The Wire

I've had this and the Shield mentioned to be, think I'll have to give them a watch.

My fav is Sopranos, but some people have said these rival it.


FD
 
The wire is incredibly good, just as The sopranos. And if you like Westerns a little bit, Deadwood (also by HBO) is another masterpiece, even if it get cut after the 3rd season.
 
I've seen Deathwood, the Shield, Battlestar Galactica (have yet to see The Soprano's), they are all very, very good.

But the Wire pisses all over them, by a mile the best television series i 've have seen. Soon there is the new series by the writer of The Wire (David Simon) on DVD: Treme. Series about post Katrina New Orleans and about music...with some actors who also played in The Wire (Bunk, Lester and aslo once again Steve Earle).
 
Mate, if you like the Mafia movies etc, this is for you. For me the best thing I've ever watched on TV, favourite series of all time.

I'm going to start on the wire I think.


FD
 
My problem is that of all these very good series, the Wire is the first i've seen. IMO it's by far the best and in comparison all the rest seems slightly disappointing.

But when i read reviews, it seems the Sopranos are the series that come closest with the Wire...(just have to finish Battlestar Galactica and then i will start the Sopranos, after that i still have to watch Mad Men and True Blood...i love those HBO series).
 
To me The Sopranos are up there with The wire, for sure. Mad men is very very good, only slightly behind those 2, but at the same high level of Deadwood, Rome, Carnivale, Treme and Twin Peaks.

Boardwalk Empire can become truly great if they continue to improve (and the grand-father of the fabulous The Wire character Omar Little seems to appear in it!! lol), and there's John Adams, a mini-serie that's worth being watched starring Paul Giamatti.
 
I need to carry on with The Shield, S1 was great. Up there with The Wire, agreed.
 
Placebo said:
The Wire is great, The Shield and Breaking Bad are better, IMO :)
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Breaking Bad is outstanding, great show :).

The Wire and The Sopranos I just couldn't get into, I watched about half of the pilot episodes and they just didn't hook me at all, same with Mad Men - do they pick up after a few episodes?

Dexter, Lost, Fringe, Breaking Bad, Chuck and 24 had me hooked very quickly, down to great acting/characters and/or action-packed storylines.
Maybe I'll grow into shows like The Wire, I keep meaning to give it another go but havn't got round to it yet!
 
Well, to me it's just the complete opposite, I couldn't cope with any of the shows you watched! Just to show how different tastes people can have.
It's a good thing as then there' debate and it's interesting to see why some people likes something and why some others don't. My sister watches exactly the same shows you do and never could get into HBO series, so we have great debates when we meet for dinner.

Lost was good in the 1st season, before they lost all traces of a coherent story (at least to me). I find Breaking bad a stalled show. Me and my wife watched 1st and 2nd seasons and were quite bored so stopped there and watch other things. Dexter has been a constant let down the last seasons, with very punctual exceptions. We just can't stand all secondary characters, they're so plain.

So it depends on what kind of show you're looking for. Personally, I expect a show to be like a very very large movie. The wire and The sopranos are that, just a long long movie that hardly try to fall into the "episode with cliffhanger" structure and move in very long story archs (sometimes there isn't any).

That obsession with twists, cliffhanger and trying to offer "cool" and catchy moments instead of investing in believable characters is what bores me a little of most shows, they are so obviously structured that they're not even funny. Mad men would be the complete opposite, you never know what the show is about, other than following some individuals in their work and private life. And that's the reason why I simply watch it to enjoy it.

Tastes!
 
I have more your taste drekkard.
Lost is not as good as the HBO series, but that is a series i enjoyed apart from the end (but that was to be expected). In fact Lost is one of the only series both my wife and i like...
The other one (and very good IMO) is the Danish series "The killing".
At the moment there are 2 series and i recommend the second (you don't have to see the first to enjoy the second).
 
gerd said:
I have more your taste drekkard.
Lost is not as good as the HBO series, but that is a series i enjoyed apart from the end (but that was to be expected). In fact Lost is one of the only series both my wife and i like...
The other one (and very good IMO) is the Danish series "The killing".
At the moment there are 2 series and i recommend the second (you don't have to see the first to enjoy the second).
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"the killing" just started on uk tv tonite, looks good.
 
I like Coronation Street n Dream Team just because Lynda I mean Carla oops ...Alison King. Is so00 interesting person...
 
Have to say Omar as Kermit was the best of them all! Though I can't imagine hearing "Kermit is coming!" through the neighborhood.
 
Onto the final season now, wasn't overly impressed with 4, not into all the school-kids and stuff and haven't been to taken with the whole politics thing, but hey-ho.

Been really good, although not anywhere near the best TV I've watched, but good nonetheless.


FD
 
fd1972uk said:
Onto the final season now, wasn't overly impressed with 4, not into all the school-kids and stuff and haven't been to taken with the whole politics thing, but hey-ho.

Been really good, although not anywhere near the best TV I've watched, but good nonetheless.


FD
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Different people have different tastes Frank.
For me Season 4 was the absolute high point of The Wire (Season 5 was good, but something of an anti-climax after season 4). To me The Wire is still the best thing i've ever seen on television...

Other splendid series: Friday Night Lights (about an American Football team in a litle town in Texas, this comes closest to The Wire imo), In Treatment, The Soprano's, Deadwood, The Shield, Twin Peaks and some very good Belgian series (we have amazingly good television series for such a small market).
 
I watched a lot of "In Treatment" season one, it was quite good but I never stuck with it for some reason. I should have another look I think.
 
Another one that I used to watch. I think I stopped during season 4 at some point.

the coach went to work for another school in a red uniform, big rivals?

Don't think I even finished the season but I should definitely get back to it.
 
I liked a lot the season 4 of the Wire. But maybe the resolution of that season came a little (only a little) short to what I expected. Anyway it was bloody better than 99% of television shows out there. To me the highlights would be season 2 (Sobotka!) and 3 (Avon, Stringer Bell), though I value the whole series as a unit really and it was amazing. Season 5 was always going to be a wrap up, and I think they did it with class, as always.
 
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