Ranking Every HBO Drama Series From Worst To Best

To date, this is the latest David Milch-created show to make it to air, and if this is his last, that’ll be a crying shame. Appropriately enough, the Deadwood creator took a gamble on this horse racing drama, and for unfortunate reasons, it really didn’t pay off.

Luck started off with a casting coup - Dustin Hoffman as Chester Bernstein, gambler and ex-con looking for revenge. The demonstrative performer was the perfect fit for Milch’s peerless dialogue, and he chewed through the writer’s lines with panache. He was ably backed up by Dennis Farina, Nick Nolte, and more.

Luck wasn’t for everyone (Milch isn’t in general), and at times the drama was oblique and even baffling, with plotlines sprawling all over the place. Milch may or may not have had in under control; that was part of the fun.

But then, tragedy struck in the form of several dead racehorses. The show was, unsurprisingly, quickly kiboshed. It’s hard to know where we’d have gone with Luck, whether it would have ultimately proved to be a truly satisfying drama, but what we have is fascinating if hard to truly invest in.