Television The Wire

Mystry said:
I think most discovered it after it had already finished, or at least quite late on. It wasn't very popular while it was on tv.
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That's crazy isn't it? I remember when Hill Street Blues started (I'm old) and no-one got it! It was too street to be universally accepted at first. People wanted bright colours and rich lifestyles from their dose of US cop drama not grime and reality.

The Wire is indeed awesome though, as I say, binge-watching it has helped I think. That throw-away desk scene at the start of Ep4 cracked me up at the time but because I've watched the rest of the show so quickly I understand better that it was meant as a metaphor for the team not pulling together at the time because they had not knitted as a group.

Anyway, I'll leave the rest of my astute observations until after I've watched the last 3 shows. Can't wait to find out how they deal with the shooting of Kima.
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
That's crazy isn't it?
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It's not that crazy when you think about it really. Even by HBO standards The Wire is pretty hard to get into - this thread is proof of that, with several people (almost) giving up during the first season despite the fantastic reviews. It's not the kind of show where you catch a random episode and think "feck yeah, I need to watch all this". There's so many layers and everything is connected, so if you don't watch it from the start you're going to be completely lost.
 
Wowi said:
It's not that crazy when you think about it really. Even by HBO standards The Wire is pretty hard to get into - this thread is proof of that, with several people (almost) giving up during the first season despite the fantastic reviews. It's not the kind of show where you catch a random episode and think "feck yeah, I need to watch all this". There's so many layers and everything is connected, so if you don't watch it from the start you're going to be completely lost.
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All I was saying was that The Wire came very highly recommended and I'm glad it did as I really like it. It was a bit of a surprise to me that it was not so successful during it's first run, thanks for pointing out why that may have been :) I could also imagine that the fact that it was not star-studded probably worked against it at the time.

I do see what you are saying and that's fair enough. Although, I'd say that's a given for most shows with any "substance".

I can't think of many series' worth watching that I could randomly catch on, say, episode X of the first run and say "wow, I totally get this, it's great." You can however get a feel for a show's gravity, the standard of the production/writing and/or it's visual impact though and make a decision based on one show I guess.
 
In all fairness, The Wire is one of HBO's most accessible shows......but people live in such a multi tasking not wanting to pay attention era that they can't be bothered.
 
Wowi said:
It's not that crazy when you think about it really. Even by HBO standards The Wire is pretty hard to get into - this thread is proof of that, with several people (almost) giving up during the first season despite the fantastic reviews. It's not the kind of show where you catch a random episode and think "feck yeah, I need to watch all this". There's so many layers and everything is connected, so if you don't watch it from the start you're going to be completely lost.
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It's definitely not a show that's easy to get into spontanously. I did some reading beforehand and realised that it's a relatively complex show and that I need to watch it with a clear focus so that's why I already enjoyed it 2/3 episodes in.
 
I think most shows try to get your attention right away opening big to catch your attention and The Wire wasn't like that at all. They did a rather methodical job of introducing every character seperately before they connected the stories. Most other shows probably would've started with showing the Gant killing in a very coloured way, but The Wire was always above such things. The killing itself was secondary to the plot so they started with McNulty interviewing a witness.
Like the writers wanted to tell the story the "right" way and if that costs a few viewers who don't have the patience or don't get it then so be it.
 
I lost interest in the beginning of season 2 due to a switch from Barksdale to something else, but glad I stuck with it cos season 2 and 3 are definitely my favourite ones now.
 
I don't think the writers expected anywhere near the success it enjoys now.
They certainly weren't thinking they were producing a real classic tv show.
A lot of the actors in it were straight off the street.
 
do.ob said:
I think most shows try to get your attention right away opening big to catch your attention and The Wire wasn't like that at all. They did a rather methodical job of introducing every character seperately before they connected the stories. Most other shows probably would've started with showing the Gant killing in a very coloured way, but The Wire was always above such things. The killing itself was secondary to the plot so they started with McNulty interviewing a witness.
Like the writers wanted to tell the story the "right" way and if that costs a few viewers who don't have the patience or don't get it then so be it.
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That wasn't for Gant's murder iirc. Think it was for a random kid nicknamed snot or something similar, who snatched some money from some guys gambling on the street.

But yeah, certainly a different method to how most other shows try to reel you in.

What was the opening scene of Breaking Bad again? Can't seem to remember.
 
Vato said:
What was the opening scene of Breaking Bad again? Can't seem to remember.
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Think it was Walt talking into a video recorder, basically a suicide message or something.
 
Red_Aaron said:
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
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I disagree. The Sopranos has aged well and it's my #1 ever. The Wire is just as good but on a different level.
The Wire is like an awesome pizza slice with a Heineken for munchies but Sopranos is more like a full course dinner with Chianti with the love of your life.
 
Roosney said:
I disagree. The Sopranos has aged well and it's my #1 ever. The Wire is just as good but on a different level.
The Wire is like an awesome pizza slice with a Heineken for munchies but Sopranos is more like a full course dinner with Chianti with the love of your life.
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Sopranos for me also. These are the top two though, both amazing shows.
 
Mystry said:
I think most discovered it after it had already finished, or at least quite late on. It wasn't very popular while it was on tv.
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Yeah I discovered it after it had finished. Was listening to a song(Bun B-Put it Down) and he says 'Can't take your eyes off me, like when you watch "The Wire"'. So I googled it and started watching
 
Cool to see that @SqueakyWeasel is well underway. Definitely caught on to the genius before me, I had to get half-way through season 2 before it dawned on me just how special this show is. Shame on me :lol:

Mind you, right now it's just setting up the chess pieces, you don't get to see just how good the Wire's moves are until later in the game ;)

George Owen said:
Stinkum
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You being funny? At any rate, it's Snotboogie ;P
 
Incredible series, got on to this way too late! Took a bit of patience in parts, but how everything ties together is just genius. I rank this alongside Sopranos. Jealous of everyone just starting on this now.
 
Still not started it. Probably soon. I'm just going through a lot of films I haven't seen yet.
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
Series TWO done and dusted!

I'm tapped out … gonna have to re-up #3 – this shit's off the hook!

Someone tell me if I'm doing this right, it seems to be annoying the wife :confused:
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When you've finished the entire show, start again and make her watch it too.
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
Series TWO done and dusted!

I'm tapped out … gonna have to re-up #3 – this shit's off the hook!

Someone tell me if I'm doing this right, it seems to be annoying the wife :confused:
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3 & 4 are TV at it's absolutely best, doesn't get any better anywhere. So yeah jump straight in you lucky man!
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
Series TWO done and dusted!

I'm tapped out … gonna have to re-up #3 – this shit's off the hook!

Someone tell me if I'm doing this right, it seems to be annoying the wife :confused:
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It's impossible to not have some of the street slang rub off on you, so I feel ya.

Man, season two dragged on for me, but that episode ending where Dee was encouraged to lay off whatever he was sniffin' totally roped me in. A real "whoooaaaa" moment for me.

The best is yet to come, though :)
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
3 days :p

But thanks - looking forward to it!
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I didn't mean that I took a long time getting through it, but just that it felt slow to me because I wasn't as invested for a large part of it.

I second what a lot of other people say now, though. It's a cracking season.
 
Eriku said:
I didn't mean that I took a long time getting through it, but just that it felt slow to me because I wasn't as invested for a large part of it.

I second what a lot of other people say now, though. It's a cracking season.
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I loved it, but then I do wonder if I'm being influenced by all the "love" (from people that have seen it already)?

I'm constantly being reassured how good everything's going to be … so how can it not FFS!

I can imagine it might have been hard to get into the show the first time around as people didn't have access to the viewing options they do now ;). Had they then, perhaps more of the people that stumbled onto it may have had a chance to backtrack and catch up, rather than dropping it in confusion!

It was ahead of it's time i guess I'm saying.
 
Mystry said:
Yeah, I constantly tell people they earned that buck like a mother fecker.
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I'm going to try this the next time I tip someone.

SqueakyWeasel said:
Please tell me this is not a scene from the first two seasons :eek:

Otherwise I'm going to have to rewatch 25 hours of shows because for the life of me I do not remember that!
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No you're good. It's still ahead.
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
I noticed it straight away (the different versions of the song) because I'm binge-watching it. I wonder if it took some people a while in real time.
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Season 4's version was the best in my opinion and 5 the worst
 
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