Breaking Bad, The Sopranos or The Wire

Throw Lost and Mad Men into the pot ?

 

I've only watched the entire Wire, but it's hard to imagine a better show.

 

What sparked my interest in The Wire was two events:

1.) A news reports last summer about Simon's blog comments.
2.) One day my AppleTV got an upgrade that gave me access to HBOgo - which has every episode of almost every HBO series
sitting there ready to be watched - at no cost (apart from my monthly HBO subscriber charge - paid to DirecTV).

I was fascinated with The Wire within minutes of the first episode. McNulty's discussion about Snot Boogie was hilarious.

I'm rounding third now and heading towards home - about 9 to 10 episodes left to watch in Season 5 of The Wire. I suspect I'll see the rest of the episodes this weekend.

The fact that The Wire shows similarities between multiple (broken) institutions is what convinces me there that few if any
television shows or films that are fair comparison.

It doesn't matter if they are showing the police department, the Barksdale organization, the dockworkers union, the school
district, the Baltimore political infrastructure, the court system, the Baltimore SUN, etc. They all basically seem to be
populated by the same people. You have the climbers (the ones who aspire to a higher position) and the pawns.

The consistency is clearly a product of Simon's vision for the show.

The brilliance of The Sopranos was how it showed the balance between Tony's blood family - and his crime family.
It was never clear if we were watching a show about a father or a crime boss.

But The Wire goes in SO many different directions - but still manages somehow to keep coming back to the same central
themes.

Simon seems to agree completely with Mark Twain's assertion that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies,
and statistics - LOL

 

Breaking Bad.

I thoroughly enjoyed every single episode, even Fly. I was sad when it ended last month but in a moment of madness I went back to the pilot episode. The next think I knew, my wife and I were watching the whole thing all over again -- and enjoying it just as much as the first time around.

I'm sure The Wire was an excellent show but I only saw a few episodes, so can only compare BB and Sopranos. Of the two, BB is the clear winner in my mind. I enjoyed Sopranos quite a lot with all the (great) mafia films we've had over the year, it's was almost inevitable that a lot of the themes and sub-plots were recycled. Sure, there were some really interesting twists, but also a lot of familiar plot elements -- the goomars, the brutal murderers who cook great pasta, the wealthy but unsophisticated and socially inept players, rats wearing a wire, etc.

By contract, Breaking Bad was totally fresh -- everything seemed so new and amazing. The New Mexico panoramas, architecture, and local quirks added a lot to each episode -- they were much more interesting and visually striking than New Jersey could ever be. And I think that on some level, it was easier for the general public to relate to BB's characters, even Walt. I can't imagine being one of those players but unlike Sopranos I could imagine being a friend of a friend of someone in BB, which made the wild story arcs a little more plausible.

Also, BB had a uniquely fun element, which made me more fond of it. The music, the sometimes quirky editing, the sky and cloud scenes, the wacky humor, the Pollos Hermanos TV spot -- those little elements drew me in further and made the stories feel more real and more engaging.

I wish the show hadn't ended, but give high marks to all involved for the outstanding final episode, which well honored both the characters and the audience.

 

My viewing binge led me to the end of The Wire last night. I watched the season 5 (series) finale.

I can now safely say that I have NEVER seen ANYTHING like The Wire. It's unlike any other television series (or theatrical motion picture) I've seen in my 50 years on this earth. If I was taking a college class that required me to digest The Wire, I would have NO PROBLEM writing my final term paper. There is just SO much that can be discussed.


Is there a place (other than netflix) where I can start watching "Breaking Bad" as a free download ?

I'm hoping maybe DirecTV has it as part of its "on demand" library.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch "Breaking Bad" from a fresh perspective - because I've seen bits and pieces of it
(including the series ending finale). My sister watched the show and my youngest son. I saw parts of it when
I was at her house. My brother in law even forwarded to what is probably the most memorable scene - because my
son had missed it. It's the scene where the guy straightens his tie (can't say more - but I'm sure fans of the
show will know the scene).

If other parts of "Breaking Bad" are like that scene - I don't think I'll be able to consider it as a contender in a
"head to head" comparison with The Wire.

The Wire constantly shocked me because it seemed true. "Breaking Bad" seems to be more interested in
telling a story... not unlike the ambitious reporter in Season 5 of The Wire who decided he didn't need to
keep notes.

 

Breaking Bad

 

the Sopranos is a great show, and I enjoyed watching the series. Now, I'm watching the Wire, season 4: I think is one the best shows I've ever seen: it seems to get better with every episode, and the actors are very,very good. Having read this thread, I'll start watching BB

 

The Sopranos was brilliant when it was on. I loved every minute of it but it has been so long since I last saw it I have difficulty comparing it to 'The Wire' or 'Breaking Bad' both of which I saw for the first time recently. Actually I'm still watching both at the moment. I'm currently viewing Season 4 of 'The Wire' and I picked up the Blu-ray today of the conclusion to 'Breaking Bad'. They are both great shows but if I was going to give the nod to one it would be 'Breaking Bad'. I have found it to be absolutely addictive. I can't wait to watch the final few episodes.

 

Just finished Breaking Bad, and while I enjoyed it, I think it's just the flavor of the month. I didn't love how basically you have two main characters who are developed and the rest of the cast just serves to prop of the main characters' stories.

Cinematography was amazing, and to me was easily the best aspect of the show. With that said, I don't think it even touches the Sopranos. In the Sopranos you learned the ins and outs of pretty much every character. Not so in Breaking Bad. I mean, look at Walter Jr. You know nothing about him aside from his disability and that he has a friend names Louis. That's it. Other characters like Gus have a little bit of extra development but it seems they cut that short. Who was he supposed to be in Chile?

 

After seeing all the comparisons of BB w/ the Wire, I had to check out the Wire. It's unfortunate that the dvd's are so messed up, but the series is amazing. The scope of the characters is incredible, the realism unparalleled and the issues tackled beyond anything ever attempted. Comparing BB and TW is kinda like apples and oranges- the intentions of the shows being so different. BB definitely has better production values (cinematography, sound design, etc.). The writing and acting are pretty even- which is to say world class in both cases. BB was more entertaining, more thrilling, but as for social commentary, TW wins going away. It's a tough call for character development: BB had more in a few key characters, but TW had a lot of development in many more characters. Which show you prefer, imo, comes down to whether you look more for entertainment or enlightenment. Each show had both, but TW was obviously more enlightening. As much as I loved the Sopranos, it's a distant 3rd. Now that I've seen TW, can I change my vote?

 

The Sopranos will always be a favorite of mine, but The Wire is a completely different matter: almost too real, sometimes it hurts. Often, after watching an episode, I find myself thinking about the bad we did/are doing to ourselves and to the world we live in. Sometimes I wish I could say: this time it was too much, it's not realistic...then, I find those very same stories about cops, narcos and politicians in the news...too bad.

 

Imagine that- a TV series that makes you think! and makes you feel and illuminates the Truth. No wonder it wasn't very popular. This is an example of TV elevated to an artform, as opposed to mindless entertainment.

Anyone else see the seeds of TW in Hill Street Blues (in my top 5 all-time)? HSB didn't have quite as many main characters, the story arcs weren't quite as long and it was less focused on issues (more character-driven w/o the sharp focus on institutions), but it had very similar characteristics many years earlier, including a lukewarm reception. Kudos to HBO for keeping TW going despire disappointing ratings. Now, if they would just give it a proper legacy w/ a quality home video release...

 

Four seasons down and I'm still struggling to understand what the characters in The Wire are saying most of the time!? They don't speak any form of English that I'm familiar with. Great show though.

 

I always watched it with the subtitles going. In fact, I watch almost every show with subtitles. You can catch some things, such as song info, that you wouldn't otherwise get.

 

I believe he's referring to the realistic slang employed, not an inability to hear the words. As am American- who's had my share of interactions w/ black people who use a lot of ebonics, I still had a hard time figuring out what some of the characters were trying to say; I imagine it's even harder for a non-American to parse some of the conversations. And sometimes even some of the jargon the cops used was difficult to clearly understand. Part of the price paid for realism, I guess.

 

So say we all!

 

I guess so. I'm having a hard time following TW in American, with subtitiles ON, but I firmly believe it's worth the effort.

 

Of the three, after finishing the first two seasons of 'Breaking Bad' I feel it doesn't have the depth and technicality of "The Sopranos", don't get me wrong, I like it and will stick with it. A bit too much spent on facial close ups too.

 

The Wire commentary tracks make it very clear that you aren't expected to get it all on one viewing.

 

The scene where the cops are debating the content of what they they've recorded using their wire tap sounds very similar to the comments in this thread. The conclusion where Prez admits he has an ear for this because he spent a lot of time as a teenager listening to the Rolling Stones was hilarious !

Yes, there are times I've rewound a scene and turned on captioning - but I would find it too distracting to leave it on ALL the time.
And it's not just the street thugs whose words I struggled with. I specifically remember trying to understand something Fitz (the FBI agent) was saying... it wasn't so much that his language was unintelligible - it was was I wanted to be clear about what he had just said - because his words were important. Even still, I think I had to go look at a message board to completely understand his comment. It had to do with his admission of guilt when he realized he wasn't calling the FBI office in San Diego (directly).

 

I absolutely agree that Hill Street Blues seems to have influenced The Wire.

And I also think you correctly identified the differences.

The prologue scene - prior to the theme music - always seemed to be a direct link to Hill Street - usually concluding with something funny... a "punch line" for lack of a better phrase.


I found myself in a record store the other day staring at a used copy of a Pogues CD wondering if it had the song used during the funeral scenes at the police bar in The Wire. I bought the disc and was glad it did ! It was originally part of a 4 song EP, but its now part of six bonus tracks for the album that was released just prior to the EP. Great song.

 

I just looked that word up in the dictionary.

The best example in the show was something I heard exactly once - when Marlo Stanfield used the acronym "CPT" when
he was trying to clarify that he had a busy schedule.

 

I did this a few times, but that got to be too distracting, messing up the flow of the show. I decided to decipher the best I could and anything I missed, I'd hopefully pick on the second go-round. I had this same problem recently w/ Cloud Atlas w/ the post-apocalypse language. I ended up leaving captioning on (was watching it on-demand and it was too much of a pita to keep turning CC on and off). Really distracted from the movie, but still enjoyed it immensely- ended up getting the BR, so next viewing will be much better.

 

Glad I'm not the only one. I think HSB belongs on any top 5 all-time greatest TV shows, but I think most lists are biased towards newer shows. But nothing has been as ground-breaking as HSB, imo.

Would have liked to have seen just once, as an homage, TW end their prologue w/ "let's be careful out there."

 

WIRE chief, David Simon, has said he wanted to drop viewers into unfamiliar environments where they had to sort things out for themselves, just as if you had walked into the room. In the real world, people don't drop everything they're doing to explain it. While there are synoptic scenes, THE WIRE usually hurtles to the next subplot.

If you do get through THE WIRE, you'll notice how much other shows do this, usually by having everything explained to a neophyte or supervisor and thus to the viewer. Heck, lots of network procedurals will do this throughout a single episode.