HBO Series Popularity Contest

Based on the fair success of my poll and my previous contest on Comic Vine I decided to test the waters on Giant Bomb with a popularity contest about the best television channel on the planet HBO. I've tried to pick all of the major series from HBO's storied history as well as a few lesser known ones which should get some recognition as well. I just want to state here in the OP that is an HBO SERIES contest and will not include their sports programming or Miniseries (apologies to fans of Band of Bros/Pacific/John Adams etc.). Hopefully this can be a bit of fun and people can discuss some of their favourite shows. Starting out votes will be first to 10 and I may up it for later rounds. I hope you all enjoy :D

PS: (I randomly choose the match ups so there will be no shenanigans)

ROUND 1: Match 1-

Six Feet Under

Versus Luck

I choose Luck despite not having watched it because i hated SFU.

I choose luck because I could not stand Six Feet Under. I just watched SFU and I hated the fact that the show tried to manipulate the characters every episode. One episode you hate the mother because she is acting completely unreasonable, then two episodes later she has an arc that seems like they are trying to make you care for her, then two episodes later she does something that is completely out of character. That happened to every single character on the show and that manipulation just made the show seem repetitive after a while.

Wow cool old school concept man with a text vote so we have to discuss it a bit. I think there was a similar poll recently where Game of Thrones won. I hope The Wire wins this since I love that shit man, but most people here probably hasn't seen it and will go with Game of Thrones instead, which is not a bad show also.

The Wire

I choose Luck in respect to all the horsies that got injured/died in that show

Just out of curiosity, are you going to include comedies such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Larry Sanders Show or Mr. Show? Are you going to pit them against the dramas or will they have their own tourney?

@penguindust: it's dramas and comedies all rolled into one including the ones you listed. So far we have.....

Luck leading 3-0

You're counting the person who hasn't watched Luck? Fine, my answer is Six Feet Under, even though I haven't watched Luck.

Why is your poll not a poll?

And... why are you comparing two completely different shows? Comparing, say, two sci-fi movies where an alien creature attacks a spaceship is something you can discuss. Pitting two random unrelated things against each other is just pointless.

There's no "winner" when they're not even playing the same game.

(also, this should really be in Off-Topic)

Six Feet Under

I really liked the series Hung. I watched every episode hoping to see Thomas Jane's dong.

Forcing people to type out their answer encourages discussion

According to this, you're also fundamentally against GotY lists yes?

Haven't seen either, sorry.

Six Feet Under.

I've seen a few episodes of both shows, and while I didn't enjoy either, I thought Six Feet Under was the better of the two.

Luck was just meh. Six Feet Under at least had a morbid sense of humour.

No. I really love GotY lists. Every year when Giant Bomb puts up ones from friends of the site and other randos I invariably find myself pushed to check out some game I wouldn't have on my own. Also, it's completely valid for anyone to say "I liked this better than that for X reason", so ranking things is fine too.

However, arguing over someone's GotY is something I'm fundamentally against. Especially in games where the experience is so diverse. Which is better, Gone Home or GTA V? The answer is... neither! because they're utterly incomparable and they were trying to accomplish different goals. And more importantly, you can't debate someone's opinion in an arbitrary comparison.

I don't wanna sound like a jaded dick stifling others' conversation, but this type of "comparison" just separates people in camps of us vs. them and promotes arguing, which the internet has enough of already.

Six Feet Under was spectacular. The last episode was easily the best finale of all time, by my reckoning. I occasionally tear up a little bit watching movies or TV, but the Six Feet Under finale is certainly the only time television has ever made me truly cry.

Also Would just like to state that I most certainly was correct in thinking that this contest would catch more flak here on GB than Comic Vine. Good to see that my prediction regarding some GB users curmudgeonlyness was accurate. This contest is meant to be a bit of fun and discuss favourite shows. Yeesh. In on-topic news (I realized this should be in Off-topic the moment I posted) I vote for SFU my gf and I marathoned the entire show the first summer we lived together and the Fishers still have IMO the best family drama of any show I have ever seen. Oh and that finale, unlikely any show will ever top that just wow.

5-3 Six Feet Under

Hmm I always wanted to watch Six Feet Under, never got around to it. Unfortunately I haven't seen either of these.

Cool idea but I will have to come back when you get around to shows like The Sopranos, Oz, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Band of Brothers, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm (just a note for myself as a reminder of which HBO series' I have seen).

Six Feet Under for all sorts of reasons. Greatest ending of a TV show that I've ever seen.

The only thing I can remember with Luck were all the news stories of how their horses always had horrible accidents. F that.

Hmm I have watched both, and enjoyed both, but it is kind of a weird one because of Luck's short lived run. It was a fantastic series with some truly mesmerizing dialogue. I often re-watched scenes just to listen to a conversation a second time. The writing was fantastic. All that gambling mumbo jumbo... great stuff. I was really disappointed that it finished early, but what can ya do.

Six Feet Under slowed down a lot in the later seasons, the first two were fantastic but after that I got slightly bored but stuck it out anyway. For a series about a family who owns and operates a funeral home, it was rarely morbid and often very, very funny (The mother off her tits on ecstasy was brilliant).

Hmmm....... I think I have to go with Six Feet Under, for its fantastic performances and really memorable moments. Luck was great, but it was kind of... bleak. It certainly made me never want to get addicted to gambling. Fuck. That.

Six Feet Under it is!!!

@splodge: ah cool someone with a decisive opinion on Luck! I was pretty interested in checking in out before it got cut off before it could really get going. With what you said about it makes me think it might still be worth seeing even though the entire story is cut off.

7-3 Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under is incredible

SFU by a mile... Luck had potential but was aimless and somewhat convoluted.

9-3 Six Feet Under. One more FTW

Six Feet Under. Great acting, interesting characters, and always had a great intro scene with a random death often scaring me away from doing many mundane tasks for fear of dying in a similar ridiculous manner. Watch out for fire pokers!

@korosuzo: @assumedkilla: @spraynardtatum: @splodge: @phrosen: @twisted: @chrissedoff: @oldirtybearon: @misogynist_the_klown: @morningstar: @starvinggamer: @agnosticjesus: @uniform: @ezekiel: @penguindust: @optix12: @flacracker: @grissefar: @monetarydread: @fancysoapsman: Six Feet Under goes on to the next round. Next up we have......

The Newsroom

Versus Extras

Only watched The Newsroom out of those 2, and it was quite good, so I pick that.

Newsroom by a country fucking mile. While I understand some people dislike its overly optimistic slant and its political ideology, I can't help but feel good about it. The characters aren't the most in-depth in fiction, but they're serviceable facsimiles of people (which is, really, what fictional characters are). So much of fiction, and indeed television in particular, is about how terrible people are and how interesting the minutia of their crippling flaws are. It's rare that a show (especially for HBO) gets on the air that is just people trying to be good people. I also appreciate the snappy dialogue. It's pretty damn snappy.

You're kind of picking shows that aren't really comparable to one another..

I have only watched the first season of "The Newsroom," and I thought it seemed a little preachy for my tastes. Almost every episoded had this ulterior motive of showing how important the news is. The writers made mostly trivial matters seem like they were life and death situations, and they seemed to shove their anti-corporate viewpoints into every episode.

Extras on the other hand, was just funny. I am normally not a fan of humour that is based on people being put into awkward situations, but this show seemed to make it work for me. The cameos were well placed, and the show did not seem to take itself too seriously.

TL:DR - My vote is for Extras.

@razielcuts: it's done at random, just a popularity contest so which one do you personally like more. I could love say the sopranos but still enjoy an HBO comedy more even though it might be less complex. It's not meant to be an in depth comparison between 2 shows just hey I like that one more.

2-1 Newsroom

Make polls with this stuff but I wouldn't vote cause I've seen neither. Seen very few HBO shows in my time, trying to catch up.

Hmmm very different shows. Gotta go with the newsroom. Can't beat Aaron Sorkin.

Extras was a good show. The Newsroom is freaking terrible. It was a bad idea for Sorkin to write the whole show all by himself, because every ten minutes a character will give an out-of-character, Sorkin-esque monolog, and it is so obnoxious.

3-2 Newsroom. This one is closer than I thought.

Lets just cut to the end and all agree that Game of Thrones is the winner.

I'd give it to The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under or Rome before I gave it to Game of Thrones. I've seen few of the other shows, so I won't be able to choose between most of the matches, but Extras was pretty good.

@ezekiel: so can I put you down for Extras then??

@misogynist_the_klown: wow not a chance. fabulous show (and maybe popular) but it would have to finish before I place it with the true HBO greats of Oz, Six Feet Under, The Wire and The Sopranos.

@d_bones: Yes, I liked it. No, I haven't seen The Newsroom. No. Yes. No.

Extras. I loved the Kate Winslet and David Bowie episodes.

I pick Deadwood, no other HBO show comes even CLOSE:

4-3 Extras

(also just so this is clear vote on the 2 shows competing not your favourite overall, that will be decided through matchups).

@grixxel said:

I pick Deadwood, no other HBO show comes even CLOSE:

I concur. Best. Ever.

OMG EXTRAS for sure. As a liberal, Newsrooms constant pandering bullshit and 20/20 hindsight are fucking infuriating.

5-3 Extras