After 10 Emmy Awards and 19 nominations earned by Chernobyl, along with 26 nominations garnered by Watchmen, it is safe to say HBO has been in a modern renaissance of miniseries. Large scale budgets, brilliant ensemble casts and immersive worlds built through incredible sets and locations are all hallmarks of these two critically-acclaimed programs. However, neither could have existed without 2001's Band of Brothers, which elevated HBO to prestige television status.
Band of Brothers is a miniseries that dramatizes the real-life 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment's "Easy" Company during World War II. The show follows the group from boot camp to the announcement that World War II has ended in Europe. Over the course of its run, Band of Brothers was critically lauded as a significant moment in television history and for its efforts, it received seven Emmy Awards and 20 nominations.
In essence, Band of Brothers was the first domino in a long line of acclaimed series to elevate HBO's reputation and output. Production costs totaled at about $12.5 million per episode, which made it the most expensive TV miniseries ever created at the time.
The show featured hundreds of characters with speaking parts and large scale battle sequences including perhaps the most awe-inspiring depiction of D-Day ever put to film. If Band of Brothers had failed, its predecessors -- Angels In America, John Adams, The Pacific, just to name a few -- quite possibly wouldn't exist.
That impact is still being felt today. Creating compelling stories in a small number of episodes isn't new, but to do it on the scale and scope of Band of Brothers was revolutionary at the time. The series hasn't just impacted HBO miniseries, either: USA Network, History Channel and Hulu have all produced shows where the influence of Band of Brothers is apparent -- not necessarily in the storytelling itself, but in the production value and magnitude.
Chernobyl and Watchmen are more direct products. Watchmen, has a vast story of ongoing, interconnected plots, fleshed out smaller characters and high scale action. It takes aspects from Band of Brothers and raises the bar even higher. Chernobyl embodies the same gritty realism, belief in the human aspects of historical events and high level sequences of horror and action from Band of Brothers, again elevating it further.
Band of Brothers paved the way for modern prestige miniseries nearly two decades ago -- and it still stands the test of time.