Succession

Succession (2018-2023) is a Shakespearean tragedy of corporate power, winning 13 Primetime Emmy Awards including three consecutive Outstanding Drama Series. The Roy family saga depicted the battle for a $50 billion media empire over 39 episodes, with each season garnering over 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Its third season finale drew 1.7 million live viewers, but its streaming success dwarfed that: the show averaged 4.9 million weekly viewers on HBO Max, outperforming #7 Chernobyl's later viewership in its second week by 22%. Creator Jesse Armstrong's razor-sharp scripts featured 180+ f-bomb-laced exchanges, and the series ranked as the most-binged HBO show of 2023. No prestige drama has so precisely dissected the psychology of wealth while maintaining such darkly comic momentum.