'The Sopranos' is often seen as the start of 'prestige television'

HBO is credited for the rise of ‘prestige television’

“Prestige television,” sometimes referred to as “the golden age of TV,” is a critical term for serious, darker, auteur-driven television from the late 1990s through the 2020s. HBO shows are often cited as examples of this style, with “The Sopranos” evolving the style and developing a model for the form.

HBO is known for its adventurous original series

The premium network is known for groundbreaking shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “The Wire,” “Game of Thrones,” Succession,” and more. Unlike traditional broadcast television, HBO shows were not bound by strict time limits, advertising, or FCC regulations, allowing for more creative freedom.

The most critically acclaimed HBO shows

HBO has released a long list of classic TV shows which have come to define the medium. This Rotten Tomatoes chart ranks HBO’s best series based on their aggregated critics’ scores, with classics like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” joining newer hits like “Succession” and “Barry.” Check it out here.

Is streaming the new novel?

Ever since the rise of “prestige television” in the early 2000s, critics and viewers alike have argued that TV has replaced the novel by becoming the most significant storytelling medium, citing the cultural importance of shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Succession.” This essay notes that streaming has strengthened that argument, turning episodes into chapters, and explains why this has been bad for storytelling in both forms.

The greatest HBO performances, ranked

Carrie Bradshaw, Selina Meyer, Tony Soprano: The list of standout HBO characters is endless. The network is known for fantastic writing and even better acting from the likes of Michael K. Williams, Kieran Culkin, Edie Falco, and hundreds of other A-listers. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

‘Oz’ was cable’s first hour-long drama

When the dark prison story debuted in 1997, it was HBO’s only drama and followed a principle that would come to define the network’s shows for decades: “‘I don’t care if they’re likable as long as they’re interesting,’” show creator Tom Fontana told Vice. “That was my mantra.”

'Sex and the City' changed the way single women were portrayed on TV

After debuting in 1998, the comedy ran for six seasons on HBO, offering a frank take on the lives of well-to-do single women. Critics argue the show established a model for other shows to follow, including those that aired on HBO, like "Girls" and "Insecure." (Some users may experience a paywall.)

'House of Cards' was Netflix's first original prestige drama

When Netflix released the David Fincher-directed political drama series "House of Cards," it marked a watershed moment for both the company and the broader entertainment industry, dramatically shifting how audiences consumed televised entertainment.

The best episodes of 'The Simpsons,' ranked

In its almost four decades on the air, "The Simpsons" has played a role in shaping the arc of American comedy. This list from The Ringer ranks the show's episodes that played the biggest role in that process, featuring exemplary scripts from Conan O'Brien, Greg Daniels, and more.

'The Wire' was written by TV outsiders

The landmark HBO crime drama was created and written largely by former Baltimore police reporter David Simon and his creative partner, Ed Burns, a Baltimore police officer and school teacher. Those experiences—and the writers’ relative inexperience with television—led to a show uniquely informed by reality.

Soaps often rely on cliffhangers, along with many other tropes

The shows are written to encourage viewers to tune in for the next episode, so they often withhold resolutions for as long as possible. This has become a recognizable trait, or a trope, for the genre. Much like other narrative genres, soap operas intentionally embrace tropes rather than avoid them.

Soap operas were especially popular in the '70s and '80s

Shows like "As the World Turns" and "Love of Life" attracted tens of millions of viewers and had many high-profile fans, including Andy Warhol, Sammy Davis Jr. and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. This Time cover story from 1976 explores the pop culture phenomenon.

The Tony Awards, explained

Broadway's top honor began in 1947, when the American Theatre Wing created the Tony Awards in memory of Antoinette "Tony" Perry. From scrolls and cigarette lighters to today's iconic medallion, the Tonys have evolved into a nationally televised celebration of Broadway's best.

Get to know the five families that ran the NYC mafia

In the 1900s, there were five families in New York City who dominated the crime scene. These five families organized expansive criminal operations—ranging from prostitution and price extortion to money laundering—and have inspired stories like "The Godfather."

'Mad Men' is loosely based on the wild antics of Madison Avenue employees

The TV show follows the employees of a New York City ad agency as they navigate the debauched culture of Madison Avenue's golden age—and the political and cultural landscape of the 1960s. The hosts explain which episode to watch first if you want to get hooked.

'Serial': The podcast that revived a genre (4 seasons)

"Serial" debuted in 2014, sparking the contemporary fascination with true crime podcast content with a look at the murder of teenager Hae Minh Lee in 1999, and the jailing of Adnan Syed. The Peabody Award-winning season became a pop culture sensation, spawned countless imitators, and was followed by three more seasons on new topics. Listen to all four seasons here.

A former financial crime investigator says Hollywood has done a pretty good job depicting money laundering

A former financial crime investigator says "Narcos" and "Ozark" have pretty realistic scenes, but other well-known financial crime depictions like "The Wolf of Wall Street" are off base. Some of the main inconsistencies include overly dramatic gunfights and unrealistic cash amounts.

The oft-cited roots of the true crime genre

The 1966 book "In Cold Blood" by American author Truman Capote is often considered the beginning of true crime as it's known today. The story details the real-life murders of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas, using techniques that, at the time, were relegated to fictional tales. Before it was a book, the narrative was published by The New Yorker in 1965 as a four-part series. 

'SNL' began as a low-budget replacement for reruns of 'The Tonight Show'

Johnny Carson, host of "The Tonight Show," asked NBC to move his reruns to weeknights instead of weekends. That freed up a weekend slot and the network decided to try a new live show.

The real restaurant behind Netflix's ‘Nonnas’

The Netflix movie "Nonna's" tells the story of a restaurant whose kitchen is staffed by grandmothers. While that might sound like an outlandish premise, it's based on a true story. This Time story goes behind the scenes of Enoteca Maria, the 35-seat restaurant on Staten Island that inspired the film.

Lombardi's was the first documented pizza restaurant in the US

The New York establishment opened in the early 1900s and was a cornerstone of Manhattan's SoHo. At one point, it was open 23 hours a day, allowing laborers of the predominantly Italian-American community to stop by for pies before or after work.

The documentary 'Style Wars' captured graffiti at its height

The film explored the tension between graffiti's innovation and its illegality, following some of its most popular artists, such as Mare 139 and Futura, as well as its detractors, including Mayor Ed Koch. The documentary first appeared on PBS in 1983, introducing the movement to a national audience. You can watch it in its entirety below.

'Sua Vida Me Pertence' was the first telenovela

The Brazilian show debuted in December 1951, kickstarting the genre in Latin America. Today, the form exists worldwide and is increasingly popular in Asia and the United States.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Steven Spielberg’s movies have a unique style

Despite their distinct genres, Spielberg films often have much in common with one another. For example, supernatural phenomena, middle-class values, and camera techniques—including long, uninterrupted shots and a dolly-zoom method called the "Spielberg Face.”

A television show helped popularize sushi in the US in the 1980s

"Shogun," a miniseries released in 1980, followed a British sailor's journey through 17th-century Japan. Nearly a third of American households watched its five installments, and it was used as an instructional text in classrooms throughout the '80s, inspiring a wave of American interest in Japanese culture, including sushi.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution