Collider has published a ranked list of what it considers the ten best HBO series based on true stories, celebrating the network's reputation for prestige television and narrative ambition. The article argues that, while some of these dramas take liberties with the facts, all ten demonstrate HBO's skill at drawing gripping drama from real events, spanning true crime, warfare, politics and even Ancient Rome.

The two lowest-ranked entries are detailed in the available text. At number ten is The Staircase (2022), an eight-part crime drama starring Colin Firth as author Michael Peterson, tried for the murder of his wife Kathleen (Toni Collette), which is praised for its performances and its reflection on how documentary-makers shape a story. At number nine is Landscapers (2021), a true-crime miniseries with a streak of macabre black comedy, led by David Thewlis and Olivia Colman as Christopher and Susan Edwards, a couple facing the fallout of murdering Susan's parents years earlier.