How is the Wire still one of the best shows ever?

Submitted by spontaneous_combust t3_zyj6wl in television

The Wire is so damn good....idk just a great mix of regular shit (for these people) and crazy shit goin down.....

such a great cast, with lots of HBO regulars....a few guys from OZ... the counciller who went on to be Littlefinger in GOT... Idris Elba is great and the guy who plays Omar also...

other fans? where do you rank it in HBo shows?

mine might be

The Wire

GOT
Deadwood

Sopranos (only b.c i watched it too much)

OZ although OZ is great and wonderful

94

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NukeDog t1_j26jxtf wrote

The King stay the King…

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TbddRzn t1_j2at2yq wrote

I binged it again a few weeks ago, and seriously it holds up so good. I actually think it got better this round of watching it. As I noticed more nuances and special things that just elevated the experience or maybe it’s just the high def resolution.

If you put the wire up against any great modern show I’d say it would still win 9/10 times. It’s just such a well written and well acted show.

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NukeDog t1_j2b3v7q wrote

Agreed. The beepers/pay phones/trac disposable phones and the old technology of the show is obviously very dated already (and already was within just a couple years of it ending), but the writing and the acting is top notch and will stand tall, as Avon would say. It was real, it was raw, it showed the dirty and corrupt behind the scenes stuff that happens in every walk of life. I rewatch it about every two years and still find myself going “ok one more episode” at 1 am when I should go to bed. Best show ever.

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FlopsMcDoogle t1_j299pao wrote

Kings get dethroned all the time. If somebody doesn't kill him or remove him, time will. I think The Wire actually is the best show ever made, but even now it is already a bit dated. Even if it stays the best, how many people are gonna want to watch it in 20 years?

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yaegerino t1_j29det0 wrote

More you think

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Aggravating_Sea496 t1_j29kvvt wrote

My favourite part of something that is outdated is in season 2 when McNulty is looking at them through binoculars fiddling with their phone and goes 'what are they doing?'

Cut to him explaining to the team on a white board 'Its something called 'SMS'. You don't have to call people through the phone. You can just send them written messages'.

And everyone looks confused.

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Fenway_Refugee t1_j29wwni wrote

Dude same in season 3 (?) when they discover that one couple was driving all day with burner phones bought at gas stations like it was a mother fucking revelation lol
Mother Fucker...

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scootscooterson t1_j29w59i wrote

A bit dated? The entire show is based around various technologies that don’t make any sense to kids these days, but that’s what makes a dated show timeless, it leans into that era. That being said there’s stuff around production that are constantly getting affected by tv upgrades so that stuff could to your point date the look and feel

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Spartyjason t1_j264x4b wrote

Great writing is timeless. And the corruption of the war on drugs continues to this day, so its always relevant. The only thing that changes is the technology.

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spontaneous_combust OP t1_j26ezit wrote

funny to see them geeking out about an external gps, when so many cars have them built in now. or else a cell phone has it. beepers, pay phones, flip phones still in use too.

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pardybill t1_j281rxe wrote

Yup. Especially good writing when it’s dramatic and can balance humor in key moments with cast that know they’re doing something special.

The West Wing is another that comes to mind that hits the right notes well.

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Ninnux t1_j26w6c8 wrote

The Wire, in my mind, is the greatest television show collection of art ever committed to film about the decay of the American dream. Full stop.

It is not the best television show. There are too many running for number one to really sort out that position.

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iiJokerzace t1_j28zk8z wrote

I can't remember a TV show where I thought every single character had great acting and script. And the wire is full of characters.

It may not be the best show, but it's easily one of the best.

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tinoynk t1_j26amxj wrote

Because the issues it’s about are just as relevant today if not moreso.

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PBB22 t1_j2799d4 wrote

It’s really good because it’s a wholly different look at people and culture than traditional tv. Standard issue TV focuses on individual character stories - stuff happens to them, they do stuff they grow. This is true in The Wire too, but the show looks at how all the characters intersect with each other + the cultural aspect of each season. It’s a look at the systemic structure of society, and it’s clarity and nuance is what makes it the best show.

Really only Season 2-3 Game of Thrones achieves this level of societal critique, not much else as effective.

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beebs44 t1_j26uxzo wrote

It's all in the game, yo.

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thesuavedog t1_j27og82 wrote

Ok this is spooky.

I've never watched an episode... 3 minutes ago I turned it on... S1E1... talkin about Snotboogie shootin Craps... same time, I scroll Reddit for 10 seconds... and here is this post.

Crazy.

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Xbutts360 t1_j28q10l wrote

Don’t scroll reddit while you watch ffs.

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thesuavedog t1_j298zpb wrote

Oh I stopped as soon as this happened. LOL
Fantastic first episode. I'm hooked.

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VagrantShadow t1_j2bd78k wrote

Get ready for ride, it's going to be amazing. Also don't get phased between the tonal shift of season 1 and season 2. It really does pay off and makes the show so much more amazing.

Even if you can't see it at first.

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WintertimeFriends t1_j295ndj wrote

“If not Snotboogie stole the money each time, why did you let him play?”

“Had to, this is America man.”

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dnext t1_j278op9 wrote

Band of Brothers, then you are discussing the next best between half a dozen shows. But BoB is the best limited series I've ever seen.

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Mr_Xing t1_j28ss55 wrote

Underneath the authentic setting and great characterization lies a Greek tragedy that has been part of the storytelling culture for literally a millennia.

The dynamic between Avon and Stringer is completely timeless and you watch as two brothers conspire against one another because of their own self ambition.

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anasui1 t1_j26eug9 wrote

David Simon truly is one of the best writers in the history of television. Check Show Me a Hero if you can, another incredible work

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bravetailor t1_j26efnn wrote

That's the thing with the Arts. It's not science, so evolution isn't a straight line. It's a series of ups and downs. Great Art made 10, 20, 100 years ago can often stand the test of time because every work is its own animal.

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zouhair t1_j29j5wc wrote

> It's not science, so evolution isn't a straight line.

I wanna be pedantic, but I'll let it slide this one time.

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jburton24 t1_j26rfo8 wrote

Find some DVDs of Homicide:Life on the Streets

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spontaneous_combust OP t1_j26sisf wrote

yeah i used watch that, def a precoursor to the wire. only that it doesnt really show things from the 'criminals' point of view as well and their lives...law and order was like that too

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VagrantShadow t1_j2bdejk wrote

HBO's The Corner also has a feeling of The Wire as well, as that miniseries tackles the drug problem in Baltimore in the 90s and earlier years.

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act1856 t1_j285vh8 wrote

There can be shows people enjoy more… but there are no better shows, because no other show has ever tried to accomplish story telling on the scale of The Wire.

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BasedArzy t1_j27g95j wrote

Six Feet Under still stands far above every other example of the form.

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ShrugOfATLAS t1_j283b8u wrote

I just started it last month. I’m almost done with season 4. It’s so good.

The Leftovers and The Young Pope are my GOATS though.

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kickpuncher1 t1_j290cu3 wrote

Because of how real is it. Look at all the bullshit cop shows that are on TV daily. Non of them show "real police".

The Wire is the most accurate show about police ever created, ask a cop in a busy city and they will tell you the same.

Plus we are made to care about all the characters, not just police, we learn what motivates them. Why they do or act is certain ways.

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shaoting t1_j29fcpo wrote

> the guy who plays Omar

You put some respect on the late, great Michael K. Williams' name!!!

In all seriousness, I think The Wire is great because it's completely and utterly timeless. The themes it tackled 20 years ago are still hyper-relevant today and will (unfortunately) be relevant 20 years from now. The "Good guys" weren't really good and while evil, the "bad guys" all had varying degrees of humanity that shined through. I felt it was and is the most accurate depiction of these character types you'll ever see.

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zouhair t1_j29ievx wrote

I don't count The Wire as a regular TV show. It's in its own category.

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icount2tenanddrinkt t1_j29kbaz wrote

good things tend to stay good, The Wire is very good. Its also still very relevant

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KnotSoSalty t1_j29vqtj wrote

Because every time you revisit it you pick up something new. Like how Herc is this chaos engine that drives a ton of plot, but even he doesn’t realize how impactful he is. >!Marlo goes down because Herc has his phone number, but he also gets off because of Herc as well.!<

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kazmosis t1_j26au9m wrote

The Wire

Sopranos

Deadwood, Rome, Carnivale

Oz, GoT (only because the last couple seasons were genuinely horrible)

1

spontaneous_combust OP t1_j26hi46 wrote

yep last 2 or 3 seasons were almost complete garbage. lets....kill your favourite characters like Varys! lets make Dani be a horrible queen now! even though she could have gone straight to the tower with her dragon and killed Cersei right there, liberate the city and be good ruler. Bran could be an advisor, which is what he's good at. Never before had a series wanted to be re-written so badly by its fans. Star Wars was like that though too.

0

dontry90 t1_j27cfse wrote

bc classics are timeless... The themes are locally placed yet universally relatable

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ertmigert t1_j27khtv wrote

It's the game yo!

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HHSquad t1_j27m273 wrote

The Wire is my favorite on HBO, followed by Game of Thrones. Both are great.

The Sopranos is great, Gandolfini is masterful, but some of the later seasons didn't hook me as much. One could say that about GoT also, but those first 6 seasons, man, always replayable. I just finished Season 2 again and loving it all over again.

Oz is always underrated, J.K. Simmons as Schillinger, man!

Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul is my favorite show of all time, I consider them one show because I love them both equally and they are in the same universe, albeit different times.

1

TimeTimeTickingAway t1_j285w4h wrote

I find it more educational than its contemporaroes. The Wire can both educate me and inspire me to question my already held ideas aboutissues such as the war on Drugs more in a few episodes than Breaking Bad did in it's entire run.

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goodwilhuntingseason t1_j2ai31i wrote

Great writing and no dependencies on special effects/CGI which would date it.

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picoides1971 t1_j2ai3as wrote

Was glad that I waited until this year to watch it, as it is now one of my favorites.

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Borghal t1_j2ai7rq wrote

I mean, not to compare it directly, but Shakespeare is still one of the best playwrights centuries later. Theater is at least 20x older than cinematography, but still: once a medium is developed enough, it can absolutely be mastered.

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A_lunch_lady t1_j2ak1i6 wrote

Love the Wire but I looooooved Six Feet Under

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SamSinister44 t1_j2aowdd wrote

The dialogue is fantastic, and the characters relatable. While I really liked the show, I was hoping for a more climactic ending. I get it; corruption is cyclical. Its a good point. It explains what is wrong with Baltimore. But I wanted to be left with something more than I got from the conclusion. That's just me though. You are all entitled to your opinions.

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Ha55aN1337 t1_j2asmlk wrote

Don’t hate me, but I just never could get into it or understand the hype.

I love OZ, I think The Sopranos are the best show ever made… but The Wire… tryed watching it several times to give it a second or third chance… never could get past a few episodes.

Anyone else out there just not clicking with it?

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SlayerOfDungeons t1_j2azmb1 wrote

So we're just ignoring The X-Files exists, eh?

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MrSimon33 t1_j2b8cdz wrote

Personally The Wire and The Sopranos are in a league of their own when it comes to television an writing. They both boast strong casts an had a real feel for the underbelly of criminality. They felt authentic, The Wire in particular is very unusual in its pacing as it’s almost tedious to the point of boredom. However once you stick with it you see where all the pieces fit an it’s like a Shakespearean esk play which delivers in spades what the viewers desire. It’s not a show that try’s to keep the viewer watching by giving excitement or quick ending storylines but rather it demands the viewers full attention an wit to keep up with the writers genius.

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chrisnlnz t1_j2dgxf4 wrote

All time top 3 shows is The Wire, Sopranos and Breaking Bad. GoT would've been there if they hadn't screwed it up. These shows are miles ahead of anything else imo.

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quettil t1_j2eq6d1 wrote

I can't get into the wire. It just doesn't grab me like Breaking Bad or the Sopranos. I think it's because the characters aren't as colourful.

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spontaneous_combust OP t1_j2f6qqf wrote

the characters are colourful, but the pacing isn't always as intense as BB or Sopranos. although those both go from intense to not intense lots too

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sara-ragnarsdottir t1_j28erej wrote

I mean, why shouldn't it be so? Great movies remained great movies through the decades and The Wire is still not even that old when you think about it. I think it will forever be one of the greatest because it's the only TV show to do what it did: it was dense, long, complex, brutal, epic but still super realistic, which made it one of the most accurate social commentaries ever created in TV format. It's hard to replicate something like this and I'm not even that sure that writers are interested in doing it these days.

As for me, in my personal ranking of HBO tv shows, I would put it right after The Leftovers, in the second place. Both were a special experience, but The Leftovers is the tv show that resonated with me the most

0

Sector__7 t1_j27fxgu wrote

idk, while The Wire was good, I thought that The Shield was better.

−3

act1856 t1_j28655a wrote

Is this a troll? The Shield is like the ultimate copaganda show and The Wire is a complex and ambitious examination of America’s economic and social decline through its urban institutions. They aren’t even doing the same thing.

−1

bloodyturtle t1_j28cyhb wrote

isn't the shield literally based on the LAPD's corruption and criminal police gang scandals

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act1856 t1_j28d2a8 wrote

Sure, but Mackey is still the show’s hero… and anti-hero maybe, but someone we’re meant to root for.

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bloodyturtle t1_j28dreq wrote

that's like saying dexter is pro-murder or breaking bad's pro-abusing your family. you don't want your main character getting go-away heat from the audience when you're making a tv show.

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act1856 t1_j28dx6o wrote

You’re kind of making my point — all the shows you’ve mentioned are basically character studies of flawed “hero’s”. The wire is something entirely different. There is no comparison.

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swmill08 t1_j26btsp wrote

I thought it was boring and couldn’t get into it 🤷‍♂️

−4

ReginaldFarnsworth t1_j286zgm wrote

Ugh, everyone needs to calm down and shut up about The Wire. I don't care how good it is. It's just annoying at this point. It's basically one big circle jerk about how good it is. I will literally never watch it because of how annoying the fans are who say its ThE GrEaTeST tV sHoW eVeR!! So annoying.

−8

sara-ragnarsdottir t1_j28f0xq wrote

I love The Wire, but I get what you mean. Though I think OP wasn't that aggressive about it, they just showed their appreciation for something they love. The problem are those who attack you if you dare to put other tv shows above it in your list of faves

0

Mr_Xing t1_j28sgm5 wrote

Imagine being so stubborn as to deny yourself something good, simply because you spend too much time on the internet reading about how other people liked said thing.

So edgy, we’re all impressed with your attitude.

0

BahalaNaPare t1_j26b728 wrote

I’m currently on the last season of the series and honestly I don’t know why this show is regarded so highly. I think it’s good but there’s other shows on HBO that are better. Maybe it also has to do with when the series came out that helped it out since it was a weekly release and gave people time to really let it sink in but watching the series nonstop is kinda boring to me.

−13

PearlJamPony t1_j26ddyl wrote

Which HBO shows are better?

1

BahalaNaPare t1_j26e3fq wrote

Sopranos, Succession, GoT, Band of Brothers, just to name a few. Still have some other shows on my list that I have yet to watch.

The Wire was good up to season 3, season 4 kinda boring but picked up towards the end, and S5 so far it’s interesting.

−9

NukeDog t1_j26k71y wrote

Found the one person who watched The Wire all the way through and said that S4 was the boring one…S4 is widely thought of as the best season of The Wire, if not the best season of all of TV. Different strokes and all that…

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BahalaNaPare t1_j270q8j wrote

What was so great about S4? Basically just shows how the next gen gets caught up in that life or focus on school and try to do better.

−2

thucy t1_j27l4zs wrote

What’s so great about Cinderella? She’s poor then she’s rich, what’s the big deal?

1

KYWizard t1_j26if88 wrote

I think it is pretty funny you say that The Wire was good up to a certain point....then don't mention the same about the Sopranos, huh Johnny Cakes? Or GOT for that matter. I mean honestly the Sopr-----cut to black screen.

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spontaneous_combust OP t1_j26ks4d wrote

yah Sopranos got to be - aww and awwww man and awww not him too and awwww wtf guys and oh man i know it had be war but jesus christ

2

BahalaNaPare t1_j272p0p wrote

Does it really need to be said though? The Sopranos only had one weak season and the ending. GoT was good all the way until s6, s7 weak, the ending trash. Still love the show though. The Wire for all the hype that show has it honestly does not live up to it. The only thing that makes it so well loved is because it is still relevant to society and police to this day. The actual story is basically follow police around to catch the bad guy like any other cop show. The Wire is a 5/10. Now I still have 6 more episodes in S5 so unless it blows me away it’s not looking all that great. Then again everyone likes different things.

0

KYWizard t1_j27e1st wrote

It is the only authentic police procedural I have ever seen. It tells the story of the crime in Baltimore and looks at it from every possible angle. If it was lost on you and all you see is cops chasing robbers, don't know what to tell you except this: You are free to not like it, but you are not free to tell me why I do.

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BahalaNaPare t1_j27isfa wrote

How am I telling you why you like it? I was just expressing my opinion about the show. I thought we were just having a discussion about what I said originally and then what you responded. There is nothing wrong with me not liking it just like how there is nothing wrong with you liking it. At the end of the day we can agree on watching whatever we like because we like it. Cheers.

1

KYWizard t1_j27onq3 wrote

>The only thing that makes it so well loved is because it is still relevant to society and police to this day.

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zouhair t1_j29jp66 wrote

All those are great shows. But as writing goes, I have yet to see anything come close to The Wire.

1

swmill08 t1_j26bwnt wrote

Dropped it after 3 episodes

−8

BahalaNaPare t1_j26cg2f wrote

Lol yeah that was me. Took me 3 times to try to watch season 1. I just sat down one day and finally started really watching it and paying attention. It got good but it’s not imo the greatest series on HBO.

−4