10 TV Shows That Would Have Been Better On HBO

3. Heroes

The thought of Heroes on HBO is exciting largely because of the show's premise. Heroes billed itself as a different kind of superhero show that would focus on what would happen if normal people had to deal with suddenly getting super powers. That's a fascinating premise, but unfortunately it's a lot more difficult to pull off if you can't make it dark.

There's no better evidence of this than watching Heroes' decline in quality when it strayed far from that initial premise. Much like how Batman Begins benefited from Christopher Nolan taking a darker look at the character, what Heroes needed was the kind of sordid tone that only HBO would have afforded them. Deeply flawed characters could have actual flaws as opposed to the cardboard cut out humans with a couple of problems.

The struggle over having super powers in an average world wouldn't have been limited to high school mockery and political c