The Wire
- Thread starter Whipped
- Start date
Lamp
Gold Star Holder!!
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2005
- Messages
- 23,338
Been watching it on BBC2. All the reviewers raved about it. Watched last nite's episode. Bored the hell out of me. A bunch of drug-dealing kids making phone calls where absolutely nothing happens (wow), a cop arguing with his divorced wife (how original), a bunch of wholly uninspiring and completely forgettable cops tracing the calls (mind blowing) and err...nothing else.
Sopranos 4tw
Sopranos 4tw
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
Sounds like you were watching it expecting a cop procedural, it's anything but. The show has a very slow start and as has been said many times before it's much like a novel in television form. Keep watching and you won't regret it, or give up and allow us Wire fans to pity you/feel superior 
.
.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 1997
- Messages
- 9,077,624
Nath has a point, The Wire is a great series to watch. Lamp I guess you recently had a lobotamy or something similar. If you find the show boring can I suggest Sesame Street which should provide stimulus.
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 9,293
24 is a steaming pile of turd, totally agree with that.
The Wire is amazing if you can connect with the characters, it isn't as good as The Sopranos imho, but it is very, very good. You so have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it though.
Tom
I am a FH squatter
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 17,636
You should, in many ways it is better than The Wire. The two are both amazing.
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
Am 2 seasons into the Sopranos and while good I don't enjoy it as much or find myself as hooked as when I watched the wire. Have 2 episodes left to watch of this series and have been doing other things. With The Wire; once I got going there weren't enough hours in the day
I find people tell me The Shield isn't great either but when I watched the first season 6 years ago (gah memory, if I'm wrong get bent) and it was fricking awesome. Maybe because it was the first US drama of that ilk I engrossed myself in.
I find people tell me The Shield isn't great either but when I watched the first season 6 years ago (gah memory, if I'm wrong get bent) and it was fricking awesome. Maybe because it was the first US drama of that ilk I engrossed myself in.
Wazzerphuk
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 12,054
Gotta love the elitist peddling wankers that watch The Wire. The lengths they go to to put themselves out there is hilarious.
Just because you enjoy The Wire does not mean you are a better viewer than someone who watches 24. It does not make you more clever. It does nothing but highlight that you watch and enjoy different types of TV. That is all.
To claim that one is significantly better than another is a fruitless task embedded in subjectivity. I for one am utterly tired of everyone bigging themselves up for watching a fucking TV show!
Just because you enjoy The Wire does not mean you are a better viewer than someone who watches 24. It does not make you more clever. It does nothing but highlight that you watch and enjoy different types of TV. That is all.
To claim that one is significantly better than another is a fruitless task embedded in subjectivity. I for one am utterly tired of everyone bigging themselves up for watching a fucking TV show!
dysfunction
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 9,709
Don't read TV show threads then...and I don't notice anyone being an "elitist" for watching a TV show. All I see are their opinions about which show they think is better...nothing wrong with that!
Wazzerphuk
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 12,054
Er, I point you to:
Why should I not read a thread about a TV show? Most discuss the show without resorting to random postshots about other people's tastes. Someone can't say anything negative about the show without being gunned down as some kind of child? The whole point of TV show threads is to discuss the good and bad of the show, not just highlight the good and laugh and point at those who dare have a different opinion.
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
Aww, Wazz is getting upset at people being a bit mean on the interweb. Hold on a sec, isn't this the same Wazz who's constantly full of piss and vinegar and does his best to troll and wind others up? Hmm, odd that! Lamp is a big boy, I'm sure he can take it.
Added to that, no - comparing 24 and The Wire is not a matter of subjectivity - The Wire is simply a better show. The writing, the acting, the characterisation, the lack of sentimentality and the lack of moral absolutes. The overall understanding of the territory that Ed Burns and David Simon have about the subject and the way they bring that to the screen. Comparing 24 and The Wire is like comparing Dan Brown and Dickens.
Added to that, no - comparing 24 and The Wire is not a matter of subjectivity - The Wire is simply a better show. The writing, the acting, the characterisation, the lack of sentimentality and the lack of moral absolutes. The overall understanding of the territory that Ed Burns and David Simon have about the subject and the way they bring that to the screen. Comparing 24 and The Wire is like comparing Dan Brown and Dickens.
Wazzerphuk
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 12,054
I just mentioned 24 as it was one of the ones that came up; I could have easily have replaced that with The Sopranos.
Thing is, the "quality" behind the programs is all about the type of program you are after. Just because The Wire is more high drama than something like 24, it doesn't mean it's writing is better because of that. They serve different purposes, as you have mentioned, but because one is populist and in the realm of fantasy it doesn't make it any less valid. If anything, it makes it a better TV show than something like The Wire: as many people say it's hard to get into, taking several hours of viewing before getting good, and it plays out more like a novel than TV... while that's great drama it doesn't make great television in the traditional sense of holding an audience.
The Wire has become a success very slowly, as word spreads around through critical praise. In the world of TV, it is fortunate that there are networks that allow a broader spectrum of TV instead of the ratings and impact driven nature of shows like Lost, Heroes and 24.
Both sets of programs are totally valid shows, and whether or not one is written better than another is a pointless argument since they serve completely different purposes and exist in different worlds. Something that takes a neutral standpoint is not necessarily better than something that is weighted one way or another, it's just different.
Above all, people shouldn't be berating people because they enjoy being entertained in different ways. I like high drama and I like 24, I can appreciate them both for their own worth and enjoy the values held by each, whether or not I agree with them. Behaving in an elitist way towards television is like being a literature snob that turns their nose up at anyone that hasn't read a certain selection of books. It might make you feel like you have a greater appreciation of a product but it just makes you look like a total prick instead.
Thing is, the "quality" behind the programs is all about the type of program you are after. Just because The Wire is more high drama than something like 24, it doesn't mean it's writing is better because of that. They serve different purposes, as you have mentioned, but because one is populist and in the realm of fantasy it doesn't make it any less valid. If anything, it makes it a better TV show than something like The Wire: as many people say it's hard to get into, taking several hours of viewing before getting good, and it plays out more like a novel than TV... while that's great drama it doesn't make great television in the traditional sense of holding an audience.
The Wire has become a success very slowly, as word spreads around through critical praise. In the world of TV, it is fortunate that there are networks that allow a broader spectrum of TV instead of the ratings and impact driven nature of shows like Lost, Heroes and 24.
Both sets of programs are totally valid shows, and whether or not one is written better than another is a pointless argument since they serve completely different purposes and exist in different worlds. Something that takes a neutral standpoint is not necessarily better than something that is weighted one way or another, it's just different.
Above all, people shouldn't be berating people because they enjoy being entertained in different ways. I like high drama and I like 24, I can appreciate them both for their own worth and enjoy the values held by each, whether or not I agree with them. Behaving in an elitist way towards television is like being a literature snob that turns their nose up at anyone that hasn't read a certain selection of books. It might make you feel like you have a greater appreciation of a product but it just makes you look like a total prick instead.
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
Interesting sentiment, coming from you.
Wazzerphuk
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 12,054
Well retorted fellas.
Wazzerphuk
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 12,054
You could always debate the point made, instead of the person. But then that would require a less childish attitude from you, so I'm not surprised you didn't bother. Your attitude towards me these days is amusingly petulant.
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
I enjoy 24 too, but it's simply not as good as The Wire - if you can even compare the two. They're worlds apart when it comes to quality of writing etc. 24 is like zomgaction porn, The Wire is so much more and actually has something to say. But I'm pretty sure you know this anyway
.Again, I find it interesting that here you're trying to take the moral high ground whereas on other threads you're quite happy to act like a total fuckwit.
Tom
I am a FH squatter
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 17,636
I enjoy 24 too, but it's simply not as good as The Wire - if you can even compare the two. They're worlds apart when it comes to quality of writing etc. 24 is like zomgaction porn, The Wire is so much more and actually has something to say. But I'm pretty sure you know this anyway
'Good' is a subjective adjective and not really something you can argue over. Suffice it to say that I find watching an episode of 24 just as enjoyable as an episode of The Wire.
Armageddon is a pretty shit film, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching it.
nath
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 8,009
On that logic I could shit on a piano and the resulting sounds could be considered as 'good' as Beethoven, if everything is so subjective. Some things clearly have more artistic merit than others. A lot of the time I'd just like to go out for a Burger King but the fact that I enjoy it doesn't mean the food is of higher quality or more good than what I'd get at Claridges. Sometimes it's just nice to eat crap food, watch crap TV, listen to crap music. Nevertheless, this stinks of getting in to a semantic argument where we'd need to define what aspects we're discussing and that argument is boring. The Wire is simply the best show ever made - if you don't agree, you're wrong .
.
sayward
Resident Freddy
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2004
- Messages
- 2,262
Haven't watched The Wire or 24. Bought hubby, 4 series of the Sopranos one Christmas but haven't watched them yet. With being abroad so much try not to start watching anything new, must get Sky+. What I really need is a portable satellite dish!!!
sayward
Resident Freddy
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2004
- Messages
- 2,262
Haven't quite worked out the technicalities of all that. Using this is quite an acheivement let alone anything else. Other half pretty useless at it too. Haven't worked out how to get on line abroad. Laptop is rather old and bulky, don't take it with me.