The 5 Shows You Should Watch for Free on HBO

HBO is following the lead of several other streaming services by offering some of its content for free while we all plump up over bowls of mac ‘n’ cheese in self-quarantine. Starting Friday, April 2, anyone who downloads the HBO NOW or HBO GO apps or heads over to HBONOW.com or HBOGO.com will have free access to several of HBO’s flagship shows and documentaries, as well as 20 theatrical movies. (HBO has not said how long its promotion will run, only saying it’s for “a limited time.”)

For those of you who have never had HBO, the list of nine full series, 10 docuseries or documentaries, and almost two dozen films may seem a bit daunting. That’s why we’ve broken down the list to five picks for you to get started with. Here they are, in no particular order.

The Wire

Photo: HBO

1. The Wire

For the past couple of years, it seems like everyone has been watching and rewatching The Sopranos (we assume you’ve seen that, so it’s not on this list). This is all well and good, because The Sopranos is the greatest TV show of all time. But all this Sopranos attention seems to have come at the expense of The Wire, the second-greatest show of all time. When was the last time you saw a Wire meme? Where’s The Wire‘s fan convention? It’s time for The Wire to make a comeback. Make Littlefinger Mayor Carcetti Again. –Liam Mathews

Anna Paquin, True Blood

Photo: HBO

2. True Blood

If we’re being completely honest, True Blood went off the rails a bit as the show got older, but the first few seasons of the series are a great escape from the real world right now. Anna Paquin stars as a telepathic waitress, Sookie, who meets and falls for Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a 173-year-old Southern vampire, and while we could focus on how the show was a metaphor for minorities fighting for equal rights as vampires tried to assimilate into a society determined to keep them out, the reason to watch True Blood was to see just how ridiculous things would get. The show was messy and insane, and it featured everything from werewolves and vampires to shapeshifters, maenads, witches, faeries, and mediums. And if you care about this sort of thing, there was also an intriguing love triangle involving Sookie, Bill, and vampire club owner/one-time Viking warrior Eric Northman, played by Alexander Skarsgard. –Kaitlin Thomas

Jessi Giacomazzi, Bill Hader, and Stephen Root, Barry

Photo: Aaron Epstein/HBO

3. Barry

This Emmy-winning dark comedy shows how hilarious it can be to be a hitman. Bill Hader stars as the title character, an army vet who goes on assignment to off a dude in Los Angeles when he gets the acting bug and considers a career change in Hollywood. That means between attending acting classes with his oddball classmates and egomaniac teacher (Emmy winner Henry Winkler), he’s also coordinating mass murder with shady Eastern European mafia members. Barry‘s mix of violence and absurdity somehow works seamlessly, thanks in part to strong performances from its cast and fantastic writing. It’s equal parts heart-pounding and hilarious.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Photo: Colleen Hayes/HBO

4. Veep

Veep is a classic look at incompetence in government, or, given the last four years of real life, a relatively competent government. From the master of insults, Armando Iannucci, Veep stars bajillion-time Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, the aspirational vice president of the United States, as she schemes and stumbles her way to political power while her equally ambitious staff idiotically plot their own paths. Over its seven seasons, Selina goes on quite the journey, from having diarrhea at an ice cream store to becoming the most powerful person in the world, leaving a trail of F-bombs and worse behind.

Michelle Carter; I Love You, Now Die

Photo: HBO

5. I Love You, Now Die

Several of HBO’s documentaries being offered are worth the watch, but put this one near the top of your list. I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter follows the truly bizarre case of a young romance derailed by suicide when Michelle Carter allegedly convinced her boyfriend to kill himself over text. The film is wonderfully presented and offers a different angle from the headlines that vilified Carter as a black widow. Though it doesn’t absolve Carter from any fault — that would be ridiculous — I Love You, Now Die gives reasonable evidence that Carter suffered from mental conditions that led to her behavior, and also touches on something the world had never seen before: Can someone be charged with murder for sending a text message?

Here’s everything that HBO will be offering for free during its promotion:

Nine Full Series

1. Ballers (5 Seasons)
2. Barry (2 Seasons)
3. Silicon Valley (6 Seasons)
4. Six Feet Under (5 Seasons)
5. The Sopranos (7 Seasons)
6. Succession (2 Seasons)
7. True Blood (7 Seasons
8. Veep (7 Seasons)
9. The Wire (5 Seasons)

10 Docuseries and Documentaries

1. The Apollo
2. The Case Against Adnan Syed
3. Elvis Presley: The Searcher
4. I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter
5. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
6. Jane Fonda in Five Acts
7. McMillion$
8. True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality
9. United Skates
10. We Are the Dream: The Kids of the MLK Oakland Oratorical Fest

20 Warner Bros. Theatricals

1. Arthur
2. Arthur 2: On the Rocks
3. Blinded By the Light
4. The Bridges of Madison County
5. Crazy, Stupid, Love
6. Empire of the Sun
7. Forget Paris
8. Happy Feet Two
9. Isn’t It Romantic?
10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
11. Midnight Special
12. My Dog Skip
13. Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase
14. Pan
15. Pokémon Detective Pikachu
16. Red Riding Hood
17. Smallfoot
18. Storks
19. Sucker Punch
20. Unknown