Red Mosquito

I love Homicide, you know this, but The Wire is like Homicide on HGH, and I mean that in the best possible way.

numbers wrote:I love Homicide, you know this, but The Wire is like Homicide on HGH, and I mean that in the best possible way.

No worries.

West Wing is really climbing the ranks right now, it's pushing up on the top 5.

For me, it comes down to The Wire and The Sopranos. These shows made me realize there is more to television than Seinfeld reruns and A-Team marathons. I love Seinfeld and will always be up for Peppard and T but this took TV to a new level.

Sopranos is my first love so it will always be slightly ahead of The Wire but that is splitting hairs. It's like asking me if I love my mom or dad more.

My season rankings:

1. Season 4. This season cuts deep for anyone who has spent time teaching in an Urban Public School setting. I have only watched season 4 2 or 3 times because the reality is sobering. It has to be the most brilliant season of television ever.

2. Season 1. I am a big fan of some of to turns they took in season 1. I still cry for Wallace.

3. Season 3. Hampsterdam

4. Season 2. I like season 2 a lot. I know some people don't. I like the docks story. It fits so well in-between season 1 and 3. It showed me the depth of the show. Who didn't love Nikko?

5. Season 5. No where near the other 4 seasons in my opinion. The newspaper angle fell flat for me. I also hated the fall of McNaulty. I do appreciate the lack of happy endings. In the game, there are few. Dukie stung the most.

The Wire is the only show I feel a responsibility to show other people. I adore LOST, Breaking Bad may be my favorite show, Louie comes closest to the way I see the world, and I love The Sopranos, and I definitely want people to watch those shows. But The Wire is something else. Responsibility is the right word. If you haven't seen this show, you're missing something more than an entertaining show or a cultural reference. You're missing an important story.

The Argonaut wrote:The Wire is the only show I feel a responsibility to show other people. I adore LOST, Breaking Bad may be my favorite show, Louie comes closest to the way I see the world, and I love The Sopranos, and I definitely want people to watch those shows. But The Wire is something else. Responsibility is the right word. If you haven't seen this show, you're missing something more than an entertaining show or a cultural reference. You're missing an important story.

I feel the same way, but I take it to another level. I only push it on people I think are smart enough to appreciate it.

numbers wrote:

The Argonaut wrote:The Wire is the only show I feel a responsibility to show other people. I adore LOST, Breaking Bad may be my favorite show, Louie comes closest to the way I see the world, and I love The Sopranos, and I definitely want people to watch those shows. But The Wire is something else. Responsibility is the right word. If you haven't seen this show, you're missing something more than an entertaining show or a cultural reference. You're missing an important story.

I feel the same way, but I take it to another level. I only push it on people I think are smart enough to appreciate it.

Hipster.

Brainof23 wrote:For me, it comes down to The Wire and The Sopranos. These shows made me realize there is more to television than Seinfeld reruns and A-Team marathons. I love Seinfeld and will always be up for Peppard and T but this took TV to a new level.

Sopranos is my first love so it will always be slightly ahead of The Wire but that is splitting hairs. It's like asking me if I love my mom or dad more.

My season rankings:

1. Season 4. This season cuts deep for anyone who has spent time teaching in an Urban Public School setting. I have only watched season 4 2 or 3 times because the reality is sobering. It has to be the most brilliant season of television ever.

2. Season 1. I am a big fan of some of to turns they took in season 1. I still cry for Wallace.

3. Season 3. Hampsterdam

4. Season 2. I like season 2 a lot. I know some people don't. I like the docks story. It fits so well in-between season 1 and 3. It showed me the depth of the show. Who didn't love Nikko?

5. Season 5. No where near the other 4 seasons in my opinion. The newspaper angle fell flat for me. I also hated the fall of McNaulty. I do appreciate the lack of happy endings. In the game, there are few. Dukie stung the most.

I really like season 2, but I put it at the same place in my rankings. The docks and the Sobatka story is great; I really loved Frank. I was so-so with Ziggy and his Cousin. Overall, I wanted more Barksdale / Stringer story, and that's what season 3 delivered. Plus Bunny / Hapsterdam is so good in S3.

Welp. In my dealings with Mr. Luther Mahoney, he also made some Wire scripts available to me.

So now I have 6 Final Shooting Scripts for The Wire (the six episodes he was in)
The Detail (episode 2)
The Wire (episode 3)
Collateral Damage (s2 e2)
Hot Shots (s2 e3)
All Prologue (s2 e6)
All Due Respect (s3 e2)


Im pretty excited about this one too team.

Luther is a great show memorabilia goldmine.

Just the series finale left. I don't want this ride to end.

Watched the finale last night. I'm really going to miss these characters.

When I think back to the finale, the thing that rings out is, "why did it have to end like that for Dukie?"

It bugs me that Dukie didn't get a happy ending and that Namond did.

Why didn't Prezbo take Dukie in? Bunny did it for Namond and I am sure he went on to great things. I am sure Bunny took the street out of Namond. Why didn't anyone step up for poor Dukie?

Season 4 and the stories of the kids featured on the show are so real and tragic for anyone who has worked with kids just like them in a public school setting.

Michael turns into the "new" Omar kind of.
Randy was destroyed in season 5.
Dukie ends up with the horse people and a heroin addiction.
Namond gets the suburbs and a fresh start with Bunny

When you think about it, 1 out of 4 is almost optimistic. Especially in Baltimore.

I liked the lack of happy endings. Shit doesn't change, people come and go but the game remains. That was kind of the point.

I agree with you 100%.

The show is great because it is authentic and the sad reality of the "war on drugs" is that there isn't many happy ending.

With that said, Dukie was a happy ending I was rooting for. It crushed me to see him with those horse people shooting up.

The Bunk should have never moved to New Orleans to grind it out as a trombone player. He does a great job with the children though.

I was in Bali last year and bought seasons 1 - 5 of this show on DVD for $8. I have been meaning to get around to this show but hadn't yet managed it. Finally tonight sat down, had a spliff and watched s01e01. This could be most enjoyable.

I'm a big fan of Breaking Bad. I'm expecting big things.

This show is significantly better than Breaking Bad.

@SkitchP wrote:This show is significantly better than Breaking Bad.

I don't know if I could say that. I think it is denser and tells a more important story but Breaking Brad is certainly more atmospheric and thrilling. Different shows for me. Both excellent.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

@SkitchP wrote:This show is significantly better than Breaking Bad.

I don't know if I could say that. I think it is denser and tells a more important story but Breaking Brad is certainly more atmospheric and thrilling. Different shows for me. Both excellent.

I love Breaking Bad. It's a great show.

But as I've pointed out a couple of times before, it's got way too many Margaret Schroeders, which is now my standard term for characters that make me go "welp, hopefully this scene is short." Outside of Walt, Jesse, Mike, and Gus, I pretty much can't stand the cast or the characters. And not in a "you're not supposed to like them" kind of way. They feel two dimensional, and in the case of Skyler and Walt Jr, flat out annoying to have on screen. The top end of a show like Breaking Bad (and Boardwalk Empire, and Dexter, etc) match up just fine with The Wire in terms of quality, but the difference is that The Wire has no characters like that, the entire show is that top end.

breaking bad sucks.