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The Wire vs. The Sopranos

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    #212
    BUNK1982
    Registered Users Posts: 540 ✭✭✭BUNK1982


    The Black Oil wrote: »
    A stretch for storytelling, or realism? The juking the stats - we've had the penalty points mess, amongst other things. Hamsterdam is probably a harder sell, though it's really a vehicle for Simon and co. to make a point. If you compare it with McNulty in 5, it's two men turning to desperate measures. As for the journalist in 5, I did like how dislikable he was owing to his self-serving antics.

    I dunno. I'm just a viewer, I suppose. ;)

    No you have a point - but most things in the show are there as a vehicle to make a point.

    Juking stats seems might seem to be the most realistic behaviour to us but if you go down that road and it becomes culturally accepted in an organisation then where do you stop?

    The police came under pressure from politicians to present better stats with less resources just like the paper came under pressure from shareholders to boost revenue and cut costs. That's what makes men like McNulty and the journalist resort to desperate measures.


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    #213
    BUNK1982
    Registered Users Posts: 540 ✭✭✭BUNK1982


    Penn wrote: »
    The biggest difference between both shows for me was in The Sopranos, I didn't really like any of the characters. Some of them had their moments, but overall, none of them were really that likable. Which meant I didn't really care if anything happened to them. Whereas with The Wire, I liked almost every character. Regardless of who they were, what they did, good or bad... nearly every character was likable in some way.

    I dunno - I wouldn't fancy having lunch with the Greek!

    On the Sopranos though - any character that shows a weakness is immediately devoured by the wiseguys like Arty Bucco or Tony's high school friend in Season 2.

    I watched an interview with Michael Imperioli who plays Christopher and one of the things he noticed is that the likes of Pauly, Silivio etc. who aren't at the top have to work really hard to make living. you see them with all the fancy clothes, flash cars and spoiled kids but they have to work 24/7 to keep that going.


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    #214
    Ping Chow Chi
    Registered Users Posts: 3,779 ✭✭✭Ping Chow Chi


    the wire


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    #215
    Right Turn Clyde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,487 ✭✭✭Right Turn Clyde


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    Season 5 is just as good as the rest. The reason people didn't like it was because of its focus on the media which to some was boring but it was actually very insightful.

    McNulty's antics felt too contrived, especially when compared to the rest of the series. That's why I don't like it. I read it as a criticism of how the media lap up artificial narratives, but as a metaphor it was laid on too thick. It wasn't boring. It was just poorly written.


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    #216
    deisedude
    Registered Users Posts: 4,839 ✭✭✭deisedude


    Love both shows but for the terrible Livia CGI after the real actresses death in the Sopranos was among the most cringeworthy tv i have ever seen. The Wire and Breaking Bad both pip Sopranos for me


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    #217
    Right Turn Clyde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,487 ✭✭✭Right Turn Clyde


    deisedude wrote: »
    Love both shows but for the terrible Livia CGI after the real actresses death in the Sopranos was among the most cringeworthy tv i have ever seen.

    What was the alternative?


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    #218
    deisedude
    Registered Users Posts: 4,839 ✭✭✭deisedude


    Right Turn Clyde wrote: »
    What was the alternative?

    Well seeing as Tony got a phonecall anyway to say she died i cant see why they didnt just do that and not bother with that scene


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    #219
    Right Turn Clyde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,487 ✭✭✭Right Turn Clyde


    deisedude wrote: »
    Well seeing as Tony got a phonecall anyway to say she died i cant see why they didnt just do that and not bother with that scene

    That's a fair point, and well argued.


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    #220
    Cartel Mike
    Registered Users Posts: 781 ✭✭✭Cartel Mike


    Watched them both over Christmas the wire first then Sopranos.

    As outright entertainment the wire doesn't really go in for that , its happy to compromise entertainment for gritty realism, there are no sound effects for eg, a distinct lack of music & often a lack of suspense & comedy.

    The sopranos does do outright entertainment, the music for eg is awesome ( eg John cooper Clarke's ' Evidently chickentown') . There is more in the way of suspense, there are dream sequences, comedic charaters like uncle junior & Paulie. It goes anywhere & everywhere. Its happy to comprise gritty realism for outright entertainment.

    The wire cares about the cops, how it portrays them , their frustrations , humantity ,corruption. politics, whether their job/sacfrafice is actually worth it etc etc .
    The sopranos doesn't really have cops, when they do their just a hindrance to a good ganster show. A few wise guys standing around wondering if there are going to be a few indictments comming there way, whereas in the wire there would have been five episodes dedicated to the process of just how those indictments were achieved, who lost their job over them , who signed them ,who died over them & who blackmailed who to get them.

    The wire doesn't have a main character .It examines a predominantly black american city especially the cops , the mayors who want them to fiddle the crime figures, the drug dealers etc . The Sopranos examines only the Sopano family, the physiology of being a crime boss, the wife to a boss & the effects on the children. Both compelling.

    For me the Wire only really gets going in Season three. Hamsterdam is genius . When bubbles walks through it at night for the first time it really hits you the huge scope of the show, the amount of hours of work , planning, filming & dedication of the creator & crew to film something like that may never be seen again.Fav character was the bunk, I genuinely disliked Aiden gillens politan character I don't think it was his strongest acting role. 2nd fav character was clay davis ..shiiiiiit.

    When I started watching the Sopranos (straight after) the biggest observation was that the acting was that much better. Obviously I could also relax a bit & not have to rewind scenes to pick up on important plot lines like I had with the wire. Ganfoldini is a acting force of nature in this. Also despite being made 3 years earlier its not visually dated ( the Wire sometimes had that dated hill street blues/cagney & lacey feel to it).
    It hops along at an enjoyable pace & although the wire had a few brilliantly funny scenes ,the Sopranos had frequent actual belly laughs eg Tony in a stable coma in the hospital , but when Paulie visits & starts talking about his sore balls ,tony's vital signs decrease & needs to get his heart jump started. There are so many rewatchable sceens in this show.

    If im honest I dont want to watch the wire again for at least 10 years. Its brilliant but it heavy. Considering how trigger happy network producers are now would it air for five seasons in today's ratings environment ? If you look at a show like Boss (influenced by the wire) & how it got axed so soon the answer might be no unfortunately. The Sopranos I could probably start rewatching tomorrow , when it first came out it changed tv's landscape,still feel the same way about it now, for out & out entertainment for me pound for pound it's probably still unsurpassed.


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