HBO (Home Box Office)

I am giving it 3 stars, because you can't get HBO here in Canada, which bites!

Update:

We now have HBO here in Canada, minus the movies, which is total bull crap, if you ask me.

You can still find some good movies on HBO, but this changed over the last years (in the past, they used to show some really good movies even before these movies reached the 1 year mile).
Their original productions are still of good quality.
They have too many reruns of some pretty bad movies.

I am 55 years old as this will color my opinion.

HBO opinion. 2009

Has important and creative programming. It is commercial free! That's 1 star,of three.
the rest is 2 stars(meaning endless rerunning of the same movies month after month.
Maybe thats a sign i watch too much tv.

Also the goood news is I pay $5 a month. As long as it lasts I can wait for newer movies to arrive!!

Sadly, I remmember real new movies that were less than a year old on HBO. Well thats over 20 years ago.
Riccardo

PS; Remember the entertainment industry is verrrry uppsset! that consumers have dvrs. they just cry everyday over the lost revenue!
Remember when it became a crime to download mp3s as music??

The only HBO series I've seen is Rome which was co-produced with the BBC (we don't have HBO over here in the UK, just some of the series from it). If the channel in general is as good as Rome then I'd say it's a pretty good channel. Not sure how much I'd watch on there though given the opportunity as I'm sure there would be quite a variety of genres, some which I'd have no interest in. In terms of quality, I'd say it's good though (will watch another HBO series, True Blood, next week so may have a better picture of what the channel is like then)

Expensive and dull.  I don't even watch it when they have the free trials.

They get a 4 because they have some great series, Soprano's and Rome to name a couple.

show the same movie OVER & OVER

great.

HBO is cool !!

Haven't watched it in years, costs too much!

great movie channel

The absolute best.Sopranos,OZ,Sex and the City,I could go on forever.

can't rate it either way.

tehaha

too much smut

HBO lost me when they dumped The Sopranos. I've never had anything for HBO before or after they dumped them.

Dont have it

I used to like HBO but they don't have enough original series anymore and leave you hanging for more than a year for return shows . It is a waste of money until they start getting creative again.

I don't watch much on TV other than hoops, movies on demand, MTV, and HBO.  I'm not proud of the MTV part.  But back to HBO, for whatever the reason, they seem to be able to make better shows than everybody else.  The Wire, FOTC, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Rome, The Soprano's - a bunch of my favorite shows from the past few years have been HBO creations.  It's a pretty impressive channel.

They have been around longer than some cable channels but as far as what they call "premium" channels they are overrated and overpriced.  You can get the Star package with more channels and better selection for the same cost.  I do watch HBO and Cinemax on their free weekends because that is when they have their best movies...and because I get the HBO/Cinemax On Demand free also, I can play the movies they are featuring when I want.  I'm not saying they don't have some good programming, just not enough to justify the cost per month for me.

The cable channel that first brought us the sleaze.

Unless it is sports package (NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice)...there is no way that I am paying beyond my basic satellite service.  I had HBO years ago and found it to be a waste of money.

SAVE YOUR MONEY,get netflix see the movies you want.

The filthiest movie channel. Dumped it.

HORRIBLE selection of movies, I mean, most of what they show now were original movies in the 1970's and were pretty terrible movies back then! I CANCELLED it, I used to only keep it for the good original programming, but OZ is now off, Sex/City is now off, Sopranos is BORING, and they cancelled my favorite "Deadwood", so, no point in paying $14 a month for this dead channel!!

Another "premium" movie channel with too much boxing, i want to watch movies, not too hip shows, etc.

I try to watch as little TV as possible, but my favorite shows have been on HBO. "The Wire" is, in my opinion, one of the best and grittiest dramas ever. I have a certain ambivalence regarding "The Sopranos" but it still qualifies as a quality show. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is one of my favorite comedies of all time. Also enjoy some of the "America Undercover" documentaries. Overall, HBO is one of the superior stations on cable. The theatrical movies it plays are probably the weakest aspect of its programming. They'll take a bomb out of Hollywood and play it relentlessly, day and night. Then again, in fairness to them, most of the movies coming out of Hollywood now are bombs, at least in artistic terms.

I have had HBO in the past and its good for about the first month then you get into the cycle of the same thing over and over again. The fact that its on 5 channels does not seem to help.

hbo blows. let's play the same stuff all the freakin' time.

I suspect it's been declining for a while, but it has great original dramas and comedies. It could use more good movies though, HBO used to make a lot of good ones.

Great original programs, but their selections of movies are the greatest. Their long list of excellent original programming is impressive and years ahead of the competition. Shows like Deadwood, The Sopranos, Curb, Inside the NFL and my favourite of all time (and probably one of the greatest mini-series ever) Band of Brothers. Other programs, which I have never seen but heard good reviews on are probably just as impressive to demographic or audience; Angels in America, Oz, Sex in the City, Six Feet Under and a load of others. And their comedy shows are impressive, though not for everyone. Again, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Da Ali G Show, Extras (Gervais' new show), The Larry Sanders Show (have never seen it though), and stand up shows that are truly impressive. Their boxing matches are usually great spectaculs, and it truly is great tv. When HBO was available to be, I always watched it and it was one of my favourite channels.

For a movie channel it has way to many of what it calls original series. the only thing that distinguishes these shows from what is on broadcast TV is more explicit language and occasional nudity. For such an expensive TV channel, they should cut most of their series and go back to movies.

Very few worthwhile new films. What a draG.

The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, Oz & their documentaries are great. My problem with HBO is they think since Sopranos is such a huge hit that every TV show they make is great. I'm sorry but Sex in the City, Carnivale, Entourage, Deadwood, Rome and The Comeback are all crap. Plus, they always show the same damn movies all month long about twenty times each.

SOme of the original shows are great, but most of the time, it's two star movies played over and over again.

i like that hbo has the original series tv shows. they are interesting, exciting and intriguing.

I finally subscribed to watch the Sopranos and then Deadwood. Some of the rest, I could do without.

HBO is a groundbreaking channel that helped the movie industry more than any other thing in my opinion.

The best

I wouldnt pay for cable without HBO. Honest uninterrupted original programming. What more do you want?

I love to watch Deadwood, awesome show. HBO has a few other decent documentaries and movie series that are watchable. Other than that they show they show the same crap over and over again. Got rid of the HBO and other than Deadwood I really don't miss it.

Environmentaly sound as they recycle their movies again and again.

There are only TWO GOOD things about HBO: its original series (i.e., Sopranos, Six Feet Under) and its original movies (i.e., Something the Lord Made), thus my two stars. But for a premium channel, they don't even rate one star for movies. They play the same movies over and over. When you subscribe to HBO you're paying for the made for TV movies and their series programming. And because those are few and far between, one feels manipulated and short changed. How long will HBO be allowed to ride on the coat-tails of these series and made for TV movies? As long as these two categores rake in money for HBO...and that's how long we'll have to watch the same movies over and over again...

Their original programming overall is excellent. The comedy shows are much funnier then on the other channels, and the drama shows are much more captivating as well. There movie's however are usually nothing most people would really be intrested in and usually are dull and pretty old.

They may have good original series but the crappy movies they show endlessly bring them down.

Three Words: Home Body Odor! But, seriously folks, this insane station has a sex program, and more of those yucky and useless reality-type shows than even CBS has! Come on, show some family-friendly comedies or Star Trek movies, but not these movies where bad guys win and drugs are used and a network censor would have a heartattack! It stinks! Sex and the City is a terribly written B-sitcom with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Deadwood is deadly--at being offensive! I don't even think they even HAD those kind of profanities back then! They claim to be innovative--but it all comes back to moronic shock factor. Here's something innovative HBO...a show that the whole family can enjoy!!! TRY IT!

the movies are ok, but shows like the sopranos and deadwood are innovative and entertaining.

Best station out there! Very innovative and cutting edge series.

I don't like HBO, it reminds me of HOBOs...ha ha, get it?

5 stars just for bringing us the Sopranos.