These are the 23 best HBO shows of all time, according to critics

HBO has made many of the best television shows of all time, including "The Sopranos," "Game of Thrones," and "The Wire."

And the network is often credited with jump starting the Golden Age of television with its dark, ambitious dramas.

But drama isn't HBO's only strength. It also has excellent half-hour comedies including "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Insecure," and "Silicon Valley."

But which HBO shows are the best of the best?

We ranked its shows according to their ratings on Metacritic, which aggregates critic reviews and assigns each season of a show a score.

For shows with multiple seasons, we averaged their scores. And to break ties, we brought in the audience score.

Here are HBO's best shows of all time, ranked:

(Note: We left off animated, children's, documentary/reality, and foreign programming, as well as miniseries, with a few notable exceptions.)