Series like The West Wing/Wire/Sopranos ..

part time punk

.. Just finished watching the West Wing last night after years of avoiding it, thinking I wouldn't like it. Amazing viewing. I also loved the Wire and Sopranos. Bereft of ideas for a great tv series to watch now. Any recommendations? Thanks

Mocha Joe

Breaking Bad. You've plenty of time to catch up before the final season next June.

jinxremoving

Definitely second Breaking Bad, quality show.

Cherry_Cola

Breaking Bad
Deadwood
The Shield
Six Feet Under

All essential viewing for any TV fan.

Shane10

i love Rescue Me with dennis leary. brilliant IMO.

Penn

Oz and Breaking Bad.

Go!

Otacon

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Another Sorkin series, though it only lasted one season. Really looking forward to his new show, coming to HBO, about a nightly news show.

JP Liz V1

part time punk wrote: »

.. Just finished watching the West Wing last night after years of avoiding it, thinking I wouldn't like it. Amazing viewing. I also loved the Wire and Sopranos. Bereft of ideas for a great tv series to watch now. Any recommendations? Thanks

+ 1 for Deadwood

and also I'd recommend Sons of Anarchy and Brotherhood

p to the e

Try "Homicide: Life on the Streets". It was essentially "The Wire" before that even existed. Same writer (David Simon) and based on his book of the same name. You'll also recognise several actors from The Wire aswell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide:_Life_on_the_Street

Gingersnaps

Breaking Bad.
Boardwalk Empire.
The Walking Dead.

ronnie3585

Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad.
The Shield.
Deadwood.
Oz.
Sons of Anarchy.
Tremé.
Game of Thrones.

All fantastic and in the same league as the Wire et cetera.

R P McMurphy

Underbelly is also worth a watch. First two series are terrific and gets weaker from there

Each series is stand alone so get the first two a watch anyway

dubdamo

Hugh fan of The Wire and Sopranos but I am really enjoying Dexter, on Season 6 now.

DarkJager

The Shield without a doubt, the first season will have you hooked and it just keeps getting better. Still sickened it has finished as its quite possibly the best series I've ever watched.

syklops

The West Wing ruined television for me. Nothing has been close since.

Otacon wrote: »

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Another Sorkin series, though it only lasted one season. Really looking forward to his new show, coming to HBO, about a nightly news show.

Couldn't get into that. I think it was because it had too many of the same actors from the west wing. And once you have seen them running the United States, running a film studio is a bit of a step down

Dermighty

DEADWOOD

The greatest tv I've ever seen for so many reasons!

Also OZ is excellent

TwoShedsJackson

DarkJager wrote: »

The Shield without a doubt, the first season will have you hooked and it just keeps getting better. Still sickened it has finished as its quite possibly the best series I've ever watched.

It had to end sometime and they did wrap it up in a deeply satisfying manner.

R P McMurphy

Dermighty wrote: »

[SIZE="4"]DEADWOOD[/SIZE]

The greatest tv I've ever seen for so many reasons!

Also OZ is excellent

I think i saw the three series for 23 euro with delivery on play.com. great investment

Custardpi

Definitely second Deadwood. Not sure why it ended after 3 seasons though, there was a lot more places the characters could have been taken. Currently watching the second season of Boardwalk Empire, with Steve Buscemi as the main character. Fantastic show, really captures the spirit of the prohibition age.

Another show I like is Treme, which is set in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Wendell Pierce from The Wire is in it. Gives a warts & all portrayal of a city trying to construct a new future for itself, with all the shattered dreams, social problems, corruption, etc that go along with that. Some fantastic characters in it (not least Antoine played by Pierce) & there's plenty of jazz music sessions too, showcasing the wide cultural heritage of New Orleans as well as more modern styles coming out of the area. Can't recommend it enough basically.

curry-muff

part time punk wrote: »

.. Just finished watching the West Wing last night after years of avoiding it, thinking I wouldn't like it. Amazing viewing. I also loved the Wire and Sopranos. Bereft of ideas for a great tv series to watch now. Any recommendations? Thanks

Just backing up a lot of what people have said in here already but the Wire, Sopranos and West Wing are 3 of my favourite shows so maybe you'll have a similar taste to me.

Firstly Dexter, probably the best show running at the minute, plenty of stuff to watch too and it sticks with the crime genre like the wire and sopranos.

Secondly Breaking Bad, its a bit different to the shows you have mentioned but its one of the best storylines to any show I've ever watched.

Thirdly Sons Of Anarchy, brilliant show, fast paced, and every season gets better and better, the current season is set to end with a bang.

Finally, The Shield, only actually started it recently myself and just finished season 1, already amazed at the show. The Wire is my favourite show of all time and The Shield is similar in many ways, definitely the closest thing to The Wire that I have watched.

If you watch any of these four I can pretty much guarantee you wont be disappointed.

eh i dunno

24 and forget going out for 2 months

Pepe LeFrits

First 4 seasons of Dexter. 3rd isn't quite up to it but you need to watch it to get 4. Don't watch 5 or 6.

First 12 episodes of 24, then skip to season 5, then turn off

part time punk

Thanks for all the suggestions guys and gals. Reckon I'll give Breaking Bad/Dexter a go next so.

syklops wrote: »

The West Wing ruined television for me. Nothing has been close since.

.. although I do feel a bit like this, I'm sure it'll pass once I get into something else.

Seren_

Mocha Joe wrote: »

Breaking Bad. You've plenty of time to catch up before the final season next June.

Just after finishing the first season there a few minutes ago - absolutely brilliant! Definitely recommend it OP.

Game of Thrones is really good too, only 1 season aired so far. I know it's probably a bit left of field (based on fantasy novels) than the shows you have mentioned, but it is really good.

McSpud

Brotherhood - the Irish American Sopranos, crime & politics.

Breaking is the best show on tv, never disappoints.

Orion

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

First 4 seasons of Dexter. 3rd isn't quite up to it but you need to watch it to get 4. Don't watch 5 or 6

1-4 upward spiral with 4 being the best season. 5 was a bit crap but 6 is good.

Breaking Bad - has it been mentioned yet

Boss with Kelsey Grammar is pretty good. Still on Season 1 and picked up for a second season.

expectationlost

hbo

NotorietyH

Defintiely Breaking Bad and Deadwood. Two incredible shows.

I really enjoy Justified too, but there's only 2 seasons of it so far.

I haven't liked Dexter since series 1, and I'm a fan of the books, show just doesn't click with me.

The West Wing and The Wire are probably my two favourite shows of all time, Breaking Bad is joining them though probably when it finishes. Deadwood is pretty high up there too.

cosmic

Another vote for Breaking Bad here!

Also Oz. You'll recognise loads of The Wire cast in Oz too (including Bodie, Daniels, Cheese...).

Game of Thrones is awesome as well. It has a stellar line up of actors in it, including Aiden Gillen who you plays Carcetti in The Wire.

Boardwalk Empire is great too. Again, a great cast. Also features Omar from the Wire. Nom!

SB-08

I love The Wire, West Wing and Sopranos too and would recommend 24 (the most addictive show ever imo), Dexter and The Shield. Damages is also an excellent legal drama with Glen Close which is highly underated.

don ramo

part time punk wrote: »

.. although I do feel a bit like this, I'm sure it'll pass once I get into something else.

no it wont

tunguska

Same here, just finished watching The West wing and thought it was pretty good. Just started watching the sopranos aswell.
As for recomendations, I cant believe nobody has mentioned Mad men. In my opinion it makes the west wing look like amateur hour. Dexter is great too. As for Breaking bad, I could be lynched for saying this, but I didnt enjoy it. Its well written, directed, head and shoulders above most things but theres just way too much arguing and hatred between the characters. I know in real life people argue, fair enough, but not 24/7. Its relentless. The only likeable character in the whole thing is Jesse. Even walter(played by the brilliant brian cranston)is fairly unlikeable. His wife, skyler is a horrible character, bull busting pain in the ass doesnt even begin to describe her. Anway, I await the torrent of abuse.....

R P McMurphy

Braquo is currently showing on fx, is a French cop drama and is certainly gearing up to be one of the better shows that I have seen

KeanSeenan

tunguska wrote: »

As for Breaking bad, I could be lynched for saying this, but I didnt enjoy it. Its well written, directed, head and shoulders above most things but theres just way too much arguing and hatred between the characters. I know in real life people argue, fair enough, but not 24/7. Its relentless. The only likeable character in the whole thing is Jesse. Even walter(played by the brilliant brian cranston)is fairly unlikeable. His wife, skyler is a horrible character, bull busting pain in the ass doesnt even begin to describe her. Anway, I await the torrent of abuse.....

'Death Threat'. The lack of likeable characters was always something I liked about BB. The less morally sound the main players are, the more unexpected their moves are, in my opinion. Skyler's 'bull busting' is important to Walt's flaws and some of his motivations. But yeah, Mad Men is also class.
Luther's an alright show, has Stringer Bell as a homicide detective in London(Yes the actual character). Wish it was a bit more serialised, but with like 4 episodes a season, I think they did a pretty good job on it.

cosmic

tunguska wrote: »

The only likeable character in the whole thing is Jesse

How can you not love Hank?! He's my hero!

tunguska wrote: »

Anway, I await the torrent of abuse.....

adox

tunguska wrote: »

Same here, just finished watching The West wing and thought it was pretty good. Just started watching the sopranos aswell.
As for recomendations, I cant believe nobody has mentioned Mad men. In my opinion it makes the west wing look like amateur hour. Dexter is great too. As for Breaking bad, I could be lynched for saying this, but I didnt enjoy it. Its well written, directed, head and shoulders above most things but theres just way too much arguing and hatred between the characters. I know in real life people argue, fair enough, but not 24/7. Its relentless. The only likeable character in the whole thing is Jesse. Even walter(played by the brilliant brian cranston)is fairly unlikeable. His wife, skyler is a horrible character, bull busting pain in the ass doesnt even begin to describe her. Anway, I await the torrent of abuse.....

Crikey I like all the characters in Breaking Bad, except for Skylar. Even the baddies are very likeable in a sadistic way. Tuco is up there with my favourite baddies ever.

I think you better call Saul.

kupus

Cant fault any of those with the wire, the shield, dexter, BBad and especially deadwood with al swearengen being the most hateful and likeable characters you'll see in a series.

Special mentions for
Empire Falls a mini series from 2005 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376591/
The Event although it only lasted a season
Battlestar Galatica, new version,
well worth checking out.....

Biggins

Glad you liked The West Wing. A good few suggestions have been made above. "Breaking Bad" is awesome, as is "The Shield", "The Wire" - even check out "The Corner" (INFO).
I'm a sci-fi fan and would without doubt recommend "Firefly" (Fox's BIGGEST ever mistake in not continuing to make) after you watch that, see the later film they made to wrap things up called "Serenity".
"Babylon 5" I would also give a mention to.

As much as I love Firefly/Serenity (some of the cast were present during my wedding & I count them as friends - Nathan Fillion is one dead genuine nice, funny guy) without doubt "The West Wing" takes pride and place as the best TV series I have ever watched (again and again...).
My special presidential boxset takes the honoured position of centre top of video shelf.
Anyone that denies themselves the joy and wonder of watching it, is losing out big time.
Its just a complete work of television art.

adox

I've never seen an episode of The West Wing and I watch a hell of a lot of US tv.

Oafley Jones

Breaking Bad has been mentioned a lot for a reason. It's only a mini series but Generation Kill is a must for fans of The Wire. You're fairly safe with anything ny HBO... Deadwood is also Excellent but beware that it was cancelled before they had the chance to wrap it. Six feet under features possibly the most unlikeable bunch of characters you could meet and can tend towards the soap operay but is well worth a watch. Features a phenomal performance by Michael C hall who went onto Dexter. I do love Dexter but only season 1 and 4 are great with the current season 6 being the only awful one, although the jimmy Smits season is pretty poor as well. Loved Rome but its only two seasons long and suffers from having the last 6 episodes consist of 3-4 season worth of stories as they found out that they were being cancelled. Edit because i forgot to add my thumbs up for The shield and Mad Men.

For something different I recently rewatched Battlestar Galactica and surprisingly the gf liked it quite a bit. another show I watch that has fallen off a cliff is Supernatural. The first season I thought was Sub x-files Rubbish done on a even more meagre budget but after that the overall arc till season 5 finale is excellent.

johnny_ultimate

The Killing - original Danish version aka Forbrydelsen - is the one of the few shows I've seen that has the same beautifully considered pacing and narrative as the Wire. What CSI sort out in forty five minutes, Sarah Lund takes around twenty hours, and it's wonderful. The first series is guilty of the occasional red herring, granted, but the character development keeps you glued for the extended running time. The shorter (but still masterly) Series II is currently showing on BBC Four - but don't jump in the middle.

Please be aware you might feel a sudden urge to purchase ludicrous jumpers.

Oafley Jones

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Killing - original Danish version aka Forbrydelsen - is the one of the few shows I've seen that has the same beautifully considered pacing and narrative as the Wire. What CSI sort out in forty five minutes, Sarah Lund takes around twenty hours, and it's wonderful. The first series is guilty of the occasional red herring, granted, but the character development keeps you glued for the extended running time. The shorter (but still masterly) Series II is currently showing on BBC Four - but don't jump in the middle.

Please be aware you might feel a sudden urge to purchase ludicrous jumpers.

I've never seen people turn on a show faster than The Killing but I'm curious to watch it myself. This is coming from someone who Always felt that Steven Bochco was shortchanged with Murder One and hated that they didn't have the conviction to continue with the format (and lead) in season two.

cosmic

Biggins wrote: »

As much as I love Firefly/Serenity (some of the cast were present during my wedding & I count them as friends - Nathan Fillion is one dead genuine nice, funny guy.

You know Mal Reynolds?!!

*swoon*

johnny_ultimate

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I've never seen people turn on a show faster than The Killing but I'm curious to watch it myself. This is coming from someone who Always felt that Steven Bochco was shortchanged with Murder One and hated that they didn't have the conviction to continue with the format (and lead) in season two.

Oh The American one is meant to be a piece of ****.

Danish version ftw!

ballsymchugh

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Killing - original Danish version aka Forbrydelsen - is the one of the few shows I've seen that has the same beautifully considered pacing and narrative as the Wire. What CSI sort out in forty five minutes, Sarah Lund takes around twenty hours, and it's wonderful. The first series is guilty of the occasional red herring, granted, but the character development keeps you glued for the extended running time. The shorter (but still masterly) Series II is currently showing on BBC Four - but don't jump in the middle.

Please be aware you might feel a sudden urge to purchase ludicrous jumpers.

i 'obtained' season one of the killing during the week and have been watching it all day. it's cracking. from the same channel that have breaking bad.

adox

ballsymchugh wrote: »

i 'obtained' season one of the killing during the week and have been watching it all day. it's cracking. from the same channel that have breaking bad.

The American version really is awful compared to the original.

johnny_ultimate

Remember kids: if every other word isn't Tak, it isn't The Killing!

jesus_thats_gre

Rescue Me and Deadwood are top class. The Shield start off so so but come the end, it is an excellent show. Breaking Bad is a very good show but don't quite rate it up there with The Wire, The Sorpranos, Rescue Me or Deadwood.

Niles

If you're a fan of The West Wing it might be worth checking out some of Aaron Sorkin's other works. Sports Night was produced by him, set around the production of a fictional sports programme. It kind of flitters between comedy and drama, the first season has a laugh track that disappeared in the second one. It only lasted two seasons but I found it entertaining enough. Don't know what the DVD ability is like though, hasn't been broadcast over here a few years AFAIK.

Actually, speaking of The West Wing, there was another series (around 2005/6?) set around the idea of the first female US president, Donald Sutherland was in it (not as the female president I hasten to add!:D). I think it was called Commander in Chief. Only lasted one season though.

bnt

Niles wrote: »

Actually, speaking of The West Wing, there was another series (around 2005/6?) set around the idea of the first female US president, Donald Sutherland was in it (not as the female president I hasten to add!:D). I think it was called Commander in Chief. Only lasted one season though.

Yep - it starred Geena Davis as the President. I saw one episode, thought it was too much like The West Wing, too soon. Even now, six years on, anything set in the White House is going to be compared to TWW, and will probably suffer in the comparison.

One more recommendation for Six Feet Under. You'll never think of death in quite the same way ever again. Ended after five seasons with possibly the greatest "closure" in TV history. I get warm chills (?) just thinking about it.

part time punk

Thanks again for more suggestions. The Danish version of the Killing is one I've been meaning to check out. Watched the whole US series until about 2 or 3 epdisodes from the end, missed an epsiode or 2, and then fell asleep during the last one!