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HBO’s Best Crime Thriller Still Shines 29 Years After ‘The Wire’

Sarah Parker October 26, 2026

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HBO continues to be the premium network that keeps on giving. With recent entries such as The Pitt and the revolving door of <em>Game of Thrones</em> spin-offs, there is no shortage of entertainment. Since there have been decades of content that shows network television how it’s done, it can be easy for some series to get lost in the shuffle. The shining example of HBO gems that should not be forgotten is the one that started it all.

In 1997, HBO leaped theatrical releases to television with the inventive and grueling series Oz. Years before Prison Break or even The Wire would even be conceived of, the HBO series took a hard look at the prison-industrial complex through the eyes of Tobias (Lee Tergesen), a new prisoner at the experimental block of the fictional Oswald Maximum Security Prison. Inmates are given slightly more freedom than in a typical supermax prison, allowing character-driven storylines and some of the most brutal violence put on screen.

‘Oz’ Is Impossible to Look Away From

Oz served as a launching pad for many fan-favorite actors in some hard-to-watch roles. J.K. Simmons infamously portrayed Vernon Schillinger, the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, who torments and assaults Tobias. Law & Order: SVU’s own Christopher Meloni stars as Tobias’ sociopathic lover, Chris Keller, who was partially responsible for Tobias’ downward spiral. Oz was almost an experiment itself, testing if premium television could work. Not only was it successful, but it also started a new era of television that is worth revisiting.

Collider Exclusive · TV Medicine Quiz
Which Fictional Hospital Would You Work Best In?
The Pitt · ER · Grey’s Anatomy · House · Scrubs

Five hospitals. Five completely different ways medicine goes sideways on television — brutal, chaotic, romantic, brilliant, and ridiculous. Only one of them is the ward your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out exactly where you belong.

The Pitt

Grey’s

House

Scrubs

FIND YOUR HOSPITAL →

A critical patient comes through the door. What’s your first instinct?
Medicine under pressure reveals who you actually are.

AStay completely present — block everything else out and work through it step by step, right now.
BTriage fast and delegate — get the right people on the right problems immediately.
CTrust my gut and move — I work best when I stop overthinking and just act.
DAsk the question everyone else is ignoring — what’s the thing that doesn’t fit?
ETake a breath, make a joke to cut the tension, and then get to work — panic helps no one.

NEXT QUESTION →

Why did you go into medicine in the first place?
The honest answer says more about you than the one you’d give in an interview.

ABecause I wanted to be where it matters most — right at the edge, when someone’s life is actually on the line.
BBecause I wanted to help people — genuinely, one patient at a time, in a system that makes it hard.
CBecause I was drawn to the intensity of it — the stakes, the drama, the feeling of being fully alive.
DBecause medicine is the most interesting puzzle there is — and I needed a problem worth solving.
EBecause I wanted to make a difference — and also, honestly, I didn’t know what else to do with my life.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do you actually want from the people you work with?
Who you want beside you under pressure is who you are.

A Competence and calm — I need people who don’t fall apart when things get bad.
B Trust and reliability — I want to know that when I pass something off, it’s handled.
C Connection — I want colleagues who become family, even if that gets complicated.
D Intelligence and the willingness to be challenged — I have no interest in people who just agree with me.
E Friendship — people I actually like spending twelve hours a day with because those hours are going to happen either way.

NEXT QUESTION →

04
You lose a patient you fought hard to save. How do you carry it?
Every doctor who’s worked a long shift has had to answer this question.

A I carry it. All of it. I don’t look for ways to put it down — that weight is part of doing this work honestly.

B I process it and move — you have to or the next patient suffers for the one you just lost.

C I feel it deeply and lean on the people around me — I don’t think you’re supposed to handle that alone.

D I go back over every decision — not to punish myself but because I need to understand what I missed.

E I grieve it genuinely, find some way to laugh about something unrelated and try to be kind to myself — imperfectly.

NEXT QUESTION →

05
How would your colleagues describe the way you work?
Your reputation on the floor is usually more accurate than your self-image.

A Intense and completely present — no small talk during a shift but exactly who you want there.

B Steady and dependable — not the flashiest in the room but never the one who drops something.

C Passionate and occasionally chaotic — brilliant on hard cases prone to drama everywhere else.

D Brilliant and difficult — right more often than anyone else and everyone knows it including me.

E Warm and self-deprecating — not the most intimidating presence but genuinely good at this and easy to like.

NEXT QUESTION →

06
How do you feel about hospital protocol and procedure?
Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.

A Protocol is the floor not ceiling — I follow it until the patient needs something it can’t provide.

B I respect it—the system is broken in places but structure is there for a reason and I work within it .

C I follow until my instincts tell me not to—and my instincts are usually right even when they cause problems .

D Rules are people who haven’t thought hard enough about when to break them .

E I try follow mostly do—with few memorable exceptions that still come up in meetings .

NEXT QUESTION →

07
What does this job cost you personally?
No one works in medicine without paying a price. What’s yours?

A Everything outside these walls—I’ve given this job my full attention and rest of my life has gone around it .

B My idealism mostly—I came in believing system could be fixed I’ve made complicated peace with that .

C Stability—my personal life has been as chaotic as OR that’s not entirely coincidence .

D My relationships—I am not easy know people who’ve tried would probably agree .

E Your sense gravity—I use humour as coping mechanism which not everyone appreciates hospital .

NEXT QUESTION → / label >

08 / p >

The answer this question most honest thing about you . / Span >
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A fact it’s real—nothing else could matter much right now today .

The patients—individual human beings needed something got because was there .

The people work with—I walked through impossible things these people I’d do again .

The next unsolved case—there’s always another puzzle I’m not done yet .

Became despite everything—the exhaustion loss absurdity—I actually love job .

/ p /

REVEAL MY HOSPITAL → / Label/>

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/ section –>

Your Assignment Has Been Made/span
You Belong In…/Span
/p
Your answers have pointed one fictional hospital above all others. This ward instincts temperament particular brand dysfunction built./p
/div>

Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center/span
/p

The Pitt/span
/p
You are built most unsparing version emergency medicine television shown—one puts inside single fifteen-hour shift doesn’t let look away./p

You need your work be real romanticised—meaning over drama honesty over aesthetics./li
You find purpose inside work itself—not chaos surrounding./li
You made peace fact this job takes from constantly gives back ways harder name./li
Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center demands exactly kind person—you would not want anywhere else./li
/ul
/p
/div
/div
/p
County General Hospital Chicago/span
/p
ER/span
/p
You are person keeps whole floor running—not most brilliant room possibly essential./p

You show up do work absorb losses come back next day without needing job anything other than what is./li
You care about patients individual human beings—not cases solve dramas live through./li
You believe system even when fails understand emergency medicine about holding line just long enough./li
This television about endurance.You have it./li
/ul
/p
/div
/div

/p

Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital Seattle/span
/p

Grey’s Anatomy/span
/p
You came medicine your whole self—your ambition emotions relationships history—and have never quite managed leave any at door./p

You feel things fully form deep attachments people work with./li
Your personal professional lives permanently chaotically entangled—and entanglement drives both greatest disasters most remarkable saves./li
You understand extraordinary medicine often happens intersection clinical skill profound human connection./li
This messy Grey Sloan.You would not have any other way./li
/ul
/p
/div
/div

/p

Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital NJ/span
/p

House/span
/p
You are drawn problem above everything else—the symptom doesn’t fit diagnosis hiding underneath obvious one./p

You’re not primarily motivated patient person—though capable caring even if you’d deny it./li
You work best stakes highest standard answer wrong./li
This exists house extraordinary impossible mind—and everyone around mind there they’re smart enough keep up./li
The only way forward here think harder everyone room.That exactly what do./li
/ul
/p
/div
/div

/p

Sacred Heart Hospital California/span
/p

Scrubs/span
/p
You understand medicine tragic absurd almost equal measure—and only sane response hold both those things same time./p

You are warm self-aware funnier than most people your field./li
You use humour get through terrible moments—and Sacred Heart that’s flaw it’s survival strategy./li
You lean people around let them lean back.The laughter grief genuinely inseparable here./li
This show about learning become someone worthy job.You still very much middle that process—which exactly right./li
/ul
/p
/div
/div

/div

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ/label>