Revisiting the Big 3 from the Golden Era of TV.
Finally got a chance to complete all 5 seasons of The Wire recently, finishing off the holy trinity of Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and The Wire.
I remember all the praise these series got at the time but was just too busy to get through The Wire at the time. Now that I have, I gotta say, I'm missing why people thought these three series were pretty close to equal in terms of quality. To me, it's not even close.
The Sopranos is by a very wide margin the best of the bunch. And by a wide margin, Tony Soprano is much more interesting that Walter White or James McNulty as the main characters. And the gap between White and McNulty is equally wide. Beyond the leads, The Sopranos introduced so many compelling characters. Mainstays like Paulie, Christopher, Uncle June, and Sil were great, and the bit characters who joined for a season or a few episodes were all so memorable - Pussy, Ralphie, Furio, Phil Leotardo, Tony Blundetto, Ritchie, Gloria. Other than Walter and Jesse, and maybe Hank, I didn't really care about any of the other regular characters other than Tuco and Saul. For The Wire, I didn't really feel anything for the main characters. They were just there.
In terms of overall strength of seasons, I don't really think The Sopranos had a weak one. It started strong, stayed at a high level and never wavered. The Wire started almost as strong but really fizzled towards the end. It's best seasons included Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. After they left the show really fell. I felt obliged to finish Season 5 but it was really dumb (the fake serial killer thing was so weak). As for Breaking Bad, season 1 is so bad. Couldn't really get into it. I started and stopped watching it three times before I was finally able to get through it. It really got rolling for me somewhere in Season 2 when Saul anf Gus were introduced.
Overall, I'd rank them:
1. The Sopranos
.
.
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2. Breaking Bad
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3. The Wire
Replies to: Revisiting the Big 3 from the Golden Era of TV.
The Mrs and I literally just finished watching The Sopranos this week.
My 2nd, her first watch.
Put Dexter on your list
I have not seen The Wire.
Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Sopranos were all great.
Others I particularly enjoyed were Weeds, Californication and Mad Men.
This may be controversial, but I thought Saul was on par with Breaking Bad
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I liked it…but too much legal drama, and psycho drama
The whole thing with Jimmy’s brother and Mesa Verde unfolded way too slowly.
That said, Lalo was the best character in either series.
It felt like there was about one full season of Better Call Saul that could have been pared out.
I loved the series. But it definitely could have been a touch faster.
I agree with you.
It was only after watching Better Call Saul that I was able to get through Breaking Bad's first season and then on to the better seasons.
I agree on the Sopranos. I had never watched Downton Abby, but started on that a few weeks ago, and
I’ve been impressed thus far.
Game of Thrones and Ozark would also be in my Top 10.
The Shield is sometimes discussed with those other three
I think the trinity, as you called them, are better, but the Shield is worth watching next.
I think The Wire ends better than any show, ever.
Also in that lofty top drama category: Game of Thrones, & the first few seasons of the Walking Dead (are those roughly in that era? I don’t really remember…)
I loved Breaking Bad. I have seen pieces of The Sopranos, but I've always intended to re-start it.
I struggled through a few episodes of The Wire because so many people were praising it. I didn't care for any of the characters. Felt the accents were being over-cooked. And it seemed to me that they really wanted to make the viewers over-absorb meaningless plot points (i.e., 40-plus minutes/scenes to explain that McNulty shouldn't have had a casual conversation with a judge....okay, we get it, let's move on.). I stopped after a few episodes and never re-visited.
I’m partial to the wire but mostly I’m from BMore. Love sopranos and Boardwalk Empire
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Seasons 1 & 2 of The Sopranos while Nancy Marchand was alive as the mother...are the best TV I have
...seen.
Much of it was very good after that...but that was exceptional.
"The best TV I've ever seen" would make an interesting thread.
I would nominate the pilot of Twin Peaks. I was absolutely blown away when I watched the premiere. A bunch of LOST episodes would be make my top 10 too.
Does GoT count as TV?
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