Sopranos vs. The Wire
The age old debate. Which is the best?
For me, it's the Sopranos by a slight margin. Because the police/legal stuff is hard to understand at times.
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Damn literally watching them again as we speak one show to the next while I have hbomaxReally fucking hard to say. Honestly very different but I'd say the sopranos. The wire has a lot of really boring parts and S2 sucks. I'm on S3 and don't remember exactly how things shake out but I think it's a much better storyline over the 4 seasons by somehow making it possible to have the original 'villains' still alive for so many seasons.For the sopranos, you get invested in Tony and all but the eyeball moves a lot onto things that don't matter too often but it's still a great show
And holy shit I think now that I’ve typed it out the wire is better. Too many side stories I started skipping through for the sopranos around the family members. Waaaaaaayyyy too many. Only cared about the actual story and the wire has more of that even if it’s boring side stories for a while too (every show has that though and you kinda have to have some I guess)
Each show is brilliant, but they are so different it’s hard to compare, but I would give a slight edge to the wire.
What makes the wire great? The grit, realism and ensemble cast. But it’s the terrific plot. And with so many characters and story lines, it keeps your attention. I personally loved all the drug scenes, but I still appreciated the other plot lines. Like every great show it got a little silly at the end with what Jimmy did and was slightly unbelievable, but ended right when it needed to.
What makes the sopranos great? The acting, attention to detail and strong cast. But the real it factor is James Gandolfini. He is the show and he shined so bright. The ensemble cast wasn’t always that talented. For example, they never replaced the actors who played his kids so as they grew older and had bigger storylines you could tell their acting prowess was over matched, especially the son. But james was darn good and mesmerizing he could carry the show.
So to me it comes down to the wire ensemble vs the talent of James. And I give the edge to the ensemble. Because there were times I would want to fast forward some sopranos scenes (obviously never James’ scenes), whereas there were many fewer times I wanted to skip scenes in the wire.
And to me that’s the tiebreaker.
To me the "boring" scenes in the Sopranos were mildly entertaining (Tony being racist to Meadow's boyfriend, Tony making fun of AJ for being a pussy, etc.) while the boring ones in The Wire is just technical jargon that’s hard to understand. Also, they make you sympathetic to Tony, if you watch too many mafia related scenes in a row you really start to hate the guy.
To me, The Wire. Just enjoyed the show overall more and felt like it didn't lean on any one person (ie. Gandolfini) to make the show. It was much more dynamic and striking in its delivery.
Sopranos. easy choice.
Feel you! I just enjoyed the wire so much more for some reason. And I fucking loved the sopranos but idk what it was it just seemed like the wire was more articulate in it's story while not sacrificing the intense character dev that the sopranos had. Much love to both and especially Gandolfini
For once we agree on something. The Sopranos for me by a substantial margin because they stayed consistent. The Wire's first 2-3 seasons were awesome but then started to really peter out imo.
Sopranos by a large margin, some much more depth to the characters, the humor, the acting was about as good as i have ever seen on television and film.
I thought The Wire is one of the deepest show I've seen about how society is in urban decaying cities. Brilliantly done. I'm still fairly conservative and this show felt interesting to see how politics influence decisions made by government and how there is no end to the "game" every part of society plays. Show is better than Sopranos in terms of the storytelling but it felt dark/bleak in the last 2 seasons. Doesn't mean it was bad, it just made me feel sad about what I watched yet impressed by how it was done.
The Sopranos is objectively the better show, but the Wire is good too, though personally for me has much less re-watch value, which is where the Sopranos really shines. Both are amazingly well produced though, and each has its own merits which can't always be compared apples to apples.
"Objectively better" says who? You? Lool i swear to god
Me and basically everyone tbh
I would say something, but I'm probably very biased given my username lol
You are a natural po-lice
Don't need your brash, tweedy impertinence here.
Both are phenomenal shows, both have great acting, but Gandolfini was the better actor by far in both shows. That said, Sopranos was THE seminal HBO show, but The Wire still holds up today, minus some of the cell phones and tech. The Sopranos was a great story following one man, The Wire was about the City of Baltimore and more of a tapestry. I like The Wire better, sheeeeeeeet.
What show do I like to see and watch more, the Sopranos.
What show made me think more, the Wire.
As stated above, its more a which team was better vs which player was better.
Personal note that no one cares about but me: growing up in New Jersey, I hate the Sopranos. I'm Italian, but for years everyone thought they were Tony Soprano, kind of annoying (like pudgy kids in high school who wore backwards hates and always announced they were Turtle). Also, from the looks of it, Sopranos may be shoved down our throats for the next couple of years. Sometimes you have to leave characters up to the imagination, everything doesn't need a spin off. "Ever wonder how Omar got that way"...I mean, best left up to the imagination, i don't need 9 prequel movies. Whats next, the untold Artie Bucco story? Furios second cousin removed had a dark past?
You just made me remember that Omar was one of the best characters on TV ever.
The Wire had a better plot, the characters were more interesting, and was more grounded in realism. Sopranos is great but the Wire is GOAT.
My nod goes to the Wire pretty easily. That said, both shows really went downhill after their first few seasons. The Wire particularly - season 4 tried to do way too much (following the storylines of the kids, Carcetti, Marlo, Avon vs Marlo, Stringer vs Avon, Omar vs Stringer, po-lice, etc.) and season 5 lost its realism w/ faking of the serial killer (also the newsroom storyline was completely uninteresting). The Sopranos mirrored Gandolfini's breathing as the seasons went on - increasingly labored.
Saw some hate for season 2 of The Wire in this thread - that is the best season. Have not seen anywhere that the story of the disintegration blue collar America and its communities is told so well and it's not even close. I thought it was a really nice change of pace in the show, which is about Baltimore and its institutions more than the drug trade, and the ports are an important part of that story. They fucked the dog in seasons 4 & 5 trying to tell the school/news/political stories, but got it 100% correct in season 2.
I agree that S5 jumped the shark, but S4 was actually very enjoyable - loved the kids and how the show delve into the school system.
And how the broken school system and community just feeds into the problem. One joins the drug dealers, the other actually makes it out with a lot of support and attention, the other becomes homeless and a druggie, it's showing the cycle of the city.
i find italians too poor and 2nd tier to appreciate their actors or culture
Omg, I love both shows so much. My choice is The Sopranos because of the character dynamics. Both shows do so well putting a timestamp on the scenes by putting fad products, technology, and displays of popculture to remind you this is defintely early 2000s. Its like they knew these shows are going to be iconic for decades to come if that makes sense. Random scene reference but I love when Paulie is in Italy and he is highly distracted by the culture lol. The wire was incredible too. Shout out to Hamsterdam. Omar was a very likable character.
What's amazing to me is that nobody I know who watched the Wire disagreed with Bunny about Hamsterdam. It really nailed home both the futile and pyrrhic nature of the war on drugs.
But 20 years later, has any of this sentiment translated into meaningful policy changes? Not at all.
Sopranos is for the heart and Wire is for the mind.
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