Before streaming took over, these 3 HBO shows rewrote the rules of TV — and they're due for a rewatch

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HBO is pretty synonymous with top-tier television shows, from dystopian stunners like “The Last of Us” to fantasy juggernauts like “Game of Thrones” to pulpy whodunnits like “The White Lotus.” The network has the highest number of overall Primetime Emmy wins and nominations in television history, securing over 1,500 nominations and more than 220 wins, many of which were earned off the strength of its dramatic series. (For example, “GOT” holds the all-time record for the most Emmy Awards won by a drama series.)But that reputation for excellence started back in the 1990s, when the acclaimed network first introduced hourlong dramas to its regularly scheduled programming with the debut of the trailblazing prison drama “Oz.” It followed that up with some serious TV heavy hitters, including now-iconic genre standards like “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.”If you missed out on these culture-changing '90s shows, now’s the time to catch up. Here are three HBO series that you should check out ASAP if you haven’t already or rewatch if it's been a couple of decades since you last saw them.'Oz'Given how much of a household name the Home Box Office network is nowadays when it comes to big-name dramas, it’s easy to forget that back in the 1990s, the channel was a mere fledgling of the form. That all changed with HBO's first one-hour dramatic series, “Oz,” set within the brutal Oswald State Correctional Facility, a fictional level 4 maximum-security state prison on the East Coast.From July 1997 through February 2003, the six-season prison epic laid the foundation for all future HBO dramas to come, detailing the daily activities, complex dynamics and power struggles of the dangerous inmates and corrections officers that make up the facility’s gritty culture. Those colorful characters were played by a true who’s who of acting talent, including J.K. Simmons, Harold Perrineau, Christopher Meloni, Ernie Hudson, Dean Winters, Rita Moreno, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Lee Tergesen, among many others. Stream “Oz” on HBO Max now'Sex and the City’