These things usually end up in a fairly straight head-to-head between The Sopranos and The Wire.

Absolutely love them both, but The Wire edges it for me, so you have something else utterly amazeballs © ED SMALLMAN to watch there, Si.

    bosstrabs …it does tend to come down to those two but its a weird comparison IMO. The Wire was always intended as a 5-act piece, and although it definitely has it’s slower moments (series!) but when you look back at the scope of it, the storytelling is immense, probably unsurpassed in its ambition.

    Sopranos I have a special love for as I worked on the series promos for about 3 years and was totally immersed in it for so long…. incredible performances and lurches between pathos, humour and horror like little else. I’ll never forgive David Chase for trying to sell us that lazy ending as an ‘interpretive’ set piece though.

    Anyone mention Boardwalk Empire yet?

        Unbroken1 Boardwalk Empire also good.

        Narcos original seasons definitely worth watching too. Goes off the boil with Narcos: Mexico though.

          Enjoyed Boardwalk Empire.

          Richard Harrow in Boardwalk was immense. As was Gyp Rosetti.

            Basically HBO changed the game. Brought movie quality scripting, acting and polish to TV.

            Millsy …so many class peripheral characters, Eli, Chalky, Van Alden, one of my all-time faves.

            Along_the_Wire …deffo know what you are saying, it was almost like she was briefed to be stiff, esp in her earlier episodes, she improved as it went on though

                  Unbroken1 With you on all of that ….. was it yet another one that suffered from having the rug pulled on it and so they tried to wrap it up all too quickly with the last series??

                      Smallman1 does the last season not completely ruin the show? that and lost have to be viewed as potentially great shows that were completely destroyed by bad writing, no?

                        Along_the_Wire the Shield was entertaining, but it was stupid.

                        LOL I don’t even know what this means. It was excellent for its time.

                        And it’s interesting how S.2 of The Wire has become so respected. It was not when it came out. Maybe it was just too different from S.1. I don’t know. But it’s amazing. Frank Sobotka was an incredible character. So well written and acted.

                            jonattonyeah And it’s interesting how S.2 of The Wire has become so respected. It was not when it came out. Maybe it was just too different from S.1. I don’t know. But it’s amazing. Frank Sobotka was an incredible character. So well written and acted.

                            Yeah, I was bang into Seasons 1, 3 and 4 a few years ago. Then on a recent rewatch I started to like Season 2 a lot more, where I found it depressing and ponderous previously (compared to the street stuff and the brilliance Omar Little, Stringer Bell et al)

                                wrongun … probably too quickly yeah, but it was the ending that was always intended I believe. To be fair, although I’d rather they’d had the space to do it the way the creators wanted, I didn’t mind the ending and didn’t feel FUCKING RIPPED-OFF LIKE AT THE END OF THE SOPRANOS!!

                                  Along_the_Wire

                                  Gotcha. That makes sense. It’s loosely based off of the Rampart scandal (the name of the show was originally going to be Rampart but the LAPD put the kibosh on that). Knowing that story might’ve made me enjoy the show more. The Rampart police division was out of their fucking minds. Robbing dealers. Framing people. One dude was even involved in a bank robbery. Also rumored that one officer killed Biggie which is why nobody has ever been caught. And people wonder why the police aren’t trusted.

                                    bosstrabs

                                    Awful. Just terrible. Nice looking women but even they can’t save it. Right there with Big Bang Theory for the worst thing ever filmed.