I think Seasons 1-5 of The Sopranos were solid. Though 1 and 2 stood out because of Livia. I can see why people think it slowed down a bit in Seasons 3 and 4. But it picked up again in Season 5. The weak season, in my opinion, was the last one. I've ranted about it again and again. Season 5 set up things perfectly for a normal 13 episode Season 6. But Chase let HBO's $ go for quantity rather than quantity. And much of last season was just treading water until the final few episodes when they had to quickly wrap everything up.

If you guys like "The Shield", i highly recommend Sons of Anarchy. Created by Kurt Sutter who had a big hand in The Shield. Lot of the same actors, too.

Season 4 is generally considered to be the Wire's best season.

You kidding right? So far it sucks, maybe its because i am still at the beginning.

What i see in this show is, the black gangs. They are going through what the Italian mobsters went through in early 20s and 30s.

I'm not kidding. Most of us will probably agree.

I am about to start with episode 6, and it is getting more interested now. I will hold my breath, maybe its not the worse season

season 4 is great! i thought the same thing murkemin i thought the show couldn't go on with out stringer bell and avon...but they did a good job. i thought the 5th season wasn't as INTENSE but it was still just as good.

Season 4 is the shit. Marlo, Chrios and Snoop are fuckin' ruthless.

Friday night lights was an awesome show as well

Mad men too

cant say i agree about friday night lights dapper...

I started on the last season a while ago, somehow the Co-op of Prop Joe reminds me of the Commission. I see a pattern, its the exact road the Italian gangs took, chaos, murder etc. But after the forming of the Commission it was more stable, you can see the same pattern in the Wire for the black gangs.

And i must say, season 4 was one of the saddest seasons
So many good people died and ended up worse, Randy... Bodie...
a shame.

i thought the same thing about the co op. they just werent as organized

Cant believe they killed Prop Joe man, he was the only smart guy beside Stringer Bell. Cant wait how it will end for Omar and Marlo.
Dont spoil anything for me.

You're asking for it though.

Cant believe this shit, Omar killed by a little kid. That was one of the moments i hated the Wire, he was a real standup guy.

Well, with that done. Season is almost over, cant wait to whats gonna happen next.

Well... The Wire is over, i really enjoyed it. One of my favourite series, cant wait to see more like these kind of shows.

Now aren't you glad you gave it a chance? If you haven't seen it yet, I'd suggest you check out Breaking Bad next.

That and Oz, Mukremin it has mafia elements...

Yeah i am, i did struggle at first, was under the influence of the Sopranos. But in the end it all went well, its a super show.
And i am looking at the other series you guys mentioned.

this pissed me off so bad! broady had a better killing than omar! the writers could have done mroe with omar!

Yeah, i agree.. I knew he was going to get killed soon, but more in a open street gunfight. Fighting off Marlo's goons etc. But i gotta give credit to the young kid, he has potential along with Michael to take over the streets.

Well, it's possible to appreciate other TV series while still recognizing The Sopranos as the best of all.

You are right Ivy! But still i had these things going on my mind, lucky for me that its over now by the way, i am watching Sopranos again. FOr the 10th time now.

you will see the dif and that the sopranos is much better. i bet in a cpl years u wont be saying that ur watching the wire for the tenth time

Haha yeah, i am enjoying it. And of course, The Wire is good. But the Sopranos is fantastic, Wire has its moments though.

Heh, personally, I feel exactly the reverse. I prefer The Wire to Sopranos, but Sopranos are good to great too, particularly the first 2 seasons .

The Wire depending on your social economic status as well as your age. They interviewed some teachers in Baltimore, when the series was still going, who said it couldn't have been anymore accurate.

The collaboration of ex-Baltimore police, as well as teachers and/or politicians gave it that authentic vibe.

I liked season 2 the best I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't seen the whole series but the way that season ends reminds me of how they end season 2 of Boardwalk. Build up a character and then..........

I am from Europe, middle-class, late thirties. No Italian or Afro-American connections. I have seen both of them for the first time this year. So, I dunno.

I love the Wire for it's general authenticity, great characters and uncompromising bleakness.

Sopranos are exaggerated (in fact, here they are often shelved in "comedy"). It works excellently at first, but IMHO somewhat runs out of steam later, even though there are a few great episodes here and there. Also, the murders become ever more unbelievable, I am sorry to say, both in frequency and in motivation.
I could buy people getting away with it in slums of Baltimore, but not in the middle-class environment of whatever New Jersey city/town the Sopranos are set in.

I scored the companion book The Wire: Truth Be Told for Xmas, and just started hacking into it. Its great. Beyond the sypnosis for every episode and a season overview, its got a bunch of articles on different facets of the show and interviews with the creators and actors.

FWIW, I agree with Celebel (great post BTW) Sure Soprano's is/was awesome. Sure it covers the "Italian American Experience", as it may be. But The Wire tells a story far more typical of most big cities. Sure its "Bal'more", but its far more relevant to inner city life anywhere than Soprano's was. It paints a more universal picture.

Hacking through said book, and Im discovering a few interesting little bits of trivia.

The original script for the Stringer Bell death scene had Omar flopping it out a taking a piss on his dead body, supposedly to signify his disregard for Bell. The actors expressed disatisfaction which George Pellecanos agreed with; it was subsequently rewritten as we saw it.

Also, apparently Michael K. Williams cannot whistle! A middle aged white female sound engineer whistled "The Farmer in the Dell" and it was dubbed in throughout the series run.

There's plenty more tidbits and trivia in the book, when I have a bit more time I'll go through a few more perhaps.