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TVGAF, The Wire or Mad Men?

Rbk_3

Rbk_3

Member
Interestingly enough, those are the last 2 series I watched in full over the past year.

You cannot go wrong with either, but I would say The Wire first.
 
B

Budi

Member
Another vote for the Wire, it's the best there is. To be fair, I gave up on Mad Men rather quickly. So didn't give it a proper chance.
 
O

Oveja Negra

Member
StrawberryJam said:
The Wire, for me, is just so far ahead of any other TV show that I'm not sure it'll ever be beaten. After I finished watching it I was so critical of everything else for months. I think I'll rewatch The Wire now...
Click to expand...

That's the only problem with The Wire, when it ends, you take a look at all the other shows and see them under a new much more critical lens, and most -if not all of them- look like amateur efforts. I know... I'm being hyperbolic, but you get the idea, The Wire is so damn well executed that you expect the same from the rest and none of them achieve the same greatness, they're not even near of that.

Some time ago I recommended the show to a friend, he watched it and loved it, but since then, from time to time he insults me (via whatsapp or in person lol), cause he says after The Wire, every time he watches a movie/show where there's a drug gang, all of them look fake as hell, unrealistic and he just can't take them seriously, which ruins him the experience.
 
S

Septimus Prime

Member
TheSecondSpitter said:
9efntbxozWiKxmo8m2DfAHl7FGrQ-LjeQ3T7TnR4UGOV1JRP41R4a2WYa-J2K8BZw59Hnb9W2p_Y0ZZeyZFiFZDorhZc9_kIOYpey47Txkz2hBJOuWDpXdLK=w260-h146-nc
Click to expand...
That is probably the best written scene I've ever seen.

Here's the full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Cki6njqW0

And once you finish the show and know what happens with everyone, it's even better.
 
K

KingV

Member
The wire is a good bit better than Mad Men.

I enjoyed Mad Men, and think it's a pretty good show. But the protagonist is really not very sympathetic and there are some characters that act really ridiculously. Also, the the end was imo terrible.

Wire is a damn near perfect show. It has action, it makes you think, memorable characters, and had one of the best endings of a major tv show that I can think of.

Season 2 of the wire is really poor though. Just soldier through it and it gets good again.
 
R

RumbleHumble

Banned
The Wire actually shares a whole lot of similarities in storytelling with GOT in terms of weaving a giant tapestry of characters and stories. You're better going there.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
After finishing Mad Men recently, I honestly couldn't pick and would recommend to watch them both. They're completely different shows but unmatched in that particular category. I will say that I thought The Wire had a weaker final season while Mad Men stayed great all the way through. The way Mad Men wraps up, it's like you just finished reading a classic book. It's just so well crafted all the way through. But then again, The Wire has similar highs in s 1-4. Ugh, can't choose, I'd put both in my top 5.
 
R

RangerX

Banned
The wire by a fucking country mile. It's an absolute Masterpiece of sociological theory on tv. No other tv show is even fit to scrape it's boots.
 
T

The Driver

Member
One (1) Giant Size Novelty Sexual Device said:
Shitty final season turned me off on the whole series. Characters' entire histories and backstories were thrown out because they needed to wrap things up. And that finale was hot garbage.
Click to expand...
I didn't like the final season as much either, especially once
most of the cast gets split up.
Those character interactions of being
in the same space, are missed.

I've done nearly a 180 on the finale though. I walked out of a screening at a local theater with my friend and we where both livid that it
was bad, but after some thought I really like its cyclical nature. These characters are all at new crossroads by the end but they are probably still gonna keep making the same mistakes, there was no fixing someone like Don Draper or any of the cast really, they where who they where.

But yeah, I LOVED Mad Men. Each episode was so rich with detail in character and setting. I could watch an hour of that and feel like I had enough to think about to hold me over for weeks. Of course I binged it though, and my head was swimming for a long time afterwards haha. I miss that show.
 
J

jdstorm

Banned
wutwutwut said:
This is a remarkably terrible take. The Wire is only a cop show at it's surface. It's really about the power and dysfunction of institutions. If you're watching the Wire as a cop show of course you're going to think it's not amazing. It's a masterful critique on race and society wrapped up in an above average cop show.

As much as I like GoT, the comparisons with the Wire are ludicrous. GoT is never going to be taught at Harvard.
Click to expand...

The cast of Battlestar Galactica did a speech at the UN after the series ended. That hardly makes that series immune from criticism. Not sure why "Harvard" deciding to teach something is relevant. It just means that someone at Harvard was aware of its existence. In saying that i agree with your point about game of thrones.

Funny thing is i dont want to talk crap about the wire. I tend to agree with your description of the show minus a few superlatives. I think The Wire is an interesting crituque on early 2000s opression and social power dynamics wrapped up in an average cop show.

But then again "The Wire" isn't the first or last procedural show that will deal with the idea of trying to tackle big issues/themes and ultimately should be judged on its execution not its existence. (Although its worth noting that The Wire's attempt at telling a type story that has been often overlooked and underrepresented on TV deserves praise just for existing)
 
R

RichiRamjag

Member
higgsboson1997 said:
I have watched all three shows, and I personally think Game of Thrones is the best of the three.

It's not the best written show among the three (though it's hard for something this sprawling to be written as tightly as a character drama like Mad Men), but in many above elements it's above the two for me. It, like all seasons of the other 2 shows, has had no outright mediocre seasons (though Seasons 2 and 5 were weaker than the others).


I would say all three are some of the greatest shows and are of a similar quality. I just prefer GoT more than the other two.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but game of thrones has had very cliche writing for the past two seasons and it's continued with this one. It's a good popcorn watch, but it's no masterpiece of writing and it hasn't been close since the earlier seasons. But hey, if you like it more, you like it more. Nothing wrong with that.

Martinski43 said:
Nah it's The Sopranos. Still best show of all time.
Click to expand...

It's up there for sure. I love it. Doesn't quite touch me like the wire does, but I identify with the content more. Even still, sopranos is an excellent watch. It hurt me when that show ended lol.
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Depends what you want?
Both shows have a great ensemble cast, both have great characters and dialogue,
Go the wire first than madmen.

If you haven't seen also do the sopranos and breaking bad.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
I've only seen a bit of both shows, but so far hands down The Wire. I tried a few times to get into Mad Men and it's not bad, but really not terribly engaging. I'm at episode 13 after months and months of watch. With The Wire the wife and I started just over a week ago and we just finished Season 1. Great season and great show so far.
 
P

Parallax

best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
HStallion said:
Chuckle all you want but the "bad" season of the Wire is far superior to most TV out there. There are few scenes in TV history that have touched me as much
as Bubbles finally getting to walk up those stairs
or as crushed by
watching poor Dookie shooting up
.
Click to expand...

Honest to god, the main reason I hate season 5 are the kids
both Randy and duke got destroyed and there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it.
 
N

Not

Banned
Mad Men

by default. I refuse to force myself to watch The Wire or The Sopranos. I just have no interest. Man this spoilered text got really long. Dooba doo ba da doooo woooo dooba dooba dooo
 
S

Stencil

Member
The Wire.

Took me a couple tries until I was sold on it, maybe after ep3 I started to realize that it's a captivating show.

Mad Men, despite watching the entire series, is incredibly boring. Nothing ever really happens and I think the only reason I watched it was because I'm in the Advertising Industry and it's an interesting look at [a specific class of] mid-century America.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
Mad Men worked and excelled at on many more levels than The wire. It's a spectacularly well crafted show.
That said, I loved the wire as well. Not sure I'd put it above sopranos, though.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
ffejeromdiks said:
POI is good, but it's not on Mad Men or The Wire's level.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I almost started to look up if the station that air POI had online episodes. I'll probably still look it up someday, but not with the expectation that it's The Wire quality crime drama.

HotHamBoy said:
2c1.gif
Click to expand...

Has anyone recreated this gif at a better quality? It's just the laugh emote, I'd imagine the normal version would be replaced.
 
B

boingball

Member
The Wire >> rest of television

Not to say that there is anything else which is good, there are plenty of great shows. Mad Men is one of them. You can't go wrong if you watch that.
 
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