Folks who have watched Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos; how would you rank them?

Seen Them 2 wrote:

Been watching season one of The Wire over the past few months, and while good, it hasn't really pulled me into it and made me add every disk to my Netflix queue. It's got the Brendan Fraser clone as the lead detective, the lesbian cop who likes to make out with her gfs, the guy from Fringe that everyone wants for their boss, the gang-banger with his homo boyfriend, and the self-reflective drug dealer questioning his way of life. Guess it must have felt edgy in its day, but you see that stuff on the main networks during prime time nowadays.

Omar is not a gang-banger and Stringer is not questioning his way of life. Continue with the show. But if you have no interest in social commentary, then it won't be saved for you.

Ho Hum wrote:

Also, anyone who has HBO should watch True Detective. It just started, but IMO it's already the best show on TV.

True Detective has been great so far. It is what I imagine Faulkner would create if he were alive today and writing a TV show. If you enjoy Southern Gothic, you might also want to check out Rectify, a new series by The Sundance Channel.

There's a thread on True Detective here:

The wire was more realistic and addressed issues of the drug culture. However which series engaged me the most? Which series had the most creative characters and situations?

Breaking Bad hooks you like none of the other three. Sopranos was second though the last season crashed.

The Wire I stopped watching in the second season.

I would rank them by putting them in order of most to least favorite (or vice versa - doesn't matter so long as you specify)

Seems like an odd question to me.

Freaks and Geeks

The Wire

Breaking Bad

Come on, it's not even close. The Sopranos doesn't belong in this list.

Josh Hamilton's Addiction wrote:

Omar is not a gang-banger and Stringer is not questioning his way of life. Continue with the show. But if you have no interest in social commentary, then it won't be saved for you.

It's D'Angelo that I was referring to as the one who seemed capable of self-reflection. I agree his uncle is a ruthless drug dealer, but D'Angelo was questioning why there has to be so much violence in drug dealing. The shootings, beatings, robbings and murders are what draws the cops into their affairs and also causes hardships in the community. It's obvious he has genuine feelings for those who've lost their loved ones when it comes to the latter. If he were the king pin, it'd just be a business. Supply the customer and make some money.

Since you have yet to finish season one of The Wire, can you really pass judgement on the whole series yet? I mean, you haven't even gotten to the part where D'Angelo runs for mayor and Omar reports for the Baltimore Sun.

Breaking bad is the best plotted show of all time. The Wire is probably the boldest. Breaking bad is the most exciting to wat, but the wire stays with you man, for years! Be patient with BB it ratchets up ever so slightly and never lets up.

I stopped watching the sopranos after episode 2, I just didn't find any of it interesting. might try again some day.

True detective is great.

The Justified season with Mags and dickey was very very good, the others less so.

Honestly, the first season of the Wire didn't pull me in. Even the final episodes (which in retrospect are amazing) didn't have me at the edge of my seat. It wasn't until season 2 where I was like, "Wow, this is a great show!"

It's very slow in the first two seasons, but it plays out like a greek tragedy. And its characters are some of the most intriguing ever. I'm sorry, but your characterizations of those characters are horrible and you should judge them again when you reach the end of season 2.

Season 3 is where the show hits an amazing high, and damn if it didn't build up to an amazing climax that was building since the pilot.

Please at least stick around 3 seasons, and then if you don't love it then, I can't help you. Perhaps it's best if you miss the greatest television season of all time, Season 4 of the Wire (education).

As you know it beats out all of the other shows, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game Of Thrones, Deadwood and Justified. Seen them all, and while amazing, none of them had the ambition of chronicling the political, economic, and social faults in American society and the cracks in Capitalism.

I used to think Breaking Bad was the greatest, then I saw the Sopranos, said the same thing after that, then I saw The Wire and nothing has beat it since, nor will anything in my lifetime.

Hard to compare them. It is like asking which is the best band.

I personally think sopranos is the most show overrated ever. The only show worse that was popular was lost and the last season of that show was a giant shitepile.

Wire was great. Like others said is was like a novel and had a lot of social commentary.

breaking bad was really well written and fun to watch.

both had great last episodes.

The Sopranos was good and ground breaking for it's time but I don't think it stands the test of time like the Wire does.

I started the Sopranos about a year ago and it became somewhat of a chore to finish it. It had its moments but it seems pretty dated after being spoiled by more modern shows.

The Wire, like others have mentioned is a slow burn and it has its more patient episodes. But the last three seasons really sucked me in and it has great individual characters.

Breaking Bad is my favorite on the list. Each season got better than the prior one and it wrapped up perfectly. But as someone else said, The Wire stays with you and while I've mostly forgotten Breaking Bad, scenes and moments from The Wire frequently go through my head.

1. Sopranos. All the characters were believable; probably the best television series ever.

2. The Wire. A very close second. Omar and McNulty were kind of caricatures. Probably the fairest, best treatment of black people in tv history

3. Breaking bad. A very good show but not in the same class as the other two

The Wire

Deadwood

Breaking Bad

The Sopranos

Carnivale

To spend hours and hours staring at tv shows is to waste the gift of life!

What made you pull this thread out after more than a year?

Groundbreaking:

1. Wire

2. Sopranos

Extremely entertaining:

3. Breaking Bad

Chewbacca wrote:

To spend hours and hours staring at tv shows is to waste the gift of life!

Human beings are story tellers; and art is possibly one of the most intrinsically "human" things we do. Spending some of our time enjoying those things isn't a waste of life, but an appreciation of it.

Precious Roy wrote:

Wire

Breaking Bad

Sopranos

... Sopranos jumped the shark a bit by staying around a season or two more than needed. And the finale was a dud.

I agree with your order. As others have mentioned, I also didn't finish The Sopranos after about 4 seasons for the reasons quoted. Near the end, I couldn't watch any more episodes centered around the son/wife complaining or the therapy sessions. Maybe those episodes were high art, but they simply weren't entertaining to me. I gave up after watching an episode that was entirely a non-sensical dream sequence. After hearing the hullaballoo I watched the final scene and lost any desire to catch the episodes I missed.

Seen Them 2 wrote:

Been watching season one of The Wire over the past few months, and while good, it hasn't really pulled me into it and made me add every disk to my Netflix queue. It's got the Brendan Fraser clone as the lead detective, the lesbian cop who likes to make out with her gfs, the guy from Fringe that everyone wants for their boss, the gang-banger with his homo boyfriend, and the self-reflective drug dealer questioning his way of life. Guess it must have felt edgy in its day, but you see that stuff on the main networks during prime

I know this post is over a year old but man, I hope this guy is really young because this show flew so far over his head it's scary.