They are two completely different dramas I suppose.
The Sorpranos is based around Tony, his family, his work, his therapy. Other characters and situations in relation to it are also progressed.
The Wire is much broader, taking all aspects of social life of a city into consideration.
You can go back and forth but I find much of the characters in the Wire to be inferior to The Sorpranos. I canāt think of a poor character in the Sorpranos but there are quite a few in the Wire in my view, including the closest thing to a main character in it, McNulty.
They are two entirely different shows though, one is about the depth of the main character while the other is about the breadth of the social ills of a city and how it is all intertwined.
I didnāt watch The Sopranos until about 6 or 7 years ago, while i enjoyed it I wasnāt blown away. Maybe I had heard too much about it and my expectations were too high. While I watched The Wire when it first came out and used to be on around midnight on a Thursday night on TG4 and had no preconceived ideas about it.
The Wire for me. I actually finished The Wire before I did The Sopranos. Saw Season 1 first time around but Iād say it wasnāt until 2010/11 or so that I starters back into. Finished it off only a month or two before Jimmy Galdofini shuffled off
Theyāre both brilliant.
End.
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I think Iām one of the few that really liked that series. I liked the newspaper stuff. In saying that, itās the weakest series but thatās because the standards were so high. 3 & 4 are absolutely perfect.
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The two best shows Iāve ever watched
Thereās so much happening in the Wire thereās loads of great nuances and side storiesā¦ It adds to the mystique of characters and endless plots as you get a taste here and there and itās all very cleverly put together.
With the Sopranos you grow with the character. You get to know them intimately and what makes them tick. You almost become part of the show.
Two very different but brilliantly produced shows.
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Not as good as those two for me. Not at all.
For me the Sopranos is too unrealistic whereās the wire up until season 5 is very realistic.
Like some of the stuff sopranos would never ever happen in real life particularly the murders.
@Phil_Leotardo
Nick Sobotka is the bulb off John OSullivan I always thought.
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That actor appeared in recent years in Law and Order, Special Victims Unit.
SVU is grand to stick on for an hour and watch a story unfold. It doesnāt pretend to be anything more than that.
He appeared in it as a right evil bastard of a serial killer, rapist etc. He was in about four episodes and he was genuinely terrifying. Unbelievable acting. Completely different role to the relatively calm Nick.
Heās a brother of the main guy from Ray Donovan, who also played the Boston Globe editor in the film Spotlight.
The Sopranos isnāt supposed to be realistic. But It delves into very real topics both on a human psychological front and on a societal front, but itās drama based on fiction and entertainmentā¦
The Wire is like a sociology course . Itās almost real life patched together with moments of fiction or fictional characters.
Was expecting him to pop up in The Deuce as has a tonne of characters from the Wire make appearances. Halfway into season 2 no sign as yet
Heās in an Amazon fantasy show about Gods as wellā¦ plays an Irish character. American godās maybeā¦or something like that. Itās a bit out there.
But at the same time the Sorpanos isnāt particular interested in making a coherent standard TV series with dramatic endings feeding into the next epiosde. Itās happy leaving things hanging out there. Thatās the bit of it that really impressed me, and what I wasnāt prepared for going into it.
Loads gets unsaid or not followed up but itās always there hanging in the background also.
Arguing which show is better is pure subjective and futile. Iāve rewatched both shows 5/6 times over the years and neither show ever gets boring for me. Iām enthralled each time I watch eitherā¦ You can give no higher praise.
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You still going with it? I gave up on it. Too annoying your man playing the two main characters
