In all the posts recommending The Wire...

User45701

how come i didnt see any that said "HBO Made it"

im just sitting down to the first episode now and before the first scene even came on i had a smile as the hbo logo came up and deciced to pause to ask the above question.

The logo reminds me of watching all 6 seasons of oz and i look forward to doing the same with the wire. ive been saving this show for a while now - im trying to cut down on my smoking and i find playing a tence or slow moving game makes me want to smoke and watching the same ol tv shows is the same, i get bored so i have a smoke.

Hopefully blitzing a new show like the wire will keep me so entertained i dont think about having a smoke.

I hear this show is better than the shield, but id imagine they are very different shows. Is it more entertaining than oz?

RobAMerc

you lucky baxtard - how I would love to be starting the wonderful journey you are embarking on - I've watched them all - I've nothing left now :eek:

lifes awful post the wire ( well TV is anyway ):D

amacachi

Because the show speaks for itself, it doesn't need to get by on the reputation of the producers/actors.

It is very different to The Shield, but better IMO. Haven't seen Oz for comparison. Watch at least 3 episodes to begin.

rob316

If you like Oz you'll love the wire. Alot of the same cast too but not as disturbing and violent to watch. Im on season four of the wire flying through it.

Its up their with The Sopranos no doubt.

fugazied

You will enjoy it immensely . However a reccomendation, get the album "Game Theory" by the rap band "The Roots". It is the soundtrack that the wire deserved. The language used on that album and in the wire synchronise perfectly. Talking about sitting on the corner trying to get the paper (benjamins) out.
Black Thought from the roots is from south philly, where crime is at the same level as displayed in the wire. Listening to the band, his lyrics mirror whats goes down in the wire.

User45701

Watched the first ep last night and it was a good watch but not what i expected at all. The people in work who have seen it have told me to give it 3 or 5 eps to see if it get sucked into it.

Seems a bit odd to me that in the year 2000 any western company would not have computers let alone a police force - twas a bit odd, i didnt have a clue what year it was still i heard aboutt he towers and saw some mobile phones

jor el

User45701 wrote: »

I hear this show is better than the shield, but id imagine they are very different shows.

It's certainly different to The Shield, and I'd say it is also better. One thing I found similar (other than it being about cops) is that there isn't one episode in either series that you could call bad. If you missed any episode, you'd be missing something important in the story. There are plenty of shows out there where you could probably drop 50% of the episodes, and not miss a single thing.

rob316 wrote: »

Its up their with The Sopranos no doubt.

Far better than The Sopranos. Even though it was good, there were pointless episodes in The Sopranos, especially in the final series, that served pretty much no purpose in the overall show.

ronnie3585

User45701 wrote: »

people in work who have seen it have told me to give it 3 or 5 eps to see if it get sucked into it.

Some good advice, give it a couple a episodes and you will start to get to know the characters. and get an understanding of the plot

I would love to be you, you're in for a real treat!

K4t

jor el wrote: »

Far better than The Sopranos.

No it's not. One is about a city, the other about the family. Hard to compare tbh. And every Sopranos episode had a purpose. Some people just can't always decipher it

Both classic tv programmes. I watch the box sets on a regular basis.

User45701 wrote: »

The logo reminds me of watching all 6 seasons of oz

Gay-boy.

Dero

I suppose it would help to mention that it is an HBO production. No matter, you've started now anyway.

There's a similar thread here in the Wire forum that you can add your experiences to.

SarahJ

I have season 1 and 2 on dvd, after someone recommended them and said its better than Sopranos (that's difficult), but I'm gona save them until I move into my new house

Davei141

Why do people keep comparing sopranos and the wire? it happens every thread about the wire. They are both great that's about as far as the similarities go.

Vegeta

I had to watch the 1st episode twice.

First time I watched it I was tired and it was a cheap copy (I know I know) and it didn't grab me

One of the guys in work was going on and on about it so I gave it a second chance and thank god I did.

Unfortunately television will never be the same for me. I know sometimes people say this to emphasise their point of view but I actually believe if you don't like the wire then there's something wrong with you.

SarahJ

Davei141 wrote: »

Why do people keep comparing sopranos and the wire? it happens every thread about the wire. They are both great that's about as far as the similarities go.

i reckon he did cos I'm obsessed with the Sopranos

tvnutz

Davei141 wrote: »

Why do people keep comparing sopranos and the wire? it happens every thread about the wire. They are both great that's about as far as the similarities go.

I'd imagine because when people talk about the best tv show ever made,most people say they Sopranos. The same with shows you see on Channel 4 "100 Best tv shows" or something like that,the sopranos usually comes out on top. Of course most people have never heard of the wire,so insane Wire fans like myself would say The Wire is the best tv show ever made and should be on top of those lists.

They are both brilliant shows so they get compared to each other,which really shouldn't happen because they are very different shows.

jor el

K4t wrote: »

No it's not. One is about a city, the other about the family. Hard to compare tbh.

Easy to compare, they're both TV shows, and from an entertainment point of view, The Wire is better.

K4t wrote: »

And every Sopranos episode had a purpose. Some people just can't always decipher it

The episode where Tony was a degenerate gambler, came out of nowhere, and in the very next episode, he had no problem, and his gambling was never mentioned again. It was there purely to fill an hour. Most of the stuff in the episodes where Tony had been shot, all that dream sequence stuff, pure and utter nonsense. It didn't need it, and it played no real part in the show. Earlier seasons had nothing like this, and each episode was unmissable. The final series had a lot of filler.

The Wire, and The Shield, had no filler episodes.

Davei141 wrote: »

Why do people keep comparing sopranos and the wire?

Probably because they are both;
HBO
Gripping
Realistic (to a degree)
Critically acclaimed
Highly respected, television shows. You wouldn't compare The Sopranos to Home & Away, even though they're both on the TV, but comparing TV shows of a similar high standard is quite usual.

Auvers

jor el wrote: »

The episode where Tony was a degenerate gambler, came out of nowhere, and in the very next episode, he had no problem, and his gambling was never mentioned again. It was there purely to fill an hour. Most of the stuff in the episodes where Tony had been shot, all that dream sequence stuff, pure and utter nonsense. It didn't need it, and it played no real part in the show. Earlier seasons had nothing like this, and each episode was unmissable. The final series had a lot of filler.
.

Completely agree with you but I think The Sopranos suffered from one season to many syndrome, while The Wire was the perfect length.

But I still cant separate them as there defiantly the two best TV dramas ever

AlmightyCushion

jor el wrote: »

It's certainly different to The Shield, and I'd say it is also better. One thing I found similar (other than it being about cops) is that there isn't one episode in either series that you could call bad. If you missed any episode, you'd be missing something important in the story. There are plenty of shows out there where you could probably drop 50% of the episodes, and not miss a single thing.



Far better than The Sopranos. Even though it was good, there were pointless episodes in The Sopranos, especially in the final series, that served pretty much no purpose in the overall show.

What's the problem with these types of pointless episodes. OK, they may not advance the story at all but if they are entertaining then what's the harm.

One episode of stargate sg1 called Windows of opportunity is a complete filler episode that does nothing to progress the overall story. You could miss it and you wouldn't notice plot wise but you'd be missing out on a brilliant, funny episode. It usually sits quite high up on viewer favourite polls.

Davei141

jor el wrote: »

Easy to compare, they're both TV shows, and from an entertainment point of view, The Wire is better.

Both TV show's? gedoutahere! One could say from a entertaining point of view the soprano's is better. Pointless even comparing though.

The episode where Tony was a degenerate gambler, came out of nowhere, and in the very next episode, he had no problem, and his gambling was never mentioned again. It was there purely to fill an hour. Most of the stuff in the episodes where Tony had been shot, all that dream sequence stuff, pure and utter nonsense. It didn't need it, and it played no real part in the show. Earlier seasons had nothing like this, and each episode was unmissable. The final series had a lot of filler.

The whole show is basically about how messed up Tony Soprano is, those 2 episodes added to it.

The Wire, and The Shield, had no filler episodes.

2 completely different show's. Dont tell me the wire and shield comparison's are going to get broken out because they both have cop's in them. :rolleyes:

Probably because they are both;
HBO
Gripping
Realistic (to a degree)
Critically acclaimed
Highly respected, television shows. You wouldn't compare The Sopranos to Home & Away, even though they're both on the TV, but comparing TV shows of a similar high standard is quite usual.

It may be quite usual but it's still completely pointless. HBO gripping and realistic (to a degree). Clutching at straws to be honest.

I have 1-5 seasons of the wire on dvd and enjoyed them all immensely. But please for the love of god stop with the soprano's comparison's. Enjoy the both.

Also it seems the show's fan base has been hi jacked by wannabe intellectuals. People go on like it's some sort of complicated holy grail and only a select few of the chosen people can "truly understand it". It's pretty pathetic.

Unfortunately television will never be the same for me. I know sometimes people say this to emphasise their point of view but I actually believe if you don't like the wire then there's something wrong with you.

Case in point.

Vegeta

Davei141 wrote: »

Also it seems the show's fan base has been hi jacked by wannabe intellectuals. People go on like it's some sort of complicated holy grail and only a select few of the chosen people can "truly understand it". It's pretty pathetic.

Case in point.

Reading too far into it there Dave. Grow up a bit lad and don't take the net so seriously.

tvnutz

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

What's the problem with these types of pointless episodes. OK, they may not advance the story at all but if they are entertaining then what's the harm.

One episode of stargate sg1 called Windows of opportunity is a complete filler episode that does nothing to progress the overall story. You could miss it and you wouldn't notice plot wise but you'd be missing out on a brilliant, funny episode. It usually sits quite high up on viewer favourite polls.

Well you can't compare the Sopranos to a sci-fi show. The sopranos was a serious show dealing with serious issues,if you asked the creator he would probably say of course there were no filler episodes. That would be an insult. Sci-fi shows,fantasy shows,hell basically most network shows have filler episodes,mainly because they need them (20+ episodes a season). Cable shows have half that amount and shows like the Sopranos and The Wire would not set out to have a filler episode.

So I agree with Jor-el's point that perhaps the Sopranos had a few episodes that just went off track. The show is a very psychological show,dealing with how Tony thinks and acts,which is all fleshed out for us in Melfi's sessions with Tony. For a show so psychological,to have an episode where Tony is portrayed as a degenerate gambler and then for it never to be mentioned again...a slip up in the writing that I thought happened a few times in the last 2 seasons,but were very rare before that. The dream sequences when he gets shot weren't completely useless,they showed how his mind reacted when close to death,although he didn't remember anything afterwards if I recall,which could have changed him!

rovert

User45701 wrote: »

Watched the first ep last night and it was a good watch but not what i expected at all. The people in work who have seen it have told me to give it 3 or 5 eps to see if it get sucked into it.

It is internet law that every thread about the Wire has this exact same post.

SarahJ wrote: »

I have season 1 and 2 on dvd, after someone recommended them and said its better than Sopranos (that's difficult), but I'm gona save them until I move into my new house

For me the Sopranos has more high watermark moments. But The Wire is end to end far more consistant in the quality of the writing.

Johnny Storm

IMHO the Sopranos set out to be an entertaining show while The Wire's priority is to be gritty, realistic etc as well as entertaining.

I am up to S2EP10 of The Wire. It is no doubt an excellent TV show. My impression to date is that season 2 is not quite as good as season 1.

User45701

im on ep 7 or is it 8? i dont know - still i just wanted to say Omar is class my fac charactor so far and the one and only - single "african american gansta" charactor i have ever liked in ANY tv show or movie. i normelly HATE them all because of how pathetic they all are.

Let me stress i am not raciest i have friends from all walks of life i just cant understand how any human brain can act like that, i know they grow up there and all and have no choice ect but all im saying is i hate every african american gansta in ever tv show except Omar - he is a class characor.

off topic l like the guy from wire in lost and sisko in ds9, and other shows im too drunk to think of/list. i stress again...

http://noisetosignal.org/images/posts/ted/rightthere.jpeg

but really i have never liked any aferican american gangster in any show but Omar brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh

EDIT: just finished ep 9 Omar ****ing rules!