Breaking Bad, The Sopranos or The Wire

Actually I watched the whole Sopranos series and I did enjoy the acting, the writing, and the stories were interesting. I just wouldn't rank it higher than some of these other shows because the concerns in my above post were always there.

 

The Sopranos needed Less Yacking and More Whacking.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...... on too many episodes. I was never bored by any Episode of SOA, even when the writing was not as good in the 6th Season.

Also besides Tony's Sister, his son also was annoying, and also scenes with his Mother annoyed me, so glad she was gone early in the series. Best Family Scenes were with Junior(LMAO during the Golf Outing and Tony singing 'South of the Border' to disrupt Junior's Game). Scenes with Tony and Carmela were mostly good(Edie Falco was Great on the Show), although sometimes just too much of those Family Life Scenes.

Also, the plot lines of SOA made Jax Teller just as sympathetic character-IMO.

I will concede though that Season 6 used Violence just for the sake of showing Violence(Jax going on a Violent Rampage to avenge the Death of Tara) and was not as crucial to the plot, as it was when used in the first 5 Seasons, but despite being able to predict how the show would end, I found the last few Episodes of the Series done well to make up for some weaker writing in Seasons 6 and parts of Season 7.

Also, The Mayans Spin Off Series that started this past Fall was really good after a few slow early episodes. Looks like Sutter is back on track after that terrible Show he did on the Executioner on FX that only last one season, as again just a violent show, but guess that is expected given it was about an Executioner.

Hoping Sutter gets around to his planned Prequel for SAMCRO that is suppose to be 'The Original Seven' IIRC, that showed how Jax's Father started SAMCRO, and is suppose to be just 1 Season Series to provide that background.

Actually, I think they can do a future series on SAMCRO where Jax's Son, grows up and finds himself following in his Dad's Footsteps(or Mis-Steps) and joins SAMCRO and eventually becomes Club President.

 

I was cringing throughout the entire series and barely made it through. When I did I wanted back all the time I spent watching. It ended the same way it had gone throughout: totally contrived, unwilling to take chances, all wrapped up nice and neat with a bow on top.

Yes for those of us who have annoying family members, this is called REALITY, and the portrayal in this show of these characters was by turns realistic, humorous and entertaining, and it made the eruptions of violence in Tony's business life more shocking. Although there really wasn't much difference whether he was throwing the nearest thing he could grab in his office at Satriales or the Bing or his own kitchen (as when he smashed the wall fixture of the phone to pieces) in front of Carm who is the only one in the show with the balls to call him out on the way he is ruled by anger and depression.

Like, the plot about the way he could relate to the transgender, or pull the wool over the feds' eyes? I found nothing about him I could relate to. I'm a father and even there, the show doesn't begin to portray Jax' character accurately with regard to what fatherhood is like. I've never in my life had a girlfriend or even known a girl anything like biker-chick-turned-MD Tara. Possibly the most unrealistic, contrived character I've ever seen in any show, and such a waste of Siff's acting abilities.

The violence throughout was just laughable. An entire police department or rival gang could open fire on Jax and co. and they'd walk away unscathed or maybe grazed. This kind of thing happened routinely. It was amateur hour. So was the portrayal of women. I am hardly a friend to the feminist but even I found many, many scenes that were just plain offensive. It made th Bing girls in Sopranos seem pretty tame in comparison, and they were anything but tame. With films, shows and books written/created by men, I often pay attention to how the writing is done with the female characters to guage the level of realism. This is because I could never write a realistic female character myself and have the utmost respect for those who can. Breaking Bad was not terrible in this regard, but Sutter was really horrific. Not one of the female characters in SoA rang true to me, even accounting for the personalities or plot. Sopranos managed to hit the bullseye with every single female character, from Melfi and Carm on down. It was just awe-inspiring how these characters seemed so lifelike.

That's what SoA was suppose to be about: Jax was following in the footsteps of his father who had died after leading SAMCRO. You're saying you want this exact arc again for a third generation? Talk about repetitive. Anyway, I'll be skipping anything Sutter does. He just lacks the talent, vision and discipline of the top-tier TV show creators, e.g., Mathew Weiner, Jonathon Nolan, David Chase.

 

None.

The Shield is all that needs to be watched.

 

No need for me to reply further, as we all like different shows, and your takes on why you do not like SOA does not affect my thoughts on the show and I am not trying to change how you think The Sopranos is a better show.

Although, I think Kurt Sutter's Wife, Kate Segal, would disagree with your take on how he did not write a Good Female Character, as her role as Gemma, deserved to be recognized(but I put to no value in any Awards Shows for TV, Movies and Music, as it is just certain people voting and in most cases well deserved Actors, TV Show, Movies and Albums/Songs never get nominated to begin with, and who is to say one person's Acting in a Role is better than another Person or one TV Show/Movie/Album is the Best of a certain year, as it is all subjective?)

I think The Sopranos was a Great Show with Flaws, and like I said, I agree it was groundbreaking(leading to better quality TV Series on Cable TV then Streaming Services-maybe OZ on HBO was the first TV Show though to lead the way), as without TS, we do not get VM, WW or other Anti-Heroes who are portrayed in a way that we still find humanity in them. James Gandolfini is greatly missed, as his performance was excellent and made the show worth watching(as was Edie Falco as Carmela). Same for Michael K. Williams(Omar Little) on The Wire, Ian McShane(Al Swearengen) on Deadwood, Bryan Cranston(Walter White/Heisenberg) on Breaking Bad, Andre Braugher(Frank Pembleton) on Homicide-Life in the Streets, Walton Goggins(Boyd Crowder) on Justified and Michael Chiklis(Vic Mackey) on The Shield to name a few. But this is all just IMO.

 

Omar has the killer lines. In one scene he robs a high stakes poker game and has three signature worthy quotes:

"I believe this pair of .45s beats your full house."

"Money ain't got owners. Just spenders."

And when one of the players is slow to hand over his jewelry: "You have me confused with a man who repeats himself."

 

Breaking Bad - awesome
Sopranos - awesome
The Wire - did not see, probably to my discredit

 

The Wire is similar to a Novel as I knew a person who watched an episode in one of the middle Seasons, and he found it boring, but I told him that is like opening a Novel and starting to read it on Page 247, so you need to watch it from the beginning to appreciate how all the pieces fit together. There some 'Slower' Episodes where it seems like not much is happening, but you need to take the Series as a Whole Event(or Series of Events).

Also, the main character(with apologies to Omar and Bubbles) is actually the City of Baltimore itself. The issues though really are similar to most Cities with the Police, Drug Trade, Politicians, School Systems with Difficult Problems, although the 2nd Season deals with the Ports, so only other Cities with Ports with Ship Deliveries could share potential similar issues.

Basically The Wire is a DocuDrama and is like holding up a Mirror to the City of Baltimore, like 'Friday Night Lights' held of a Mirror to Odessa, Texas, which their Citizens did not like how they were portrayed(in the Book that the Movie was based on), and Buzz Bissinger(Book Author who moved from Philly to spend a year living there to write the book) received Death Threats after his Book was released, but the Mirror doesn't lie.

There is also a lot of Real Life People from the Streets of Baltimore, who Simon casted in Roles despite those People having no Acting Background, so it leant an Authentic Feel to The Wire. The Actor who played a Pastor, was in real life a former drug dealer-IIRC the story I read on him.

Even the person(Felicia Pearson), who played Snoop, came from a tough life as she was raised in an East Baltimore Foster Home as according to her memoir, Grace After Midnight, she met her biological parents very few times; her mother was a crack addict and her father was an armed robber. Felicia also was involved with crime early in her teen years(served time for 2nd Degree Murder), and getting a Role on The Wire seemed to be the chance she needed as she wanted to pursue an acting career after her role as Snoop(same real life nickname given to her) on The Wire, but after the show ended, the draw of the Streets had its hooks back into her and she had some legal problems caught in a Drug Arrest, but checked her Wikipedia Page, and looks like she got probation and got herself back on the right track and had a few other Acting Jobs in Movies and TV Shows in recent years, so good to read about it.

There were several Great Professional Actors on The Wire, and one person, who has shot to fame is Michael B Jordan(Wallace), who went on to star in both Creed Movies and was in the Black Panther Movie among a few other Movies.

Idris Elba has become a Big TV & Movie Star(I would make him the next James Bond).

Michael K Williams(Omar) went to work on 'Boardwalk Empire' and other projects.

Seth Gilliam went on to play Father Gabriel Stokes on The Walking Dead.

Lots of other Great Actors, you can look up their careers after The Wire ended.

 

Top two ?
Breaking Bad.
Genre ? crime,drama, thriller. Yes! It encapsulates all three. Begs repeat viewings ( at least yearly).
Game Of Thrones.
For the big five, action,adventure, drama, fantasy & romance.
Plus it’s still currently in production.

 

Lost seems to be out of favour now. Talk of a reboot, new cast. Wouldn’t mind some of the old cast being involved as well.

 

Lost collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness in the end, still a thrill to watch, but it just chased its own tail so hard at the end

 

This was my first tv series that kick started me into binge watching ( in 2011 after show ended) started with season 2 and was hooked, had to jump back for season 1, then get the rest. Amazing stuff!!! Mad Men next, followed with The Sopranos, Breaking Bad...etc. Seen loads in the past eight years, don’t go to the cinema like I used to. Mind you I’ve accumulated a couple of thousand dvds /blu rays films in that time as well.

 

I loved Breaking Bad (after a couple episodes in), but have never seen The Sopranos or The Wire. Which should I try next?

A little of my tastes: I love Mad Men and The Man in the High Castle, but I hate The West Wing and The Good Wife.

 

I would pick LoSt.
Failing that .. Game Of Thrones.

True Detective?

 

True Detective season 1 for sure as alexpop suggested, and how about The Shield?

 

True Detective it is! I'll try it.

Is this one of those shows with a different cast each season?

 

Yes. Season 1 is the best.

 

Avoid season 2, honestly it's miscast, the acting overall is not strong, the story is bit of a mess, you get to heart of it , you don't care , each season has nothing to do with the other so no harm.

 

Coincidentally, I binged the 1st 3 eps. of the new season last night and, thankfully, it's leaps and bounds better than the 2nd season!

 

Still a Wire guy...and I wonders why we aren't seeing a 6th Season yet. To be honest, I trust Simon's instincts enough to welcome an entirely new cast and set of situations (assuming the old stars are busy).

"You changed, baby. Baltimore's the same" -could be a quote from a new character, eh

 

I never watched The Wire. I watched The Sopranos seasons 1-2 on DVD and then the rest when it aired. I binged watched Breaking Bad a couple years ago.

I watched The Sopranos countless times. When it aired, I usually watched an episode twice before the next. When that season's DVD came out, I watched it. I usually then rewatched the series. Since it ended, I've probably rewatched in its entirety four times. I still find something new in a rewatch.

I didn't have a desire to rewatch Breaking Bad, but I did this past year. I still enjoyed it, but not like The Sopranos.

 

Just a reminder from Heisenberg for those who prefer 'The Sopranos':

 

Mad Men tops all three.

 

It was designed to be a five-season show since its initial planning.

Of course, there's already music they could use for a sixth season:

 

There's certainly a case to be made for that. On writing, acting and directing cohesion, it beats the snot out of BB. That's for sure. And in character dev, it beats The Wire.