The Wire is the greatest show ever made.

[Goondal]

15 hours ago, Zaximus said:

Boardwalk was great, the only blemish was the last season which was too rushed and didn't feel right.    But man, there was some great characters.

Agreed, I feel as if we got cheated of some fine moments with the way they rushed the ending.  Rothstein’s downfall would have been a joy to watch.  They needed an extra season between S4 and S5

[Goondal]

11 hours ago, Anybodyhome said:

 

But I've watched several other series that were much the same- character development, plot development, etc.

Now, you wanna see one that recently started... Succession.

I absolutely love Succession.  I feel like it is the show that Billions wanted to be and find it addicting much in the same way I found Mad Men.  I even find similarities in their theme songs and how they get into my head and I am humming it for days.  That being said...I would not even put it two tiers below The Wire or Deadwood.

As far as ‘18. Shows go though Succession is challenging the final season of The Americans for my favorite.  They could both be surpassed though if the final four episodes of Sharp Objects are as good as the first four.  I highly recommend that show, it has been fabulous.

[Goondal]

6 hours ago, Shocker said:

Wow, heard some mentions for The Leftovers but through 3 episodes this is boring as hell.  Hope this gets better soon.

As for the Wire, again it is amazing but has some annoying characters in some seasons and moves really slow in parts but it's great.  Top 5 ever isn't bad.  I didn't like season 2 and honestly will skip it next time.  

You have to stick with The Leftovers.  I know multiple people that did not like it at first even into the seventh or eighth episode but now have it among, if not at the top of their all-time list.

That being said, it is not for everyone and I can understand why some would not like it.  I feel like it just depends on your life experiences and how you relate to the characters/story.  For some it would seem like a foreign language while for others, myself included, it can feel as if you were the basis for a character(s).

[Still Brooklyn]

22 hours ago, Shocker said:

Wow, heard some mentions for The Leftovers but through 3 episodes this is boring as hell.  Hope this gets better soon.

As for the Wire, again it is amazing but has some annoying characters in some seasons and moves really slow in parts but it's great.  Top 5 ever isn't bad.  I didn't like season 2 and honestly will skip it next time.  

Leftovers S1 follows the book. It is a confusing mess. Everything after that is done by the HBO writers. S2 might be the best season of a TV show I've ever seen. S3 was pretty good too.

As for all The Wire hype, everyone says it's a "slow burn" and the payoff at the end is worth it. I'm sorry, but struggling through a long show just to see it all come together isn't for me. Breaking Bad had characters, tension, drama, action, humor, suspense, etc. from the get go. Fargo, Mr. Robot, Sherlock, too. Sure, Omar is great. But I felt nothing for the kids, nothing for the political characters, nothing for the cops, nothing for the gang members. As I said before, I did like S2 and may have liked the show more if it were more based on that grouping.

[Dex]

 

 

Gold.

[Moorgan]

The Wire for sure is up there with Deadwood, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. BB went on a bit too long but was great. Shows that probably don't count are True Detectives Season 1 and Band of Brothers. Both are probably more mini-series rather than a show, but both are so damn amazing. Truly amazing. The Sopranos definitely went on too long but it was must see tv back then.

One that many may have missed was Black Sails. Show on Starz that was about pirates. Was really solid and compelling. A good mix of pirate history and fiction. Also wrapped up with confidence and didn't go too long. I also really enjoyed American Gods but it's been a while since the end of Season 1. But it felt like it was going somewhere and was interesting in a lot of ways.

[Zaximus]

58 minutes ago, Moorgan said:

The Wire for sure is up there with Deadwood, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. BB went on a bit too long but was great. Shows that probably don't count are True Detectives Season 1 and Band of Brothers. Both are probably more mini-series rather than a show, but both are so damn amazing. Truly amazing. The Sopranos definitely went on too long but it was must see tv back then.

One that many may have missed was Black Sails. Show on Starz that was about pirates. Was really solid and compelling. A good mix of pirate history and fiction. Also wrapped up with confidence and didn't go too long. I also really enjoyed American Gods but it's been a while since the end of Season 1. But it felt like it was going somewhere and was interesting in a lot of ways.

Black Sails was fantastic.    That's a show you have to get past season 1 on.    Then it takes off and the character building is in overdrive.   So many great characters, much like Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos in that regard.  

[Moorgan]

Just finished season 1 of Succession and was impressed. The characters are all so despicable that it's difficult to fall in love with the show in the traditional sense but it's very well done and executed in my mind.

[Skack25]

I really liked The Wire, but SOA is my all time favorite.

[Moorgan]

39 minutes ago, Skack25 said:

I really liked The Wire, but SOA is my all time favorite.

For me, SoA fell apart after season 5. Once the Hamlet scenario was completed, I lost interest in the show. That was the actually compelling aspect of the show.

[Dex]

10 minutes ago, Moorgan said:

For me, SoA fell apart after season 5. Once the Hamlet scenario was completed, I lost interest in the show. That was the actually compelling aspect of the show.

I thoroughly enjoyed SoA. But once Opie died something just flipped in Jax. I wasn't even rooting for him or the Sons anymore. No redeeming qualities left. Sutter/Hunnam did a fantastic job with Jax's character development and descent into a truly evil "protagonist".

[Moorgan]

19 minutes ago, Dex said:

I thoroughly enjoyed SoA. But once Opie died something just flipped in Jax. I wasn't even rooting for him or the Sons anymore. No redeeming qualities left. Sutter/Hunnam did a fantastic job with Jax's character development and descent into a truly evil "protagonist".

I didn't find the story compelling once the Hamlet storyline of Jax's murdered father by his "uncle"/stepfather was found out and Jax confronted him. To me that parallel to Hamlet was what made the show compelling. The acting was terrible at first but improved seemingly from episode to episode. The dialogue also improved over time. But really that whole narrative was what drove the stroy. Also the parallels (and there are many) to the real life Sons of Liberty was also a novelty to me as I sort of fetishize the actual Sons of Liberty in my mind. So once I started noticing all the parallels it became even more interesting. I even spoke to one of the actors about all this (the fat probie) and he confirmed that I wasn't crazy.

[CRA]

23 minutes ago, Moorgan said:

I didn't find the story compelling once the Hamlet storyline of Jax's murdered father by his "uncle"/stepfather was found out and Jax confronted him. To me that parallel to Hamlet was what made the show compelling. The acting was terrible at first but improved seemingly from episode to episode. The dialogue also improved over time. But really that whole narrative was what drove the stroy. Also the parallels (and there are many) to the real life Sons of Liberty was also a novelty to me as I sort of fetishize the actual Sons of Liberty in my mind. So once I started noticing all the parallels it became even more interesting. I even spoke to one of the actors about all this (the fat probie) and he confirmed that I wasn't crazy.

aren't they doing a spin off for SOA? With the Mayans?  Probably will suck. 

But SOA was great big picture for a cable TV show.  One of the best in the last 20 years. 

Segal was awesome in SOA.  

[Moorgan]

1 minute ago, CRA said:

aren't they doing a spin off for SOA? With the Mayans?  Probably will suck. 

But SOA was great big picture for a cable TV show.  One of the best in the last 20 years. 

Segal was awesome in SOA.  

I agree with everything you said.