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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.

Good stuff be good

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

The Wire

Sopranos

Deadwood, Rome, Carnivale

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

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.

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

Dropped it after 3 episodes

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.

Which HBO shows are better?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

The King stay the King…

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…

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

You missed John from Cincinnati….

Find some DVDs of Homicide:Life on the Streets

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

I’m not sure the technology is what does it for people….

It's all in the game, yo.

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.

When they discover text messages is quite the throw back.

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.

only wish it had more of the gangsta girl

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

[deleted]

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.

It's the game yo!

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Omar coming!

Embrace it! It’s a good show

Don’t scroll reddit while you watch ffs.

Good. Your loss. Your great loss.

OMG theRe is nO oTheR shoW that eVer ExISTed HUrr DuRR

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

“Had to, this is America man.”

You watched it wrong.

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

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?

Because it was ahead of its time

More you think

> 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.

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

Frequency illusion

Or the precursor to The Wire, The Corner.

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

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

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

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

"The Dickensian aspect . . . "

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.

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.!<

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

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...

Fuck?

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

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

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.

Oh indeed.

Love the Wire but I looooooved Six Feet Under

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.

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?

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.

Maritime Horrors FTW!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

almost all HBO too....except BB of course

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