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Curated playlist

Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series

  • Mad MenHBO passed on Mad Men, and its CEO later called that his biggest regret. AMC made it its first original series.
  • The Last of Us (TV series)The Last of Us, an HBO drama about a world undone by a fungal infection, premiered on the 15th of January 2023. That first night, 4.7 million viewers watched it across linear television and HBO Max. Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, is a…
  • Stranger ThingsAbout 15 cable networks rejected Stranger Things because its leads were children.
  • The Big Bang TheoryTest audiences disliked a lead in The Big Bang Theory's first pilot, so CBS had it retooled.
  • Grey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy began with nine star-billed actors, and by its 19th season only three were left: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. The medical drama follows surgical interns, residents and attendings at a fictional Seattle…
  • FrasierFrasier was first pitched as a show about a paraplegic publisher. Paramount pushed for a Frasier Crane spin-off instead.
  • Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live began because Johnny Carson wanted weeknights off. NBC needed a new Saturday show.
  • The MandalorianThe Mandalorian filmed inside a room of LED screens that showed digital landscapes.
  • From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)The HBO series From the Earth to the Moon is not based on Jules Verne's novel of that name.
  • The SopranosThe Sopranos aired on HBO from the 10th of January 1999 to the 10th of June 2007. It ran for six seasons and 86 episodes. At its center is Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, a New Jersey Mafia boss who suffers panic attacks.…
  • BridgertonBridgerton is a Netflix period romance in which an anonymous gossip pamphlet holds more sway than most dukes. The pamphlet is the Society Papers, written by the mysterious Lady Whistledown and voiced in the series by Julie Andrews, who…
  • Breaking BadBreaking Bad began as a joke about two unemployed writers cooking meth in an RV.
  • The Office (American TV series)The Office, an American mockumentary sitcom about a paper company's branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania, began on the 24th of March 2005 with a trial run. NBC aired a preview episode straight after The Apprentice, and 11.2 million people…
  • The White LotusEvery season of The White Lotus, the American black comedy drama anthology created, written and directed by Mike White, opens on the same unsettling image: an unidentified corpse at a luxury resort. The series premiered on HBO on the 11th…
  • Game of ThronesHBO made the Game of Thrones pilot redo about 90 percent of its footage. The re-shoot changed cast and directors.
  • The Book of Boba FettLucasfilm hired a YouTube deepfake expert to improve Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett.
  • The Beatles: Get BackPeter Jackson almost turned down The Beatles: Get Back. He expected the breakup bitterness he had heard about.
  • The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)The Handmaid's Tale, an American dystopian drama made for the streaming service Hulu, made Emmy history in 2017. It became the first series on a streaming service to win Outstanding Drama Series. Four years later, it collected 21…
  • Euphoria (American TV series)Euphoria, the HBO drama created by Sam Levinson, began with an instruction in June 2017. Levinson had been invited to meet Francesca Orsi, HBO's head of drama, about adapting an Israeli series. The two ended up talking about life and the…
  • Severance (TV series)Severance, the American television series created by Dan Erickson, began with a man in an office who wished he could "skip the eight hours of the workday, to disassociate and just get it over with". Erickson had finished a master's degree…

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