Every HBO Comedy Ranked From Worst To Best
56. Arliss
The Ballers of its day, Arliss too was a comedy about a sports agency that lasted a remarkable amount of time on TV despite really not being very good at all. The Robert Wuhl-starring sitcom lasted from 1996 to 2002, and was a divisive show in its time. With HBO yet to become truly established as a purveyor of great TV, the fact that some subscribers kept the network purely to watch Arliss meant that it was untouchable.
For everyone else, though, it was unbearable. Wuhl did his level best, playing an unscrupulous sports agent as the notion of the dislikable comedy protagonist became increasingly popular, but he left a lot to be desired as the star. The comedy is none more mid-’90s, full of sophomoric gay jokes and the like that have dated dreadfully.
It also made a habit of including celebrities (here sports stars) as warped versions of themselves while an HBO stablemate was doing the same thing with far more success. 80 episodes in, it finally ended.