Television The Wire

shahzadi said:
Have given consideration to this show but just couldn't start for one reason or another. To be honest, Breaking Bad has spoiled us a bit and now has become a bit of a benchmark. Is it in the same bracket as Breaking Bad ?
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Its my opinion the The Wire is just the best TV show ever. Period. No hyperbole. I recently re-watched some Breaking Bad episodes and some Wire episodes and The Wire is just on a whole other level. Really you should watch the Wire.

Season 1 deals with the police and their ongoing battle with the drug dealers in the projects
Season 2 adds in the Port Authority and the story of the stevedores in a dying port city
Season 3 adds in politics, politicians (Clay Davis and Carcetti) and the pressure from Gov
Season 4 adds in the schools and the young next generation adapting to the changing city
Season 5 adds in journalists and the media and how that affects the overall city.

While there are dozens of lovable and love to hate recurring characters the star of the show is the City of Baltimore that, by the end of season 5, you feel like you lived in for the past few years.

Also,
IMO Gomorra and Romanzo Criminale from Italy and Engrenages from France are also superior shows to Breaking Bad.
 
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shahzadi said:
Have given consideration to this show but just couldn't start for one reason or another. To be honest, Breaking Bad has spoiled us a bit and now has become a bit of a benchmark. Is it in the same bracket as Breaking Bad ?
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The 'benchmark' was set by the Sopranos. The Wire and BB will occupy the second and third places in the all time greats behind the Sopranos.
The Wire is different from BB because it is more realistic and deals with the society as a whole from the perspectives of crime, police and politics. You gotta give it your whole attention though. I'm watching The Wire for the second time currently (after watching it a couple of years ago) and I notice so many things I've never noticed on the first watch. Like watching a new show from the beginning to be honest. Which just goes to say what a great show it is.
 
Giggs86 said:
The 'benchmark' was set by the Sopranos. The Wire and BB will occupy the second and third places in the all time greats behind the Sopranos.
The Wire is different from BB because it is more realistic and deals with the society as a whole from the perspectives of crime, police and politics. You gotta give it your whole attention though. I'm watching The Wire for the second time currently (after watching it a couple of years ago) and I notice so many things I've never noticed on the first watch. Like watching a new show from the beginning to be honest. Which just goes to say what a great show it is.
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I tried re-watching the Sopranos and felt it doesn't really age well unlike the Wire. The Wire is clearly the superior show from c.2017 IMO. By now I really wouldn't even have the Sopranos in my Top 10 of shows from around the world.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I tried re-watching the Sopranos and felt it doesn't really age well unlike the Wire. The Wire is clearly the superior show from c.2017 IMO. By now I really wouldn't even have the Sopranos in my Top 10 of shows from around the world.
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I'd agree with that. I enjoyed the Sopranos first time more than my first watch of the Wire. Subsequent watches though just don't compete. I'll still watch a Sopranos now and then but I'll pick episodes whereas my annual wire watch will be comprehensive.

For me you need multiple watches of the Wire to fully appreciate and fall in love with it, it's a genuine masterpiece

I've not rewatched BB yet though I did love it at the time. The Wire and Mad Men are my 1 & 2
 
shahzadi said:
Fine, It will be next show I am going to watch. However, I have serious doubts that Breaking Bad can be matched. I don't think any show can reach the heights of Breaking Bad, it was just a master piece where everything from start to finish was perfect. The other thing which supports this claim is the ratings on this show, the overall rating as well as individual rating of episodes were kinda "Put-Off".

I will watch it with "Clear Mind" and with Time to actually "Sit".
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Breaking Bad is a once every few years kind of show, The Wire is a once in a lifetime thing. Same with the The Sopranos. Theyre both so far ahead of any other TV show.
 
11101 said:
Breaking Bad is a once every few years kind of show, The Wire is a once in a lifetime thing. Same with the The Sopranos. Theyre both so far ahead of any other TV show.
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Mad men was pretty great too. Barely a bad episode for like 7 seasons.
 
entropy said:
What do you mean "maybe"? I just gave you the reason why. And it's lot more realistic than your godfather 1& 2 comparison.
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no you didn't, you said it wouldn't exist without The Sopranos.

So fecking what? What does that have to do with whether it's a better show or not? Are you saying The Sopranos is better because The Wire wouldn't exist without it? :lol: That's so dumb.
 
I only just started watching "Power" and the actor who played Marlo made a couple appearences. He looks completely the same except he has an african accent and does some wich doctor chants
 
These are my arguments for why I think The Wire is the best show:
- No cheesy romantic subplots that can take up to 30-40% of an episode.
- No dream/hallucination scenes that usually go on for 5-10 minutes ( not that I remember).
- No typical death scenes where someone needs a whole episode to die.
- Little deviations from the actual plot.
- Fantastic and mature writing. Not without flaws but its writing is consistently amazing and just blows other shows out of the water. The dialogues feel human and authentic.

Basically, you really get the feeling that the show takes its audience seriously. Not like a show like The Walking Dead for example.
 
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VorZakone said:
These are my arguments for why I think The Wire is the best show:
- No cheesy romantic subplots that can take up to 30-40% of an episode.
- No dream/hallucination scenes that usually go on for 5-10 minutes ( not that I remember).
- No typical death scenes where someone needs a whole episode to die.
- Little deviations from the actual plot.
- Fantastic and mature writing. Not without flaws but its writing is consistently amazing and just blows other shows out of the water. The dialogues feel human and authentic.

Basically, you really get the feeling that the show takes its audience seriously. Not unlike a show like The Walking Dead for example.
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:confused: Did you mean not like?
 
VorZakone said:
These are my arguments for why I think The Wire is the best show:
- No cheesy romantic subplots that can take up to 30-40% of an episode.
- No dream/hallucination scenes that usually go on for 5-10 minutes ( not that I remember).
- No typical death scenes where someone needs a whole episode to die.
- Little deviations from the actual plot.
- Fantastic and mature writing. Not without flaws but its writing is consistently amazing and just blows other shows out of the water. The dialogues feel human and authentic.

Basically, you really get the feeling that the show takes its audience seriously. Not unlike a show like The Walking Dead for example.
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Surely point 5 encompasses all of the previous 4 points i.e. it's all about the writing? Within that I think you've missed out the most important part - it's an incredibly prescient and detailed analysis of the state of the police force, the blue collar workforce, the education system, the political system and the everyday life of sub-sections of inner-city society across America, teasing out the causes of them and the obstacles to overcoming them.

It is entertainment but the fact it's englightening in ways you never could've expected from a tv show is incredibly rewarding. It shined a light on so many aspects of society that people have either ignored or were unaware of and it painted a painfully accurate picture of why so little has changed in a city that had a police force which was described as "the most corrupt and antiquated in the nation with an almost non-existent relationship with Baltimore's African American community" half a century ago.
 
Brwned said:
Surely point 5 encompasses all of the previous 4 points i.e. it's all about the writing? Within that I think you've missed out the most important part - it's an incredibly prescient and detailed analysis of the state of the police force, the blue collar workforce, the education system, the political system and the everyday life of sub-sections of inner-city society across America, teasing out the causes of them and the obstacles to overcoming them.

It is entertainment but the fact it's englightening in ways you never could've expected from a tv show is incredibly rewarding. It shined a light on so many aspects of society that people have either ignored or were unaware of and it painted a painfully accurate picture of why so little has changed in a city that had a police force which was described as "the most corrupt and antiquated in the nation with an almost non-existent relationship with Baltimore's African American community" half a century ago.
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It sort of does but I felt the need to specifically mention those points because they really make for straightforward watching. "The writing is amazing" doesn't explain enough why it's amazing.
 
Entropy and Massive Spanner having the world's most boring argument in between some great YouTube clips here.
 
2cents said:
That's an incredible scene.
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The Wire has so many great scenes. I absolutely love The Sopranos, but despite it having roughly double the episodes of The Wire, I think the latter has the more great/memorable scenes.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I tried re-watching the Sopranos and felt it doesn't really age well unlike the Wire. The Wire is clearly the superior show from c.2017 IMO. By now I really wouldn't even have the Sopranos in my Top 10 of shows from around the world.
Click to expand...

I have said it earlier, imo The Wire is modern day Shakespeare -- the plot, slew of memorable lines and characters.
 
Aaaaarrrggh! Just started watching this – binged the first 4 shows of S1 last night. Came on here to bump the thread and immediately realised it was a bad move. :wenger:

It seems to be every bit as good as I was told it would be so far! Will watch a few more then pop my head tentatively back in here. :)
 
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