The 8 Most Fun HBO Shows, Ranked

Image via HBO Published Sep 20, 2026, 11:57 PM EDT Jessica is a young writer from Brisbane, Australia. An avid consumer and lover of all things Film and TV, you will never tear her away from a screen. A tendency rooted from childhood, she once had dreams of becoming a member of the famed kids-band 'Hi-5'. Perhaps that's what pushed her to secure an education with a theater background. But now, as dreams evolved, her passions have turned to admiring performances from afar. Frankly, she's just grateful that she can put her binging skills to good use. Outside of work, Jessica recently completed her undergraduate double degree in Arts/Communications. Other than that, she spends most of her free time with family and friends, probably never forgetting to talk about the new movie or show she watched the day prior. Sign in to your Collider account HBO has never been particularly interested in making television that stays in one lane. After all, the network is responsible for prestige dramas, bleak thrillers, sprawling fantasies, and some of the most miserable families ever put on screen. However, it also knows how to make a show that's just an absolute hoot to watch. Sometimes that means rapid-fire comedy and outrageous situations, while other times it comes from spectacular action or a cast that's simply having the time of its life. As such, these are the shows that bring something different to the table, whether it's a period drama, a vigilante tale, or a political comedy. At the end of the day, they're funny, energetic, wildly entertaining, and most importantly, the kind of shows that make it very easy to hit "next episode." So, if you find yourself sitting in a little funk, do yourself a favor and click on one of these. 8 'Warrior' (2019–2023) Image Via HBO Set in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 19th century, Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) is a martial arts prodigy who arrives from China in search for his missing sister. Unfortunately, his plans go devastatingly awry when he's suddenly sold to one of Chinatown's most powerful tongs, forcing him to navigate through a violent struggle for power in a town filled with rival gangs and corrupt politicians. Combining brutal action with intense drama and a surprisingly playful sense of humor, it's no wonder that Warrior is a huge blast to watch. The fight scenes are, of course, a major draw, and yet the show's willingness to bounce between gang warfare, institutional corruption, and community dysfunction is what keeps it from becoming one-note. Plus, this show is based on an original concept by Bruce Lee himself—a fact that naturally brings an irreverent energy to the project's core. 7 'Peacemaker' (2022–2025) Image via HBO Max After surviving the events of The Suicide Squad, Chris Smith (John Cena)—better known as the brutal vigilante Peacemaker—is forced to join a black-ops team on the mysterious Project Butterfly. Here, he and his mismatched team of operatives must stop a mysterious alien invasion that soon becomes a threat far stranger than anything they expected. In true James Gunn fashion, Peacemaker finds its magic by turning a ridiculous superhero into the center of a surprisingly heartfelt comedy—all without sanding away everything that makes him awful. Leaning into Peacemaker's macho posturing, bizarre musical tastes, and dysfunctional relationships is what helps create endless opportunities for comedy. It's also a plus that the rest of the team is a collection of equally entertaining foils. Just look at the vibrancy (and commitment) to the opening title dance sequence. That alone highlights the tone of this show. 6 'Our Flag Means Death' (2022–2023) Image via HBO MAX In the 18th century, wealthy aristocrat Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) grows tired of his privileged (and very cushy) life. As a result, he abandons everything and decides to become a pirate even though he has absolutely no idea what to do. But now, after assembling an equally unconventional crew for his ship, Stede must quickly figure things out, especially as he soon crosses paths with the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Taiki Waititi). There's no doubt that the show's greatest strength is the sheer ridiculousness of its pirate world. Waititi's Blackbeard is less a fearsome pirate than a bored celebrity in need of a new direction, while Darby's Stede approaches piracy with the enthusiasm of someone organizing a particularly ill-advised dinner party. The result is a warm, absurd comedy where swashbuckling, disastrous schemes, and surprisingly sincere conversations about identity and love can all exist in the same episode. If only Our Flag Means Death didn't fall victim to the cancelation curse. 5 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (2000–2024) Image via HBO As a fictionalized version of himself, Larry David is a successful television writer and producer whose life would probably be much easier if he simply stopped arguing with everyone. Instead, Larry has a remarkable talent for turning minor social annoyances into full-blown disasters, whether he's dealing with friends, family, celebrities, or complete strangers. Frankly, there's no better fun than watching a person play an exaggerated version of themselves. And somehow David has managed to prolong that joke for over two decades—without running the humor dry. The loose improvisational style of Curb Your Enthusiasm has let audiences sit in the cringe of second-hand embarrassment, and sometimes people need that to escape their own reality. It also helps that this show has an endless parade of famous cameos to ensure the formula rarely feels repetitive. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Tyrell Your drink, your weapon, your seat at the table, what you do to somebody who wrongs you. Eight quick calls and we will tell you whose banner you should actually be standing under. Four houses are still in this: the cold one, the rich one, the one with the dragons, and the one that has never needed a sword to get its way. 🐺Stark(Game of Thrones) 🦁Lannister(Game of Thrones) 🐉Targaryen(House of the Dragon) 🌹Tyrell(Game of Thrones) CLAIM YOUR HOUSE → 01 What is your go-to at the feast? Everybody has one, and everybody's says something. ADark ale by the fire, nothing fancy. BWhatever costs the most in the cellar. CWhatever gets poured, drunk far too fast. DOne cup, slowly, while I watch the room. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Pick a weapon off the wall. You get one. Choose quickly. AA greatsword, heavy and honest. BA dagger, plus a second one nobody knows about. CFire, obviously. DNothing sharper than the things I can say. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Where do you end up sitting? The seating plan is the politics. AHigh table, quietly wishing I was outside. BNext to whoever actually matters. CWherever I like, because people move. DA corner seat with a view of everyone. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What do people get wrong about you? Reputation arrives about a week before you do. AThat I am cold, when I am only quiet. BThat I say what I mean the first time. CThat I might be bluffing. DThat I am harmless. NEXT QUESTION → 05 One free evening in King's Landing. Where do you go? Nobody plots every single night. AOut of the city entirely, heading home. BSomewhere expensive, with people who owe me. CWherever it is loud and slightly dangerous. DA long dinner where everybody talks too much. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Somebody wrongs you. What happens next? This is the real personality test in Westeros. AI say it to their face, once. BI wait, because they will need me eventually. CEverybody hears about it before morning. DThey never find out it was me. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Your people are in trouble. What is your first move? No time to think about this one. AI turn up, even when it is a terrible idea. BI pay for the problem to go away. CI go after whoever caused it. DI already called in that favour last week. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Be honest. What do you actually want? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your house. ATo go home, and then to stay there. BTo own the room without sitting at the head of it. CThe crown, with everybody watching. DTo be the one everybody genuinely likes. REVEAL MY HOUSE → The Banner Is Raised Your House Is…Four houses, four completely different theories about how you survive a world like this one. Here is where your banner belongs, what the name would cost you, and what it would buy. House StarkYou belong in the North, where the weather does most of the arguing and nobody is impressed by a title. The Starks are the only great house on this list who genuinely believe that being right matters more than winning, which is exactly why the show spent eight years punishing them for it. Your loyalty runs to people rather than to crowns, and you would rather lose a war honestly than win one by doing something you would have to hide. The Stark tragedy is a simple one, since a family raised to keep its word ended up surrounded by people who treat a promise as an opening bid. You are the one who thinks about the winter while everybody else is still enjoying the summer, and the realm never thanks anybody for that. What saves the Starks in the end is not swords. It is the fact that the children grew up and became four completely different kinds of dangerous. House LannisterYou belong to the house that worked out early on that gold moves faster than armies. Casterly Rock runs on leverage, reputation and the certainty that everybody at the table owes you something, and you are perfectly comfortable with all three. You play a longer game than the people around you, and you would rather own the outcome quietly than be seen winning in public. Family is the thing you would burn the realm for, which is both the best and the very worst quality this house has. Tyrion, Jaime and Cersei are three of the most compelling characters on television precisely because they were raised with everything except the ability to be simple about it. You are not the villain of your own story. You are simply the one who read the rules properly and decided to use them. House TargaryenYou belong to the house that conquered a continent and never quite got over it. Targaryens do not ask for a seat at the table, because in their version of events the table was theirs to begin with, and that certainty is either magnificent or catastrophic depending on the week. You feel things at full volume, and nobody who has ever met a Targaryen has described one as measured. House of the Dragon made the family far more interesting than the original show could, because here the enemy is not some other house. It is the rest of the bloodline. Season 3 landed on HBO in June 2026 and pushed the civil war into the part everybody who read the book has been dreading for years. Your great strength and your great problem are the same thing, which is that you genuinely believe the story was always going to end with you. House TyrellYou belong to Highgarden, where nobody raises their voice and everybody gets exactly what they came for. The Tyrells feed the realm, charm the realm and quietly steer the realm, and they have never once needed to win a battle to get their way. You understand that being liked is a weapon, and you are genuinely better at it than the people who spend their lives trying to be feared. Olenna is the most quietly ruthless character in the entire series, and she does all of it from a chair with a bowl of fruit in front of her. Your house wins by being useful, since a kingdom that cannot eat without you will forgive you almost anything. The risk of being a Tyrell is simple enough. Charm works beautifully on everybody except the one person who has stopped caring what anyone thinks. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 'Sex and the City' (1998–2004) Image via HBO Four best friends—columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), publicist Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), lawyer Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and gallery owner Charlotte York (Kristin Davis)—navigate the highs and lows of dating, friendships, careers, and sex in the bustling world of New York City. It's universally agreed upon that Sex and the City's fun comes from the chemistry between its leads and the sheer variety of disasters they find themselves in. Yes, Carrie may be the protagonist, but Samantha's blunt confidence, Miranda's cynicism, and Charlotte's romantic idealism are what gives the group four very different perspectives on life. Add in the fashion, glamorous New York locations, outrageous one-liners, and sheer openness of conversations, and Sex and the City remains an endlessly iconic show about sisterhood as much as it is a romantic tale. 3 'The Righteous Gemstones' (2019–2025) Image via HBO The Gemstone family is a wealthy and wildly dysfunctional evangelical dynasty led by televangelist Eli Gemstone (John Goodman). But just as the family attempts to expand their empire, various scandals, rivalries, criminals, and schemes threaten to tear the Gemstones apart—especially as Eli's spoiled adult children bask in their lavish lifestyles and desires. Few HBO comedies commit to a joke as completely as The Righteous Gemstones, with every character leaning right into the gloriously obnoxious arrogance of the titular family. Better still, the show has somehow mastered the act of escalation as a petty argument can somehow lead to kidnappings, shootouts, or other criminal conspiracies. Loud, outrageous, and littered with iconic musical numbers, The Righteous Gemstones is a sensory overload. But at least underneath all the religious hypocrisy and greed lies a tale of a complicated family that genuinely loves one another. 2 'Hacks' (2021–2026) Image via HBO As legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) becomes in desperate need of a freshened-up act, she's paired up with young comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), whose career has stalled after a controversial tweet. The two initially have almost nothing in common, but their professional relationship gradually develops into a complicated friendship as they push, frustrate, and occasionally sabotage one another. There's no better core to a comedy than a story of two wildly different personalities slowly realizing that they might actually need each other. Of course, this is perfectly executed thanks to Smart and Einbinder's chemistry, whose constant bickering becomes ridiculously entertaining—especially when it's balanced by pure moments of vulnerability. Laced with ruthless one-liners and hilarious cameos, Hacks has easily become one of the best modern comedies of the last few years. It's sharp without becoming exhausting, and it really knows when to let a joke land through an awkward silence or an absurd situation. 1 'Veep' (2012–2019) Image via HBO As former senator Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) becomes Vice President of the United States, she quickly discovers that occupying one of the most powerful positions in the country doesn't mean she actually gets to make any decisions. Surrounded by a staff of ambitious, insecure, and frequently incompetent political operatives, Selina spends her days navigating rival politicians, public scandals, diplomatic disasters, and her own increasingly desperate attempt to advance her career. Who doesn't love a political comedy—especially when it masterfully highlights how politics is an endless parade of petty grievances, backstabbing, and deeply avoidant individuals. Louis-Dreyfus gives Selina an extraordinary combination of confidence and panic, while the rest of the supporting cast make every conversation feel like it could descend into chaos at any moment. Veep is cynical, fast, relentlessly profane, and packed with enough memorable zingers to make even the most mundane crisis hilarious. Think of this as one of HBO's most timeless shows, especially with it bizarrely starting to emulate our current reality. Veep Release Date 2012 - 2019-00-00 Network HBO Max