Every HBO Series Of 2016 - Ranked Worst To Best

6. Divorce

Ballers The Night Of HBO 2016
HBO

A marriage breakdown isn’t an obvious formula for comedy, but Divorce manages to wring quite a few laughs from it; even if they’re mostly uncomfortable. The show stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church as a long-married couple in the midst of a nasty break-up, and the story explores how they got to that point and all the messiness of the legal machinery involved.

While the show gets laughs, that’s mainly to do with the honesty of the writing. Marriage can be fairly complicated, so the sympathy of the audience is constantly shifting. Ultimately it isn’t about who’s right or wrong, and there’s a real sadness that underlines the drama.

Both Parker and Church commit to the characters – even when they’re not terribly likeable – and do some of their best work in years. It's not the best show HBO put out this year, but it's a damn good one regardless.

In this post: 
HBO
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Handsome. Charismatic. Intelligent. Noble. Witty. I'm none of these things, but I'm a half decent writer, I guess.