Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2017 19:42:06 GMT
I watched the first episode and I was so bored I stopped watching it. Should I have continued?Whats so special about this show that they call it one of the best ever?
In contrast ,shows like Dexter, Breaking Bad and The Sopranos have had stellar pilots that draw you right in.
Shouldn't a series have a great pilot to suck you in here?
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Post by Marv on May 26, 2017 0:34:18 GMT
I'd say watch until episode 3. If the character of Omar doesn't reel you in enough to continue then the show isn't for you.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on May 26, 2017 4:10:26 GMT
Yes.
It's amazing.
I cannot comment on why the first episode bored you, but the Wire is superb regardless.
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Post by bonerxmas on May 26, 2017 4:18:18 GMT
everyone said it was like dickens, but it lacked gallery of comic characters you find in dickens
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 4:23:42 GMT
It's pretty good but it's a slow burn....
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Post by poelzig on May 26, 2017 5:33:41 GMT
It's a decent police procedural but it is insanely overrated. Omar is one of the top 20 best characters in TV history IMO but that doesn't qualify the show to be called the best show EVER. Homicide: Life on the Street was an earlier show by the same creator that I found superior to The Wire.
There was a theory for The Wire's insanely overrated status that I saw several times on various sites most notably the old IMDb. When you consider the show's most rabid fans the theory makes perfect sense. White kids that NEVER interact with anyone but other white kids adore watching the scary shenanigans of swarthy folks in the mean streets of Balmer. It's hilarious to see pale hip hop loving goofballs gush about the "realism" of slanging dope when NONE of them have ever be within 100 miles of any drug stronger than daddy's scotch. Much less anything that could be considered a ghetto. Their wanna be hood rat verbal posturing and use of authentic slang fresh from the urban dictionary when prattling on about how brilliant The Wire was give them street cred in their minds and provides others with endless laughs. Most of the kids took their lead from online critics that fit the same desperate to look "all street yo."
I think the inflated reputation for the show hurts it. I've known a lot of people that feel the same way you do. They read and hear how AAAAMMMMMAAAZZZZING The Wire is and when they watch all excited with high expectations, they get a lot of not much.
Yes a shows pilot does need to grab you or at least interest you and the shows you mentioned did that perfectly. The Wire failed to blow me away but I kept watching and did enjoy it. Although I watched it from the jump so there were no preconceived notions.
Does anyone remember that Canadian kid that posted on The Wire board and the Film General board? I don't remember his name but he bragged about drugging and raping some girl and running with gangs in Canada. That kid fits my idea of the typical rabid Wire fan.
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hemlin
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Post by hemlin on May 26, 2017 7:46:59 GMT
everyone said it was like dickens, but it lacked gallery of comic characters you find in dickens Clay Davis, Herc, Poot, Bunk, McNulty, Ziggy, Jay Landsman, Cheese and many others had some standout funny moments. In general there was plenty of low-key observational humor weaved in, throughout the show. At the very least The Wire gave us some of the funniest cop's-on-the-job scenes to grace the screen.
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doivid
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Post by doivid on May 26, 2017 10:59:34 GMT
I think the show was innovative when it first came on. It told a story in a way that wasn't really happening. Now that we've had time to digest it and see its impact on other media, it looks less unique or novel in what it did. It's a solid story, they strike a decent balance between darkness & comedy, with a lot of funny lines and really subtle humor. Is it the second coming of christ? probably not. But the hype it gets is somewhat more founded than say the hype for Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones or Mad Men.
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Post by poelzig on May 26, 2017 18:54:50 GMT
I think the show was innovative when it first came on. It told a story in a way that wasn't really happening. Now that we've had time to digest it and see its impact on other media, it looks less unique or novel in what it did. It's a solid story, they strike a decent balance between darkness & comedy, with a lot of funny lines and really subtle humor. Is it the second coming of christ? probably not. But the hype it gets is somewhat more founded than say the hype for Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones or Mad Men. Much much less deserved than the "hype" for Breaking Bad or even Mad Men. The Wire might be equal in overratedness to GOT though. Also in what way was it innovative? How did it tell a story in a way that wasn't really happening? What was it's impact on other media? It just took Homicide's style and added HBO cursing and violence. Police procedurals had been around for decades.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on May 26, 2017 19:35:36 GMT
I still haven't seen a show done like The Wire. Really a good comparison is something like Game of Thrones where the houses are cops, government, drug dealers, & their suppliers. It explored all of that pretty equally and without stereotypes of the genre.
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barkingbaphomet
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all backlit and creepysmoking
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Post by barkingbaphomet on May 28, 2017 4:35:01 GMT
i had the same experience. i'm sure interesting things begin to happen eventually.
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Post by Jerk on May 28, 2017 16:31:31 GMT
It's a great show. It gets better and better as the show goes on.
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medjay
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Post by medjay on May 28, 2017 18:47:59 GMT
It's a great show. It gets better and better as the show goes on. 4th season gets preachy about journalism.
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Heisenberg
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Post by Heisenberg on May 30, 2017 12:25:02 GMT
I'm always the skeptic on TV and films, but found The Wire to be quite excellent. It took a few eps for it to take hold of me, but it has a fine quality that most shows lack: realism. Give it time; I can nearly guarantee that you won't regret the investment.
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doivid
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Post by doivid on May 30, 2017 14:41:38 GMT
I think the show was innovative when it first came on. It told a story in a way that wasn't really happening. Now that we've had time to digest it and see its impact on other media, it looks less unique or novel in what it did. It's a solid story, they strike a decent balance between darkness & comedy, with a lot of funny lines and really subtle humor. Is it the second coming of christ? probably not. But the hype it gets is somewhat more founded than say the hype for Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones or Mad Men. Much much less deserved than the "hype" for Breaking Bad or even Mad Men. The Wire might be equal in overratedness to GOT though. Also in what way was it innovative? How did it tell a story in a way that wasn't really happening? What was it's impact on other media? It just took Homicide's style and added HBO cursing and violence. Police procedurals had been around for decades. In what way was it a police procedural? Those shows are about the method and not really about the characters, just a chain of one-off, episodic stories about cops catching criminals. This show, for better or worse, took forever to get through a plot and showed them as like an array of flawed people. It was innovative because it didn't try to be preachy or tie everything up neatly, it seemed to actually humanize a lot of the people in the city, which believe it or not wasn't really happening in 2001. Most shows, at their best, fed into the dichotomy of either being pathetic or evil. And it approached issues that are only now coming into vogue. The drug legalization arc is the best example of that. I'm not saying everything it did was 100% unprecedented, you won't really find that in a story, but it did enough to make it notable for that. Tbh I don't think we would have seen shows like Breaking Bad without it, I could see a lot of influence. And naw, Breaking Bad was full of so many contrivances and convenient loopholes, it's just stuff that won't be obvious for a few years. Better Call Saul is already a better show imo. Not that Breaking Bad was bad, it had a lot of strengths and some top tier acting. But the hype for it, and as much as I loved it, for Mad Men, was way, way beyond what it deserved. You can boil the wire down to "police procedural with hbo cursing", coz opinions and all that, but it objectively had a more complex narrative than that makes it seem. Like I said, the reason it might appear simplistic or generic now is just because it bled into popular culture enough that it no longer stands out.
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Post by THawk on May 31, 2017 1:41:29 GMT
If you love urban crime shows, like the majority of the population apparently does, you'll like it. If you're looking for something that tackles larger than life issues, or just expands your horizons in any way, like I do, you won't find much here. It's decently made, but a very narrow show.
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5hole
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Post by 5hole on Jun 3, 2017 5:27:40 GMT
The short answer is, yes. When the Wire came out 15 years ago it was the best series in television history. However... the show is 15 years old.
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sariz
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Post by sariz on Jun 3, 2017 21:42:30 GMT
It's a decent police procedural but it is insanely overrated. Omar is one of the top 20 best characters in TV history IMO but that doesn't qualify the show to be called the best show EVER. Homicide: Life on the Street was an earlier show by the same creator that I found superior to The Wire. There was a theory for The Wire's insanely overrated status that I saw several times on various sites most notably the old IMDb. When you consider the show's most rabid fans the theory makes perfect sense. White kids that NEVER interact with anyone but other white kids adore watching the scary shenanigans of swarthy folks in the mean streets of Balmer. It's hilarious to see pale hip hop loving goofballs gush about the "realism" of slanging dope when NONE of them have ever be within 100 miles of any drug stronger than daddy's scotch. Much less anything that could be considered a ghetto. Their wanna be hood rat verbal posturing and use of authentic slang fresh from the urban dictionary when prattling on about how brilliant The Wire was give them street cred in their minds and provides others with endless laughs. Most of the kids took their lead from online critics that fit the same desperate to look "all street yo." I think the inflated reputation for the show hurts it. I've known a lot of people that feel the same way you do. They read and hear how AAAAMMMMMAAAZZZZING The Wire is and when they watch all excited with high expectations, they get a lot of not much. Yes a shows pilot does need to grab you or at least interest you and the shows you mentioned did that perfectly. The Wire failed to blow me away but I kept watching and did enjoy it. Although I watched it from the jump so there were no preconceived notions. Does anyone remember that Canadian kid that posted on The Wire board and the Film General board? I don't remember his name but he bragged about drugging and raping some girl and running with gangs in Canada. That kid fits my idea of the typical rabid Wire fan. Haven't seen the wire so I can't defend it specifically but mmmm I disagree on how great character isn't enough for a great show. House was a procedural drama in the first seasons and grabbed a lot of people because of the main character and well latter the show became more of a character study but at the beginning was a procedural and The Main character sustained the show. Sure it also had great writers for the dialogue but like I said our main Character was the heart Of the show. Also Lie To Me it was a bit weak in some Aspects but The Main Character was strong enough to keep me in. A great Main character portrayed by a great actor can do wonders for a Show the plot of 24 got staled in the latter seasons but Jack Bauer was so amazing that it kept me in till the end. Now a great character is subjective. What I love you might not like it that much.
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Post by poelzig on Jun 3, 2017 23:37:27 GMT
Much much less deserved than the "hype" for Breaking Bad or even Mad Men. The Wire might be equal in overratedness to GOT though. Also in what way was it innovative? How did it tell a story in a way that wasn't really happening? What was it's impact on other media? It just took Homicide's style and added HBO cursing and violence. Police procedurals had been around for decades. In what way was it a police procedural? Those shows are about the method and not really about the characters, just a chain of one-off, episodic stories about cops catching criminals. This show, for better or worse, took forever to get through a plot and showed them as like an array of flawed people. It was innovative because it didn't try to be preachy or tie everything up neatly, it seemed to actually humanize a lot of the people in the city, which believe it or not wasn't really happening in 2001. Most shows, at their best, fed into the dichotomy of either being pathetic or evil. And it approached issues that are only now coming into vogue. The drug legalization arc is the best example of that. I'm not saying everything it did was 100% unprecedented, you won't really find that in a story, but it did enough to make it notable for that. Tbh I don't think we would have seen shows like Breaking Bad without it, I could see a lot of influence. And naw, Breaking Bad was full of so many contrivances and convenient loopholes, it's just stuff that won't be obvious for a few years. Better Call Saul is already a better show imo. Not that Breaking Bad was bad, it had a lot of strengths and some top tier acting. But the hype for it, and as much as I loved it, for Mad Men, was way, way beyond what it deserved. You can boil the wire down to "police procedural with hbo cursing", coz opinions and all that, but it objectively had a more complex narrative than that makes it seem. Like I said, the reason it might appear simplistic or generic now is just because it bled into popular culture enough that it no longer stands out. A police procedural is a show or movie or book that attempts to show a realistic depiction of the day to day activities of cops as they investigate cases. That is EXACTLY what The Wire attempted to do. It did a great job of showing step by step how both the police and criminals go about their respective jobs. If you can't understand how The Wire was a procedural I'm not sure how to discuss the show with you. I never said the wire was "police procedural with hbo cursing", so it's odd you put that in quotes. I said it took the style of Homicide: Life on the Street and added HBO style cursing and violence which I still stand by. Homicide was based on a book by David Simon who created The Wire and was a writer and producer on Homicide. You obviously love The Wire so you should check out Homicide some time. The heavy similarities are undeniable. Homicide discussed legalization on network TV of all places long before The Wire showed us Hamsterdam. I liked The Wire but a certain segment of it's fan base is so insanely hyperbolic in praising it, it's hard to deny it's overrated....unless you're in that segment of the fan base.
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Post by Nicko's Nose on Jun 4, 2017 2:33:24 GMT
All I will say is if I would've given up on every show that had a not so good first episode I would've missed a lot of great shows.
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