10 Perfect HBO Shows That Get Better With Every Rewatch
Image via HBO
Published Jun 5, 2026, 12:08 AM EDT
Christine is a freelance writer for Collider with two decades of experience covering all types of TV shows and movies spanning every genre. With a particular affinity for dramas, true crime, sitcoms, and thrillers, if it's a top TV show, Christine has likely watched it and is eager to share her thoughts. When she's not furiously writing away, you can find her enjoying the next binge obsession with a glass of wine in front of the TV.
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I'm one of those people who rarely rewatches a show. Once I watch it and have enjoyed it, I'm done. Maybe I'll rewatch a show decades later, like Beverly Hills, 90210, to recall pivotal moments I completely forgot about. There's so much great TV and so little time that you likely want to use your time to see new shows anyway. This means that when someone watches a show a second time, it's a good indication that the series is absolutely perfect and worth the investment in time.
HBO has shows you want to watch once and bank in your memory, but also ones with great rewatch value. These series, which date all the way back to the origins of HBO as a provider of quality TV, changed the game for television and entertain throughout every episode of every season.
'The Righteous Gemstones' (2019–2025)
Image via HBORecently ending after its fourth and final season, The Righteous Gemstones is more relevant than ever with its themes of religion, corruption, and family dysfunction. The crime comedy drama follows the Gemstone family of televangelists who spread the word of God. But what their church seems to worship is the almighty dollar: they are living large thanks to the kindness of their parishioners.
The Righteous Gemstones is so funny, so quirky, with engaging characters played by talented actors that it's worth rewatching to enjoy the laughs a second time around. What's so wonderful about rewatching The Righteous Gemstones is that you can witness the show get better and better, going from a 76% Rotten Tomatoes critics score in Season 1 to perfect scores for its third and fourth seasons.
'Sex and the City' (1998–2004)
Image via HBOThe preeminent female-led romantic comedy drama, and the show that put HBO on the map even before The Sopranos arrived, Sex and the City is definitive viewing for any woman in her 30s, 40s, even older. It's an expression of the challenges of being mature, single, honing your career, and looking for love. Of course, it's also a fashion show every episode as the ladies at the center, notably Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), wear elaborate outfits and drool-worthy shoes they pull from their insanely enviable walk-in closets.
A show about friendship, fashion, love, dating, careers, and life's challenges from the female perspective, Sex and the City defined a generation. If you watched it when you were too young to really understand and relate to the women and their situations, it's a great show to re-watch once you're older and wiser. If you don't want to re-watch the entire thing, you can also just catch the essential episodes.
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (1999–2024)
Image via HBOMuch like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm is the type of show where you can catch any episode at any time and enjoy it without worrying about continuity of the story. The Larry David mockumentary style comedy is, similarly to Seinfeld, about the mundane doings of daily life. Each episode follows David as a fictionalized version of himself involved in situations that showcase his grumpiness or disdain for those who feign enthusiasm or social interactions.
Featuring a long list of guest stars playing exaggerated versions of themselves, Curb Your Enthusiasm earned 55 Emmy nominations throughout its run, a testament to the witty writing and great acting. It's a show you don't necessarily need to sit down and watch all 12 seasons back-to-back, but can toss on an episode here and there when you need a good laugh.
'Six Feet Under' (2001–2005)
Image via HBOWidely considered to be one of the best shows ever on television with the most satisfying ending, Six Feet Under follows a family that runs the Fisher & Sons funeral home. It includes the challenges they deal with in daily life, alongside the difficult nature of a job helping people through their saddest times.
The drama, which aired for five seasons, has an incredible cast that includes Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Frances Conroy, and Lauren Ambrose. Each episode dives into the complex, existential topics of life and death. But it's also a standard family drama tackling tough topics beyond death, like sexuality, religion, and familial dysfunction. Death is at the center, but it's also used as a vehicle in each episode to shed light on reflections of life.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'Veep' (2012–2019)
Image via HBOAs we deal with a challenging political landscape, a show like Veep is worth a rewatch to enjoy a little political satire, even if some of the storylines might hit a little too close to home today. Earning Julia Louis-Dreyfus a record six consecutive Emmy wins, she plays Selina Meyer, the fictional Vice President of the United States who wants to make her mark but keeps getting entangled in ridiculous political games.
Politics has become frightening and worrisome, so a show like Veep is a great rewatch to lighten the mood and explore the inner workings of politics, even if the stories in this show come from a place of satire. The show comes into its own through each season, a satisfying watch all the way through.
'Silicon Valley' (2014–2019)
Image via HBOWe live in a world led by technology, and Silicon Valley humorously pokes fun at the inner workings of this space from the biggest hub in the world where start-ups go to get their ideas off the ground. The comedy begins with programmer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), who develops a game-changing program. But when he leaves his conglomerate company to try and develop it as a start-up, he realizes the game of tech is not an easy one to win with so many dominant players looking to crush you.
The series, one of the funniest HBO shows of all time, features characters who are clear parodies of real-life figures, from Peter Thiel to Mark Zuckerberg, as well as companies like Google, Facebook, and Uber. Every person and company is an exaggeration, but you can't help but wonder how far an exaggeration they might be. The series, which also stars Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Jimmy O. Yang, and Zach Woods, will have you in stitches.
'Entourage' (2004–2011)
Image via HBOCelebrity culture persists and is even more in the spotlight today thanks to social media. Entourage is an early 2000s satirical comedy drama that provides a glimpse into the life of a young man who suddenly catapults to fame, and how he and his pre-fame friends deal with this massive life change. The series is executive produced in part by Mark Wahlberg and is loosely based on his own life, career, and rise to fame.
Told across eight seasons, Entourage has so many guest stars playing themselves and a relatable story about being in the public eye. It's about experiencing fame at a young age when you don't really know what to do with all the money, attention, and influence. Most notably, the show follows newly famous actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his insistence on keeping his hometown friends close, which seems to lead to a never-ending frat party. Jeremy Piven is a stand-out as Vinny's arrogant and stereotypical agent Ari Gold.
'Da Ali G Show' (2000–2004)
Image via HBOGoing way back, Da Ali G Show originally premiered on Channel 4 in the UK and moved to HBO for its second and third seasons in the U.S. Sacha Baron Cohen's beloved characters like Borat and Brüno gained widespread attention with his later movies. But it's in this satirical sketch comedy series that they first appeared, along with his interviewer persona, Ali G.
In each episode, one of these three characters interviews a celebrity or known person, including important government officials. But they don't realize he's in costume and putting on an act. He asks them ridiculous questions and makes inappropriate comments, much like in the movies. There are some memorably hilarious moments throughout the three seasons, like when he interviews David and Victoria Beckham and asks the latter if their child wants to be a soccer player like their dad or a singer like Mariah Carey (they both took the moment in stride). With more than 20 years having passed since the show ended, it's a fun one to check out again.
'The Comeback' (2005–2026)
Image via HBOThe Comeback has fittingly had its own comeback, recently returning for a third season more than a decade after Season 2. It's for this reason that re-watching the first two seasons, which themselves had almost a decade between them, is worthwhile. The mockumentary satirical sitcom stars Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish, a sitcom actor trying to get a TV pilot off the ground. Shot in found footage style, Valerie works with reality TV producer Andy Cohen, who plays himself, to create content that she hopes will help get her concept sold.
Praised for its writing, acting, and story, The Comeback is a peek behind the curtain of the TV business from an actor who knows a thing or two about being a sitcom icon. The series also covers the topic of aging in Hollywood and struggling to find meaningful roles in an industry that values youth above all else.
'Succession' (2018–2023)
After watching Dynasty: The Murdochs on Netflix, I recognize just how closely Succession, a satirical black comedy drama about the Roy family and their media conglomerate, mirrors stories from that real-life media family. It's enough to make me want to re-watch the brilliant series. The story follows Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the patriarch and head of the company, as he goes through the grueling process of trying to figure out who should take over once he retires.
Ideally, Logan would keep things in the family. But which of his arrogant, spoiled grown children is capable of taking over? Logan isn't so sure any of them are, despite each one pleading their case and believing they have earned the position and can do the job. The story of a fractured family, shady business practices, and backroom deals of manipulation and betrayal, Succession is engaging throughout with memorable scenes that highlight the absurdity of society's one-percenters.
Succession
Release Date 2018 - 2023
Network HBO Max
Showrunner Jesse Armstrong
Directors Mark Mylod
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