K. Ive got a confession. When I made this thread, I was a "tourist" to "The Wire". I had watched burnt copies of about 60% of each season up to the fifth. Now Im re-watching it with a vengeance & realising that I was fucking wrong.
"THE WIRE" SHITS ALL OVER "THE SOPRANO'S", THAT IS, "THE SOPRANO'S", BEST FUCKIN' TELEVISION SHOW IN HE HISTORY OF FUCKING TELEVISION. "THE WIRE" IS BETTER THEN THE BEST TELEVISION SHOW IN HISTORY.
Ahem.
Really, though, Ive been rewatching the series in HighDef from the start, & a little way into the Second Series Im dumbfounded over what I was missing. I cant believe I didnt realise it before. "The Wire" is, in fact, so much, much deeper then "Soprano's" or "Oz" or whatever-the-fuck. So much more sprawling, so much more all encompassing.
Lets face it, "Soprano's" is classic. For me, at least, it redefined good t.v. What could be done with the medium. "Oz" showed me one could still push the envelope, Tony Soprano & his crew showed me how far you could take it into that id realm of WWYD? (Y for YOU mofo's!)
For example, I refer you to the murder of young 'jects kid Wallace in Series the First, the "testimony" of gay stick up man Omar Little in Series the Second & the continuing saga of Bubbles [Reginald?], the most convincing depiction of the drug struggle Ive yet to witness. Andre Royo's turn in this series is just phenomenal. This casting is amongst the most inspired & effective to be put together.
Anthony Soprano, in his most tortured, existentialist angst-ridden states; his "me, me, me"-ism's...he's compelling in his position, a juxtaposition between the Old World & the New, a reflection of the darker sides of ourselves, but through the eyes of this one guy, some asshole out for himself (like us all, really), a virulent racist, a crooked, violent, mean asshole, a guy we realise way too late that we shouldn't really be rooting for, until the night his ass gets splattered in a diner in front of his wife & kids; then we realise how far & much Tony's sneering, shrugging & fucking got him.
The Wire trancends Tony Soprano and his bull shit. Its got infinitely more to say on us all.
Anyway, I got's to lay up on the italic. I aint no 'jects brother up in here. Y'feel me babby?
Ahem. Excuse me.
Please.
You're not the first guy to suddenly announce, "You know what, The Wire is even better than The Sopranos!" But more often than not, after the novelty wears off, they come to their senses and recant that blasphemy.
Don't get me wrong, The Wire is a great show. But better than The Sopranos? That's like saying Menace II Society is better than Goodfellas.
