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TVGAF, The Wire or Mad Men?

P

phanphare

Banned
watch mad men, then watch the wire, then watch mad men again

mad men is better the second time around imo so sandwich the wire in between both viewings to give you some distance
 
TwoDurans

TwoDurans

"Never said I wasn't a hypocrite."
SomTervo said:
The back half of Mad Men picks back up though. It only really gets bad when it crashes hard end of s04 into s05. Then it's up and up.
Click to expand...

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.
 
T

Tender Joe

Member
Both shows fuck hard. Mad Men slightly harder.

I'm sure some wisenheimer will/has try to point out slow/low points of Mad Men but don't listen to the nonsense. It gets better and better.

Season 5 of The Wire, while still good, is a far cry from the previous 4.
 
V

Vice

Member
Alternate between the two. Both shows get better when you have time to think about the previous episode(s). Marathoning either will have you miss a lot and I don't feel most shows work out when you sprint through them. A season of one and then the other. Both are some of the best shows that have ever been on TV and giving yourself some breathing room with the character and story progression will do them justice.
 
A

Axiology

Member
First watch The Wire

Then, and this is very important, watch The Sopranos. You might die before you get a chance!

Then Mad Men.
 
Premium Quality

Premium Quality

Member
The Wire
I also recommend an episode a day. If you're still with it after the first four episodes, enjoy the ride.
I'm also one of those people who hated season 2 on my first watch, but it became my favorite season on my second watch.
 
R

rickyson1

Member
anyways Mad Men is pretty good but The Wire is the best show out there and anyone that doesn't agree should probably keep watching it until they do
 
R

Raitosaito

Member
Mad Men.

There just hasn't been a show this good, that explore humans the way that show has.

The Wire is great too.
But yeah they're different.
 
T

Tender Joe

Member
The Suitcase episode from Mad Men is a fucking masterstroke. I bawl everytime.


Also, now that a few years have passed, I can safely say that the finale of Mad Men is a GOAT. Pitch perfect in tone.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
The Wire is the greatest drama of all time.

Mad Men is one of the greatest.

I also really loved The Leftovers, it's only 3 seasons and has a great finale.

I rank my top 3 dramas

1) The Wire
2) Mad Men
3) The Leftovers

You should watch all three. And that's to say nothing of other brilliant shows like The Sopranos and Deadwood.

Prepare to realize that Game of Thrones is a tacky soap opera by comparison (yes, even the good seasons of 1-3).

equippedwithtowel said:
Both shows are in a class of their own when it comes to lomg form tv drama. I'll never understand people who think mad men fell off in its back half, that's when the character work really starts to pay off.
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Agreed. People who didn't like the finale of Mad Men probably thought the finale for Evangelion was bad, too. Pleebs.

TheDarkKnight774 said:
Easy. The wire

It's a slow burn show but worth the payoff. View each season as a book
Click to expand...

Prince of Space said:
Both are excellent shows in their own right. Mad Men is a bit of a slow burn, but worth the investment, as the series really takes off with season 4.

The Wire stumbles just a bit in its final season, but remains one of -if not THE- best TV shows.
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jdstorm said:
This is just a kind way of saying its boring.
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No, slow burn means it focuses much more on character drama/development to build character studies as opposed to moment-to-moment action driving a plot.

Genreally, in slow-burn writing the climax of the story centers around the character arc rather than the external conflicts.

If you think that's boring that's on you.
 
D

Don Draper's Hat

Member
Both are fantastic shows and you should try and make and effort to watch both. But if you can only watch one then it should be The Wire. It's phenomenal.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
Don Draper's Hat said:
Both are fantastic shows and you should try and make and effort to watch both. But if you can only watch one then it should be The Wire. It's phenomenal.
Click to expand...

As someone who adores Mad Men I have to agree, The Wire is the show to watch above all others.

But no reason to not watch both. And The Leftovers, I'm serious. That show does not get enough love, it's so damn good. Largely looked-over and it's a damn shame.
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
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H

higgsboson1997

Member
johancruijff said:
uuuuh come on, GoT is nowhere near The Wire nor Mad Men
Click to expand...

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.
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Both are two of the best television shows of all time. I think, personally, I give a slight edge to Mad Men. Not that I think it's "better", but I'm drawn to more character-driven stuff, and Mad Men is essentially one big character study.
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
Phased said:
The Wire is one of the best tv shows ever made, start to finish. Even S2 which a lot of people think is the low point is still better than almost everything out there.

I personally really like S2 but I admit when the show isn't focusing on Avon/Stringer/the cops it's not as good (but still pretty great)

Mad Men is fine but it goes on way too long. Wire is good from start to finish.
Click to expand...

S2 is underrated. The reason much of the hate comes is the cast shift over and even that, took me out the first time. Once I got through it, a lot of the pieces fit together and it turned into an excellent season with a surprisingly well done angle.

S3 on the other hand, I felt was weaker largely because it is part 2 of Season 1. But this time, lets focus on the top brass of the gangs where the show lost a lot of the ambition it had in S1 and S2. It was definitely the most by the numbers seasons.

The Wire definitely falls out in S5. I love the angle and story they attempted, but it was the first miss.

S4 is top of the TV game. By far the best still.

Mad Men... I'm not even quite sure where I'd place it anymore. I sort of phased on it. Great start, but it was around Season 3 or 4, it really was trending water.

To the OP, go with The Wire and enjoy the greatest TV show.

After the Wire, I'd recommend several other shows before hitting up Mad Men. I'd go with Deadwood. Even incomplete, it is about the closest a TV series has come to The Wire.
 
W

wutwutwut

Member
jdstorm said:
How is it crazy. Both shows (The Wire/Daredevil) feature a small team of people (Cops/Lawyers) working to take down institutionalised criminal behavior in a poor rundown forgotten area of innercity America (Baltimore/New York)
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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.
 
R

RunTheBrules

Member
The Wire.

Currently watching it right now (just finished S3 E4), and I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this. The acting, dialogue, character writing, and pacing are perfect.

... and I thought I loved Breaking Bad.
 
I

itwasTuesday

He wasn't alone.
I've never seen more than 2 episodes of Mad Men. I think the pilot and one with Jon Hamm using a tri lens 8mm camera, drunkinly filming what appeared to be a child's birthday party.

I've watched The Wire, maybe 4 times. Only the pilot of the HDified version though.

I guess The Wire by default
 
P

Phinor

Member
I watched Mad Men last year and enjoyed it a lot. However.. The Wire is the best piece of media I've ever seen, heard or perhaps even read and despite repeat viewings always leaves me feeling empty and unable to watch anything else the following few days after I finish watching it.

So both? But give The Wire a decent chance, it might take a while to get into it.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
For the better show... the Wire by a mile. Mad Men isn't in the same company as The Wire. It's like comparing the California Raisins Saturday morning cartoon to The Wire.
 
S

StrawberryJam

Member
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...
 
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