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The wire - Best tv show bar none
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:51 pmby JBG
Following a little cosy chat with Andy on this show, I think it deserves a thread of its own.
I think somebody like GQ called it "the best telly show you've never seen."
Well, JBG has seen it and its absolutely awesome. I had previously thought that the Sopranos could never be topped but the Wire beats it hands down.
Its got the best writing and acting on tv with AMAZING characters. Its a very slow burner and like the Sopranos you need to watch all of the seasons to truly appreciate it.
Its set in Baltimore, a city which is 60% African American and most of the characters are black. It initially starts on the premise of a special police squad who carry out undercover surveillance and wire tapping (hence the wire) but after season two it becomes much more than that (in the way that after season two of the Sopranos that show became much more than just the relationship between Dr. Melfi and Tony Soprano.)
Without a shadow of a doubt its got some of the coolest characters around. Principal among them are Omar, the homosexual stick up artist pretty handy with a shot gun, Kiema, a half Korean, half black lesbian cop, Bunk, an overweight black cop with a razor sharp wit, Prop Joe, a fat drug kingpin always trying to work the angles, Bodie, a corner "hopper", Clay Davis, a corrupt senator ("Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit"), Herc, a thick as two planks white detective and Lester Freeman, a genius but maverick detective who doesn't care whose toes he steps on.
Ansolutely belting show. Just finished watching the second last series which was jawdroppingly brilliant.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:02 pmby woof woof !
My son had pretty much the same enthusiasm as yourself for this show. I watched and enjoyed the first series , quickly got hold of the second and gave up after a couple of episodes 
, was bored .
Son tells me to persevere, maybe I'll give series three a whirl.
Just watched the final episode of the long running blindingly brutal "The Shield" for me the best "cop" show ever.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:11 pmby andy_g
i know what you mean, woof. i'm on season 3 and the first was still the best, although the standard is so high that season 3 is still completely brilliant. it took me 3 or 4 episodes to get properly into the second season, pretty much once you stop missing all the characters you loved in season one. they come back and get better and the storyline begins to really suck you in. in season 3 the tensions between avon and stringer against the rise of the new dealer in the area becomes as good as any classic western.
the soundtrack of the show really stands out. about 95% of the music on the show actually comes from the scene itself - from car stereos, clubs, or whatever - and gives the scenes a real credibility. none (or very, very little) of the usual overlaid music that tries to tell you how you should be feeling about a particular scene.
omar, as jbg says, is the stand out character in the show. i challenge any hardened anti-homo not to like him 
. special shouts out as well to bunk, freeman, and major rawls.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:26 pmby JoeTerp
The Wire is the most briliant show ever.
Season 1
Season 4
Season 3
Season 2
Season 5
Entertainment Weekly named The Wire the best show of 2004, describing it as "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV."
Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that The Wire "has tackled the drug war in this country as it simultaneously explores race, poverty and 'the death of the American working class,' the failure of political systems to help the people they serve and the tyranny of lost hope. Few series in the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none—not one—has done it as well."[
"even in what is generally acknowledged to be something of a golden era for thoughtful and entertaining dramas—both on cable channels and on network TV—The Wire stands out."[265] TIME Magazine especially praised the fourth season, stating that "no other TV show has ever loved a city so well, damned it so passionately, or sung it so searingly
Charlie Brooker, a columnist for the British newspaper The Guardian has been particularly copious in his praise of the show, in both his column "Screen Burn" and his BBC Four television series Screenwipe, in which he often speaks highly of it, calling it possibly the greatest show of the last 20 years.[271][272]
In January 2008, United States President-elect Barack Obama was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun as saying that The Wire is the best show on television
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:51 pmby woof woof !
JoeTerp wrote:In January 2008, United States President-elect Barack Obama was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun as saying that The Wire is the best show on television
Well that does it for me .
I'm definitely not watching it.
High praise all round it would seem, will deffo give series three a go.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:20 pmby jonnymac1979
I've battered around 25 episodes of Entourage since Sunday. Loving it.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:08 pmby taff
Not done the wire properly but all my Sopranos loving mates rave about it and am getting box sets on loan pretty soon 
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:16 pmby jonsnow
It's a tough choice between the Shield and the Wire... both are absolute class, according to channel4 reports of course
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:03 pmby JBG
Season 4 of the Wire is the best yet - season 2 goes off on a bit of a tangent with Frank Sabathca and the dockers union - but s4 is hardcore. It really sets up S5.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:04 pmby dawson99
Season one was on virgin tv on tv on demand.. then just took it off as i was on episode 9 so I've givin up until it's on sale.
the shield tho, as jonsnow says... brilliant!!! On season 6 of that... absolute brilliance.
Posted:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:30 pmby Dundalk
Couldnt agree more JBG!
I started a thread on this in June (Click here) I had just finished watching season 5.
Im thinking of going back and watchin it again it was that good.
Is there any plans for it to come back
Posted:
Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:34 pmby woof woof !
Posted:
Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:30 pmby JBG
Aye, Entourage is hilarious.
VICTOOOORRRRY!!!!!!!!!!
Posted:
Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:34 pmby woof woof !
Entourage
Eric: We had breakup-sex, all right?
Johnny Drama: Breakup-sex? Never heard of it.
Eric: Yeah, I mean... you know... you have sex and... that's it - you say goodbye.
Johnny Drama: [pauses to think] That's the only kinda sex I have.
Ari Gold: "We are gonna get drunk with Russell Crowe and we're gonna head-butt some goddamn kangaroos".
Posted:
Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:34 pmby dawson99
Entourage, been watching that since day one too. It's all about Ari if you ask me, altho turtles latest Sopraonos action has been genius.
