a young mayor running on a platform to challenge a federal order to desegregate public housing. However, in the strange world of politics, Wasicsko eventually campaigns for desegregation, though in a limited capacity. Show Me a Hero does not show the audience a hero in its protagonist. Instead, it wonders who our heroes are or if there can even be heroes when those heroes still operate in cruel and unjust systems. There are no victors in Show Me a Hero, just losers. Mrs. Fletcher (2018) The comedy miniseries Mrs. Fletcher stars Kathryn Hahn as Eve Fletcher, a divorced mother in her mid 40s who rediscovers her sexuality and independence when her son, Brendan (Jackson White), heads off to college. At college, Brendan learns he will need to start being more of an adult if he wants to succeed. It's a strange and mature series, but Hahn's hilarious and honest performance keeps the show on track. Though it's billed as a comedy, it's much more of a dramatic character study. Eve's life is very real, and it's not always fun, often sad and troubling. This HBO miniseries' frank discussions of sex, pornography, and loneliness are honest and human. This certainly makes for some laugh-out-loud sequences, but also leads to some psychologically probing questions about adulthood and the choices we make.