Category: A&E – Film & TV

by Andrew Katz ’26 on April 23, 2026

How Television Shows Dethroned Movies As King

From Alfred Hitchcock to Martin Scorsese, Hollywood’s movies sat atop the throne of arts and entertainment for years. Yet in the late 1990s, HBO, looking to overtake its competitors, would change the television show model and alter the landscape of arts and entertainment for the foreseeable future.

Before the HBO takeover, the top networks for television shows were ABC, NBC, and CBS. All three networks’ shows consisted of a formulaic approach. Their shows typically started in the fall of each year, aired at the same time every week, and consisted of 20+ episodes per season. Each episode was structured with commercial breaks to monetize the show. This made television shows creatively restricted in comparison to movies. As a result, HBO saw an opportunity to take over the television show industry.

HBO’s strategy for the takeover relied on one main factor: freedom. This strategy is most evidently shown in HBO’s The Sopranos. The Sopranos, as a result of being rejected by major television networks, signed with HBO. Unknowingly at the time, this was the best decision for the show’s creator, David Chase. Signing with HBO allowed Chase to have the creative freedom he needed to make The Sopranos authentic. The restrictions from which Chase was free weren’t just related to the network’s cable schedule but also to the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC, which has authority over cable television networks, limits the use of obscene material being shown on public airwaves. HBO, not being on public airwaves, is thus able to avoid FCC restrictions. This lack of restrictions gave Chase the creative freedom to make The Sopranos what it was—arguably the greatest television show of all time. The Sopranos has gained that reputation because the show was allowed to explore the darkness of the human mind and whether Tony Soprano is an anti-hero or a villain. This type of content would not be allowed on cable network television.

The Sopranos allowed, for the first time, a television show to touch the deepest elements of humanity that previously only movies were able to explore. The Sopranos sparked success for HBO, which has been replicated over and over again by the network. HBO has gone on to produce shows such as The Wire, Band of Brothers, True Detective, and Game of Thrones. Had they chosen to air on a cable network, each of these shows would violate the strict rules they would be under.

The success of HBO has sparked other networks to invest in streaming services in hopes of replicating its success. Overall, streaming services have been extremely successful at replicating HBO and have pushed television shows into their “golden era.” At the same time, while television shows have had enormous success, movies have repeatedly lost at the box office. The major reason is people would rather watch television on streaming services from the luxury of their homes than pay to go to the movies. This means one thing: television shows are now the king of arts and entertainment.