6. Carnivale
If Twin Peaks proved anything it's that weird can be amazingly awesome, and Carnivale only further helped cement that notion. A five time Emmy winner alongside ten other nominations as well as a record-setting premiere back in 2003 prove that Carnivale was one of the best original series' to be featured on HBO. It centered on a young man with newly awakened healing abilities and his joining a traveling carnival with each episode taking place in a new setting. The show put focus on the acts and their likeness to previous depictions of "circus freaks" such as in the 1932 film Freaks. However, there was a much deeper theme of good vs evil culminating just below the surface. Carnivale was originally meant to be a six-year run, but HBO pulled the plug after the second season stating that the costs were greater than the rewards as ratings dropped drastically. While the original good vs evil plot was brought to fruition many cliffhangers occurred as major character fates were left in the air. Plans to further the series on other networks or tie up loose ends in a film were left untouched and only in 2007 was a pitch document revealed detailing the intended fates of characters and story alike. With an incredible cast of characters and interwoven plots set upon a wall of superb cinematography and art design Carnivale was a better version of American Horror Story years before AHS had even been a passing thought. It's a shame the series was never continued, and even more so that the reason for this being HBO's reluctance to allow another network to possess the series despite refusing to continue it themselves.