the wire or the sopranos

santino

let me say at the outset that i am a nut for both shows and have seen every season of each.
I was talking to friend of mine the other day about the wire (trying to spread the good word as much as i can lol)
I said to him that's its PROBABLY better than the sopranos. To be honest i had it said before i realised it but i thought about it afterwards and I just can't make up my mind.
They are pretty similar... i suppose the wire gives you the best of both sides, cops and robbers...but saying that, the sopranos is the sopranos

I'd love yer thoughts on this......

JPA

Just enjoy them both, no point in comparing them.

This usually leads to point less arguments.

godtabh

I dont understand why people have make one better than the other.

I never got in to Sopranos. Thats not to say its bad. I like and dislike a lot of different tv and of what I've watched the Wire is top but thats a comparison based on what I have seen and not on the entire tv land

tony1kenobi

I couldn't choose between the two.....but if you put a gun to my head.....you'd probably end up shooting me.

rovert

Sopranos had better high water mark moments but it went terrible before the end, storylines dropped and had it's fair share of totally boring, pointless episodes. While The Wire smokes it for consistency.

Hitman Actual

I think it's unfair to compare the two; they're very different in their scope. One noticeable thing I like about both, though, is that for two shows based on serious crime, they also manage to have some of the funniest scenes in television.

lukin

I've just started to watch The Wire having never seen it before and am a huge fan of The Sopranos.
I think I have actually found a definitive answer to the long-running (and boring) "Is The Wire better than The Sopranos" debate:
(drum roll please) The Wire is seen as a better show by some as it is more intelligent and demands more of it's audience. It doesn't make things obvious to the viewer, so it is sometimes "hard work" to stay with it.
It also has the distinct advantage of having each season focus on a different aspect of it's subject (the social problems of a modern-day American city).
The Sopranos on the other hand is easy to understand, you don't have to concentrate too hard to follow the plots and it contains themes we can all identify with (depression, family, marital and relationship problems etc.)
However it doesn't have the option of changing the focus of each season like The Wire has, ie each season has to be about Tony, the mafia and his family.
Let me add that I am very much enjoying what I have seen of The Wire so far.

greendom

For me (and my constitution) The Sopranos provided a sugar rush hit, wheras the Wire is more of a low gi carbohydrate. the Sopranos was more enjoyable, The Wire probably better for me.

godtabh

lukin wrote: »

The Wire is seen as a better show by some as it is more intelligent and demands more of it's audience. It doesn't make things obvious to the viewer, so it is sometimes "hard work" to stay with it.

Thats not new around here

lukin

kearnsr wrote: »

Thats not new around here

Yeah but it is to me as I've never watched it before and so have never read this forum before.:)

cjt156

greendom wrote: »

For me (and my constitution) The Sopranos provided a sugar rush hit, wheras the Wire is more of a low gi carbohydrate. the Sopranos was more enjoyable, The Wire probably better for me.

On a different tack; I'd say The Sopranos was like Coke, The Wire like Heroin...

santino

JPA wrote: »

Just enjoy them both, no point in comparing them.

This usually leads to point less arguments.

Ah c'mon...it's nice to get other peoples opinions on things isn't it??
Isn't the whole point of boards about airing one's views and seeing what others think and having lively discussions and maybe picking up new things. Does the phrase 'we learn something new every day' ring a (stringer) bell?

These shows are better than the usual crap that's been pumped out these days--Exhibit A,Desperate Housewives, Exhibit B, X Factor, etc etc.

They are the nearest thing to a good Primetime undercover story (except with a bigger budget and more artistic licence lol)
They expose a part of life that we all know exists (drugs+mobsters) but that some people don't want to talk about or even acknowledge. We are constantly told that the shows are as true to life as can be.

Finally,i would agree with most of you lovely respondents that the wire probably had more legs as the seasons went on than the sopranos. Glad to have seen both though

Don't stop Believing......fade to black

Johnny Storm

lukin wrote: »

... The Wire is seen as a better show by some as it is more intelligent and demands more of it's audience. It doesn't make things obvious to the viewer, so it is sometimes "hard work" to stay with it.
....

IMHO you could reasonably say the same things about the Sopranos.

Dob74

Has to be the Wire.
If you took out the dream episodes the Sopranos would be better.
But David Chase tried to get artie and it didn't work