The 10 Best HBO Original Comedy Shows, Ranked

Published Oct 22, 2026, 10:22 PM EDT

Jeffrey Speicher is a Senior Features Writer and List Writer for Collider. He is a screenwriter for film and television, with a passion for science fiction and psychological drama. He lives in Dallas, Texas, but can't stand the Cowboys and now the Mavericks since they traded Luka Dončić. His crime novel, The Snitch, is available on Amazon. Just let him sit and watch a Texas Rangers baseball game without distraction occasionally, and he's good.

Sign in to your Collider account

HBO has long been the gold standard for original programming. Whether it was as a cable outlet back in the 1990s and 2000s or the streaming station of the 2010s and today, audiences have looked to HBO to raise the bar for both dramatic series and comedic shows. Some performers have carved out entire careers by allying with the streamer. Take Danny McBride, for instance. He has partnered with HBO for a trio of shows that all appear in our top ten list. Vice Principals, The Righteous Gemstones, and Eastbound & Down have largely defined his powerhouse career in comedy. He has been excellent in movies as well, but he is well known for his HBO comedy series.

HBO started delivering original comedies back in the 1980s with shows like 1st and 10 starring Delta Burke. The momentum continued into the 90s with the late great comedian Gary Shandling lifting the curtain on late-night talk shows with The Larry Sanders Show. Over the last twenty years, the laughs have just kept on rolling with Larry David carrying the torch from Shandling through Curb Your Enthusiasm. Television and movie royalty like Julia Lousie Dreyfuss, Danny McBride, Jean Smart, and John Goodman have all found another level of success by starring in HBO original comedies. Here are the ten best.

10 'Vice Principals' (2017–2018)

Image via HBO

Danny McBride makes his first appearance on our list and his first of two hilarious collaborations with Walton Goggins on Vice Principals. These two also appear together in The Righteous Gemstones, but paired off first in 2017 to play two school administrators who are vying for the same promotion to Principal. With only two full seasons, it feels like there was so much more TV goodness to be tapped here, but at least we got a handful of episodes.

What more can you say about the chemistry between McBride and Goggins than what they have already delivered on the screen? McBride has his misguided polecat swagger in full effect here, while Goggins is terrific as a mild-mannered but crafty foil who will do almost anything to undermine his arch-nemesis. Together they are the ideal nincompoops who may look like full-grown men on the outside but have the mentality and maturity of the students they are supposed to be supervising.

9 'Entourage' (2004–2011)

Image via HBO

What is it like to be a planet in the orbit of the sun that is a big Hollywood star? HBO tackled this question with a laugh-out-loud take on the Entourage dynamic in show business. Drama (Kevin Dillon), Eric "E" Murphy (Kevin Connolly), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) all jockeyed to find the sweet spot on the coattail of rising movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) while also trying to put together their own careers in Tinseltown. Jeremy Piven has never been better than the narcissistic but dedicated agent Ari Gold working to get Vince the hottest and biggest starring roles. The show is based on the real-life experience of megastar Mark Wahlberg.

There were so many characters and such a dynamic maelstrom of relationships between this circle of friends and Ari. Each of them occupied just the right amount of space and contributed just enough to make Entourage a must-watch, appointment viewing every week in the 2000s. The show was so revered and well-received that a full-length film was made in 2015 with brand-new escapades for Vince and his pals.

8 'Barry' (2018–2023)

Bill Hader knocks it out of the park as Barry, a former marine with PTSD who tries to balance his career as a hitman with a quixotic desire to become a Hollywood actor. What could possibly go wrong? Barry is one of the most innovative and fresh ideas for a television show ever, and Hader leads a stellar cast that includes Emmy-worthy performances from both Henry Winkler as washed-out acting coach Gene Cousineau, Stephen Root as Barry's relentless handler Monroe Fuches, and Anthony Carrigan as the driven but clueless gangster NoHo-Hank.

The way that Hader and fellow creator/producer Alec Berg establish the two separate worlds of their titular lead is a glorious piece of TV. The dichotomy plays out beautifully over the first several seasons of Barry before eventually dovetailing together and providing for some of the funniest and most dramatic moments within only a thirty-minute episode. Hader has come a long way from his SNL days and his breakout recurring character Stephan.

7 'The Larry Sanders Show' (1992–1997)

Image via HBO

"Heyyyy Nowww!!!" It's Garry Shandling as Larry Sanders in what was an important comedy win for HBO. The Larry Sanders Show is the only comedy from the decade of the 90s on this list and propelled the streamer as the preeminent carrier of original programming. The behind-the-scenes look at what went on before, during, and after, you catch your favorite late-night TV show was spot-on, but ridiculous enough to leave a lasting impression and a worthy top-five entry on this list.

The chemistry between Shandling and Rip Torn as show producer Artie and Jeffrey Tambor as not-so-subtle Ed McMahon knockoff Hank Kingsley was not only dynamic entertainment but a bridge into the twenty-first century for a new style of hour-long HBO comedies. And it was a veritable who's who for guest stars and cameos each week who played along with the antics of the grind that is putting daily talk show together.

6 'The Righteous Gemstones' (2019–2025)

Image via HBO

Across its four-season run, The Righteous Gemstones showcased Danny McBride at the peak of his powers as both a comedic performer and a creator with a distinctive vision. In his third collaboration with the streamer, he is a writer and executive producer of a story about a horribly dysfunctional family of televangelists. As the eldest of three, Jesse rules the roost as he tries to pry power away from his father, Eli Gemstone (John Goodman).

The ensemble of the comedy show is exceptional, with McBride, Goodman, Edi Patterson, Walton Goggins, and Adam DeVine. All have terrific comedic chops and their timing is top-notch. McBride's third major HBO comedy ultimately became one of his most ambitious projects, ending after four seasons while further cementing his partnership with the network.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek

Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.

⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)

💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)

⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)

🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)

FIND YOUR PEOPLE →

01

What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.

AThe same thing I have watched a hundred times. BSomething long, slow and beautiful. CSomething big and loud with a great score. DOne clever episode of something hopeful.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.

AI know every character and all the gossip. BI have read the appendices and studied the maps. CI have a ranked opinion on every instalment. DI want to know how the world actually works.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.

AWhich one of us is which type. BWhether the adaptation got it right. CWhether the new stuff ruined the old stuff. DWhether the right thing was actually done.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.

AGreat, and I will know everybody by the end. BFine, as long as they take it seriously. CBrilliant, especially if there is something to dress up for. DHappy, provided the conversation is interesting.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.

AAn old castle somewhere rainy. BMountains, long walks, no phone signal. CA desert with an unbelievable night sky. DA city built around a university.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.

AMost of them turn out better than expected. BThe smallest ones decide the biggest things. CAnybody can change, even very late on. DWe work it out if we keep talking.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.

AEverything I owned when I was twelve. BHardbacks, in order, read more than once. CFigures, posters, and a few things still boxed. DBooks about how things work, plus a model or two.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.

AA place I can go back to whenever I need it. BA world complete enough to get lost in. CSomething huge I can share with everybody. DAn idea that changes how I think.

REVEAL MY FANDOM →

Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…

Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.

Harry Potter

You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.

• You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
• This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
• The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
• The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.

Lord of the Rings

You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.

• You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
• This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
• Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
• Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.

Star Wars

You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.

• You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
• Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
• The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
• You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.

Star Trek

You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.

• You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
• The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
• Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
• You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

5 'Eastbound & Down' (2015–2018)

Image via HBO

Here is a case study of what happens to our favorite athletes when they start believing their own headlines and lose focus on what they are doing on the field. Danny McBride is larger than life as Kenny Powers, a professional baseball player who flames out of a gold-paved road to millions of bucks and superstardom as an athlete because he just can't get right mentally. Eastbound & Down is McBride's second of three entries on this list. He has used the HBO platform perhaps more than anyone to take his career to an elite level.

Powers is the brash and irreverent precursor to McBride's take on Jesse Gemstone in The Righteous Gemstones. He is obviously at his best when he can just riff and write his own dialogue like he does in Eastbound & Down. Born in Statesboro, Georgia, McBride is a natural fit for the Southern-set show, which dissects the hilarious downfall of a narcissistic and self-centered professional athlete. Katy Mixon is terrific in a supporting role as well.

4 'Hacks' (2021–2026)

Image via Max

Jean Smart is one of the best actresses working today. She cut her teeth on roles in sitcoms like Designing Women in the 80s and 90s and has had a memorable turn in another HBO drama, Mare of Easttown in 2021. She has an uncanny ability to do both funny and drama, unlike any other female performer. In Hacks, she taps into that funny bone and delivers the character of washed-up Las Vegas comic Deborah Vance. Her relationship/mentorship with co-star Hannah Embinder as Ava Daniels is brilliant.

What separates Smart from the rest of the pack in not only Hacks, but Hollywood, in general, is her knack for delivering performances that have both an element of elegance and class with a touch of crass. It's not an easy recipe to duplicate and Smart is one of the elite players who has been turning in stellar parts for over 45 years. Smart's acclaimed performance across the show's five-season run further cemented Deborah Vance as one of the defining comedy characters of the streaming era.

3 'Veep' (2012–2018)

Image via HBO

It makes sense that two of the top three entries on the list would originate from Seinfeld graduates. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is as talented a comedic actress as has ever lived on the level of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. She's got enough awards to back this claim up with more Emmy statuettes than she can carry. Veep was a triumph for her on the heels of a third criminally underrated comedy sitcom called The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Veep feels more like an HBO docuseries than the absurd sidesplitting comedy that it is. With all the nonsense and inability of the politicians in Washington D.C. these days, Vice President Selina Meyer and her flying circus of a staff were a brilliant send-up of some of the most incompetent people in the United States. Tony Hale is stellar as the blindly loyal personal assistant Gary Walsh, who is at the beck and call of the Veep. Anna Chlumsky and Matt Walsh deliver standout performances on top of the comedy jewel that is Dreyfuss.

2 'Silicon Valley' (2014–2020)

Image via HBO

HBO looked at the technology revolution taking place in the Bay Area of California to find six seasons of hilarious hijinks from a group of computer savants in Silicon Valley. Together they were the perfect storm of wringing every last laugh from the real-life story of the quest to create the latest and hottest app. From creating brilliant algorithms to trying like hell to monetize their ideas, the cast of Silicon Valley never seemed to be able to get out of their own way.

The best part of Silicon Valley is watching these geniuses played by Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, and stoner T.J. Miller (okay maybe he was not a M.E.N.S.A. member) and their unyielding desire to be the valley's new I.T. "it" stars. If only their social skills were on par with their I.Q.s, all those meetings with the venture capitalists would have gone much smoother. Nonetheless, maybe being that smart makes it impossible to have the accompanying sophistication necessary to make it in Silicon Valley.

1 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (2000–2024)

Image via HBO

We're "prettayy, prettayy, prettayy" confident with the masterpiece by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David taking the top spot on the list. Curb Your Enthusiasm proved that David was indeed a comedic genius if there were any doubts following Seinfeld. The show proved to be more than a worthy successor to the seminal '90s sitcom, ultimately concluding in 2024 after 12 seasons and more than two decades of meticulously engineered social disasters.

Do we enjoy Curb Your Enthusiasm so much because viewers can watch it and feel pretty confident that they are not the most neurotic, miserable person in the world? Not since Archie Bunker have we seen a dyspeptic misanthrope on the level of Larry David. Everything he touches turns to poop, and we love watching him fall flat on his face over and over again. By the time Curb Your Enthusiasm ended, David had turned his uniquely neurotic comic persona into the foundation of one of HBO's longest-running and most influential comedies.

Curb Your Enthusiasm