Best content creator - no longer HBO?

ixoy

Coming off another thread, I don't think HBO is the big player in drama quality that it once was and wondering what network / content provider right now (so in other words, no 'Mad Men', 'The Wire', etc need apply as they're done and dusted).

HBO has two top tier shows currently - 'Game of Thrones' is highly entertaining, very popular but I'm not convinced it's top-tier quality. Their other drama 'Westworld' had a strong first season so it's promising. Outside of that, none of their ongoing series seem to be making an impact.

On the Netflix side, I'd broadly agree that on the drama side they're making a lot of decent shows, but few stellar ones. In the shorter format though I think they're doing some very strong stuff, particularly with the likes of 'BoJack Horeseman' or the crazy 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' that rivals any of the comedy / comedy-dramas from any other network.

Other networks/platofrms have some good output too but for sheer quality in drama, I think FX are ruling the roost with 'The Americans', 'Fargo' and 'Legion' (and the comedy output with "You're the Worst", 'Archer' and 'Atlanta' is very strong too). They're the ones who, as a percentage, I believe I'm watching the greatest number of shows and whose projects I'm more curious about.

Anyone else have thoughts on what network is *currently* providing the best output?

xalot

These are my favourites for the last decade:

AMC brought us Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mad Men and Walking dead. So that's pretty impressive.

Showtime brought us The Affair, Episodes, Masters of Sex, and Shameless. The first seasons of Homeland and Dexter were fantastic but subsequent seasons disappointed.

Honourable mentions for Sundance for Rectify and Top of the Lake (season 1) - though I think the latter is produced by BBC and just distributed by Sundance.

I'd agree with you about FX.

TerrorFirmer

I still think HBO productions themselves are unrivaled in scale and quality, though I would agree in a broad sense they're not the king of content they once were.

FX (Dexter, The Americans, Fargo, etc), AMC (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Hell on Wheels, Preacher, The/Fear The Walking Dead, etc) Starz (Black Sails, Power, Spartacus, etc), Netflix (Ozark, 13 Reasons Why, Bloodline, etc) have all brought us some excellent shows and continue to do so, but I still feel nothing tops some of the grander HBO productions - Westworld, Game of Thrones, Leftovers, Boardwalk Empire to name more recent ones.

Agent Coulson

Hulu is now in the game as well making maybe the best of the lot with The Handmaid's Tale which became the first drama from a streaming site to win the Best Drama Emmy.

It also has had some good attempts with Deadbeat, Quick Draw, 11.22.63, The Path, Casual, Chance, Difficult People, Shut Eye & Harlots.

With Marvel's Runaways, Stephen King's Castle Rock & Locke & Key to come they are quietly catching up with the other big players.

Unearthly

I haven't tried anything from Hulu yet. Amazon i have watched a few shows and they are fairly average stuff.

I'd go for HBO, Netflix and FX in that order.

Showtime milk their shows for too long and good shows end up turning poor.

Darkhorse is HBO owned channel Cinemax who had shows like Banshee, Quarry, Outcast and the knick in recent times.

TerrorFirmer

Banshee and Quarry were top notch - up there with the best of them. I suppose that's why it's so hard to try and pick one champion network - these days every network has something spectacular to talk about.

I had never even heard of Direct TV before I watched 'Kingdom' for example, one of the best TV shows I've seen in the past few years.

Can't even remember the name of the network that made 'Dusk Till Dawn', another great show as well. It's amazing how far TV has come along in the past 10-15 years though. Even minor networks are churning out cinematic quality TV these days.

S.M.B.

HBO are still top dogs as far as I'm concerned. If I was in the states and I had the option of subscribing to HBO, Netflix or any other content creator I know which one I'd be choosing.

In recent years other traditional and online online platforms have been catching up but their produce has yet to earn the respect and attention that I give to any HBO production.

Netflix has created some cracking content as of late but it's not as focused as HBO. So while it's great to have Master of None, Stranger Things, OITNB, House of Cards etc. there's also a host of material that's not targeted at me. The same goes for their feature length content. Same applies to the other content creators although FX and AMC are doing a slightly better job of creating a premium brand.

On the other hand I've a good idea what I'm going to get with a HBO production and while I may not be the biggest fan of everything they've done/do, I know it's worth giving it a try.

Looking forward to getting stuck into The Deuce, the forthcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and catching up on Room 104.

The Black Oil

Not being into GoT I don't know if there's another HBO show that has a foothold in the wider public imagination. It's hard to tell due to peak TV, and outside of this forum I don't know much about what people are into.

HBO aren't a cut above the rest, imo. FX I'd say are on a par tonally, hiring the right the creators, etc, etc. Netflix are lower because well, lack of quality control, character development and so called Netflix bloat - too many episodes, though there are rare exceptions to this.

Tim Goodman hit the nail on the head in a THR piece (mostly about Amazon, but relevant) recently.

Netflix is in the volume business. HBO and FX are in the prestige business. Hulu is a combination of shows you missed last night and ambitious originals.

ixoy

Netflix do state they're in the business of trying to get something-for-everyone. So yes their percentage of crap is going to be a lot higher than HBO would have and it might drag down the average quality of their products.

However, I do still feel that the top-tier end of the likes of FX match up with anything HBO are currently producing. In fact I'm currently watching "Mindhunter" and this is the first Netflix drama that I'd feel is top-tier quality. The recent season of "BoJack Horseman" confirms to me that it's also capable of top-tier comedy/drama in the shorter form.

I would like to see Netflix maybe attempt more in the mini series space. They dilute their quality a little by having seasons too long or not even needing multiple seasons ("13 Reasons Why" being a strong example). Showtime are very bad for this too. HBO not so much (although "True Blood" is a glaring example of how they can do this too).

Cina

I'm currently watching The Deuce and I can safely say no other network would be able to put out something that looks so good and authentic. HBO may not match the quantity of Netflix or FX but they are still unrivaled in quality imo.

TonyD79

HBO are also looking at a Watchman tv series and possibly a couple of GOT spin offs. As for the original poster not sure what classifies as top quality when you don't put GOT in that bracket

Yamanoto

xalot wrote: »

AMC brought us Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mad Men and Walking dead. So that's pretty impressive.

...with one glaring exception. :pac: