by a tenfold. I watched that krap (the wire) a while ago and I cannot express in words how sorry I am for the time I'm never going to get back - the most overrated show in the history of TV shows.
This however, is a trip. A good one. Just about to finish season one and so far it got me by the balls. Will keep watching.
Y'all have a good one!
If that's what you're saying at the end of season 1, just wait till you finish season 7!
I struggled my way through season 1 of the wire and thought, life is too short to struggle anymore.
The Shield is my favorite show of all time. I watched the first two seasons of The Wire. I think it's a good show, but it's an incredibly slow burn. If you are okay with that it's not bad though. Never saw the "omg best show ever" praise for it though. Not even close.
shareLove both shows. Don't get the constant comparisons though. The shows aren't even that similar. The Shield is a cop show. The Wire is not. For me, The Shield was better episode by episode meaning there was never an episode where after watching it I didn't like it. Much more action packed. There were episodes of The Wire that were a bit slow. But as a whole piece, I think The Wire is a tad better.
Boy, you got me confused with a man who repeats himself- Omar Little
For me, the sum of The Wire does not hold up to its best parts. For example, the last season is very spotty and there are a few lulls in each season, whereas in The Shield, it ended just as strongly as its best parts. The Wire, for me, did not.
Still, The Wire is an excellent series. I prefer The Shield.
the shield has more gravitas.
The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸
Sorry I disagree... there were a few less dramatic/boring seasons in the shield...
The only season that was somewhat boring in the wire was Season 5 and it wasnt even that bad.
I do agree that the conclusion of the shield might be a little better.
However those who gave up on the wire after the first episode or 2... you gave up way too quickly.
I'll tell you the moment I gave up on "The Wire". It was the first episode. A cop is arguing with a mechanic. He puts the phone on his crotch & says, "That's my dick in your ear." It was such a phony, unrealistic moment, I gave up right there.
sharelmao The shield is better than the wire on all levels. Humor, acting, writing, etc
shareI couldn't agree with you more. The wire had a lot of acclaim so I watched most of it but I never got it. It just wasn't interesting. If you like The Shield, it has about the best finale of all time.
shareIt depends what you want from a TV show - I love them both for different reasons.
The Wire is a drama with some characters who are cops, The Shield is a cop show. I found The Shield more entertaining to watch but The Wire is by far the superior artistic achievement.
"There is no more human race. There is only.. the Master race!"
Just imagine had The Shield been shot on HBO or Showtime, they already pushed the envelope on what they got away with. Just as someone else mentioned, The Wire was a slow burn, too many dead moments. The Shield redefined true gritty cop shows and used swing cameras such as most shows use today. Both are different only similar that they both we're about cops a,street thugs and drug dealers. Coke or Pepsi (No pun intended ) with The Shield being Coke to me. How I gage if a show or movie was good to me is would I watch it all over again and The Shield I have already...The Wire....toooo many boring scenes....But I did enjoy Omar..maybe the best tv character ever.
shareThere is no comparison and there is no contest. The Shield is an enjoyable silly little story about cops, unrealistic, unbalanced and uneven. It has no replay value but serves as a guilty pleasure when you want to put your reason to sleep for a while. It probably is more entertaining than the Wire, I'll give it that.
This is because the Wire is not meant to be entertaining. It is low key, smart, concise, accurate and hard to stomach. Hardly if ever anything happens the way the viewer would prefer (because what the audience expects is the result to being exposed to silly little shows that have nothing to do with reality because the writers haven't done their homework and the viewers are insulated from the unpleasant and boring reality of the slums and the world of violence). Even statistically if you think about it, with so many rambo stuff vic and his team pull through, somebody ought to have caught a bullet by now. In the wire the smallest triviality can get anyone killed, luck, circumstance, even reputation (like with Omar). It leaves an unpleasant taste but it is an unjust world out there, and fairy tales are for children.
To sum up, you can't just compare shows with such difference in class (Shield: 6-7, Wire: 9-10) just because you are not entertained. I personally don't care much for Bach, but I wouldn't go about saying that Eminem is better, under fear of ridicule. The Shield is more like Rescue Me, if you want to draw comparisons, though for me the latter is by far superior in almost every aspect (I won't elaborate here for it goes beyond the purpose of the thread, but suffice it to say that the dramatic moments really grip you and twist your insides there).
I, actually, love both shows. To me, The Shield is more of an accomplishment than The Wire artistically.
The Wire tried way too hard towards the end. The Shield just slammed it in rough until the very last second of the show. The Shield is relentless, not just simply more "entertaining."
and btw, Eminem is a million times better than Bach.
I've just finished episode 4 of The Wire, and I also can't see why these two shows ever get compared, they are worlds apart!
I loved the Shield and will certainly visit it again one day, but the Wire just draaaaaags soooo sloooooowly where it feels like no progess is made at all, that I found myself checking how much time is left on an episode more than once! Snore!
I have to post my disagreement with this. The Wire gets a lot of praise for being "realistic" (in your words, "accurate") which I think is a narrative that has become popular but which is unsupported by the actual show. Consider the scene where the cops use only the F-word during their crime scene investigation or the overly dramatic showdown between Omar and the Muslim killer (can't recall his name). The show definitely detours into highly stylized, "cool" but unrealistic territory. I think people want it to be what you describe it as so they overlook these things. I don't think the show itself understood its identity so clearly because the writing goes all over the place.
Don't get me wrong, I liked The Wire, but I think it's overrated and misunderstood (to its benefit).
*beep*, *beep*, *beep*, *beep* *beep* *beep*, Fck, *beep* *beep* *beep*.....*beep* *beep* *beep*... The *beep* Did I Do?
That means "The Wire" is the better show. I'm even going that far and say The Wire is the best TV show ever broadcasted. This claim isn't based on me having seen all the possible rivals for the title, but on the premise that no other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city with the scope, observational precision, and moral vision of great literature.
@Maddoom
I couldn't have said it better myself. Literally. If my command of the language allowed, I would have tried.
The Wire never aimed for cheap thrills and melodramatic climaxes. Its low-key, responsible and measured approach may be off-putting to the average viewer, but the show's integrity-focused narrative notwithstanding, it does manage to build tremendous tension and inspire dread and awe alike, in part due to the fact that suspension of disbelief is never a problem like in most others, inconsistent and over-the-top, entertainment and shock-oriented shows.
But as pointed out, when all's said and done, The Wire leaves a bitter aftertaste and a lot of hard questions that demand an answer. In contrast, just a few weeks after having watched The Shield, I couldn't really tell what it was all about. It served its purpose but it never challenged me in any way and I feel no wiser for the effort. Also, aside from its intellectual impotence, I found it to be anything but relentless, at least in comparison to much stronger shows.
Perhaps it is a matter of personal preference, but The Shield relies heavily on luck and coincidence. In most cases it could have gone either way, and that is weak writing, artistically speaking. A strong drama introduces tragic characters, whose demise is therefore brought on by their own actions, in a sense both punishing and redeeming. It hammers in the notion that those who challenge the great mechanism of fate, get crushed under the wheels that turn the world, a demise inescapable yet noble and brilliant. Shane's fate may seem shocking in its exaggerated horror, but when Sobotka falls, it feels like the whole world is grieving.
Eminem is a million times better than Bach.
You could indeed have said it better yourself, and you have, multiple times. You are much more expressive and interesting than the poster you replied to.
Also, I disagree with lots of what you say.
The Wire did indeed go for cheap thrills at times - brothel busts played for titillation, highly dramatized last-second near-miss arrest attempts, betrayal, character corruption, badass assassins, etc. (This is what I remember from watching it once several years ago.) I'll grant that The Wire's reputation for being restrained is mostly deserved, but it digresses plenty for the sake of entertainment or when the writer's clearly thought something would be "cool" (the cringeworthy self-quoting epigraphs drove me nuts). All of that causes me to disagree with your claim that suspension of disbelief is not an issue. And to say that The Wire isn't "shock-oriented" is just silly - there's lots shocking about it, not the least the many unhappy endings it visits on the viewer.
The Wire leaves a bitter aftertaste and a lot of hard questions that demand an answer.
The Shield relies heavily on luck and coincidence.
A strong drama introduces tragic characters, whose demise is therefore brought on by their own actions, in a sense both punishing and redeeming.
OP, I agree with you seventy times seven. The Shield is one of the best dramas I've ever seen to date. Season 7 was just flat out God-tier television. I watched The Wire due to the insane "hype" and there wasn't a single episode that impressed me like 'Postpartum' or 'Possible Kill Screen'.
And I "get" The Wire. It's low-key and it's not supposed to be entertaining. IMHO, just because something is boring and has social commentary does NOT make it good. The Wire is a pretty good fictional piece of journalism. In terms of telling an actual storyline, it's one of the most "meh" shows I've ever seen. I watched it once and that was more than enough. The Shield I could re-watch forever, though. Great characters, great storyline, and it has a brilliant series finale!
I struggled with season one and I hated season 2, but season 3, and particular 4 and 5 when those in season 1 are the main men and grown up were amazing.
From season 3 you can actually see while watching it why the show is rated as the top show ever made regarding writing, plot and acting. You can actually start smelling the concrete and the characters in the show.
I am a die hard fan of the British show Spooks (Called 'MI5; in the USA) so obviously that is my all time favourite, but The Wire is hands down my second favourite show.
I went back to season one after finishing all of the Wire and saw every couple of minutes something I missed the first time around.
I sometimes watch random episodes of the show from random seasons (except the second season) and it's always amazing. You constantly spot tons of things you missed before, no matter how often you watch.
The experience as a whole is unique and will probably never be equalled.
Despite my favourite show being Spooks (Called 'MI5; in the USA, I know The Wire is 5x better regarding writing, acting, overall storyline.
BTW, The Shield is the only Boxset I have which I rewatch every couple of years, I love the show. It is hi-octane entertainment and it's done brilliantly, very edgy. Yet it isn't a patch on The Wire, neither is Breaking Bad which I also love. Comparing The Shield with The Wire is like comparing a lemon with an onion.
The Shield, escape from reality over the top hi-octane action crime drama with the aim to maximise viewers by being uber entertaining.
The Wire, cerebral slow burning crime drama peeling away the layers of corruption in US cities focusing on schools, street gangsters, the law courts, the Police force and the Docks ... while connecting it all together with each element enabling another and going full circle. It takes place in Baltimore, but the point being made is its a snapshot of every major city in the USA.