The Wire appreciation thread

Dark_Angel · 6 Oct 2009 at 00:16

Liefrich said:
The Wire is the best TV show created. Season 4 is perfection on a tv screen, the children actors are top notch.

5 Seasons was just about right, I feel too many shows get bogged down in making shed loads of episodes and this ultimately degrades their quality. Sopranos and The West Wing suffered a bit in the last season for sure.

West Wing suffered because they tried to cram to much in to the last season. It was meant to run for 8 season total, but because it wasn't a massive hit show it went to only 7 seasons.

I can't actually bring myself to watch season 7, I love Bartlet as president too much, and I don't wanna see the show end. It's a classic case of "If I don't see it, then it didn't happen!"

I will give wire a shot and let you guys know how I find it. Deal?

Liefrich · 6 Oct 2009 at 00:35

Dark_Angel said:
West Wing suffered because they tried to cram to much in to the last season. It was meant to run for 8 season total, but because it wasn't a massive hit show it went to only 7 seasons.

I can't actually bring myself to watch season 7, I love Bartlet as president too much, and I don't wanna see the show end. It's a classic case of "If I don't see it, then it didn't happen!"

I will give wire a shot and let you guys know how I find it. Deal?

Haha yeah, season one can be difficult, the language can often be quite hard to follow and episodes do not end with a standard ending, the whole series is like a masterful modern novel . STICK WITH IT, you will be rewarded, and as you're a fan of West Wing (amazing show) I know you'll like it.

NickK · 6 Oct 2009 at 01:23

So could you compare this to non-scifi Babylon5 saga? A proper finite number of planned shows with multiple interweaved plot lines?

Meridian · 6 Oct 2009 at 06:29

jp_bl_68 said:
Stringer, too, and Freamon was born in England.

And Carcetti.

M

Meridian · 6 Oct 2009 at 06:34

Dark_Angel said:
West Wing suffered because they tried to cram to much in to the last season.

No, it suffered because once Sorkin left there was no-one who understood the characters who was in control. It fell into the fatal trap of having characters do things because the plot required them, not because it was in character. By the time of series six pretty much everyone was someone completely different, and in most cases had become two-dimensional. The fact that series five and the first half of series six had no idea what they were trying to do didn't help. The last series would have been far better if it had been done with completely new characters, not pale shadows of the old ones.

M

tedmaul · 6 Oct 2009 at 11:03

Meridian said:
And Carcetti.

M

Yeah, i remember he was buggering schoolboys in Queer As Folk was he not?

And i saw Lestor Freamon in an episode of Holby a few weeks back, which was weird....

oli collett · 6 Oct 2009 at 11:26

tedmaul said:
Yeah, i remember he was buggering schoolboys in Queer As Folk was he not?

And i saw Lestor Freamon in an episode of Holby a few weeks back, which was weird....

Yep - Lestor was over in the UK and was even on the one show.

I was flicking through channels!

L1ght · 6 Oct 2009 at 20:28

I still can't believe McNulty and Stringer Bell are from and grew up in the UK. Totally convinced me of their Baltimore accents.

Nymins · 6 Oct 2009 at 20:57

Just finished it all

.

Dark_Angel · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:20

Finished watching the first episode of S1. I can tell that it will be a good show if I can get in to it, but it will take some doing.

The only thing that is putting me off is the swearing, sometimes it's every other word!

jp_bl_68 · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:26

If you thought episode 1 was bad then just wait. There's a scene later on in the series that's just two guys saying **** and **** for about 5 minutes, literally.

jp_bl_68 · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:26

But don't let that put you off. For the most part there isn't a lot of swearing.

Dark_Angel · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:30

jp_bl_68 said:
But don't let that put you off. For the most part there isn't a lot of swearing.

It isn't like swearing offends me, but it can get annoying.

Not having issues with their accents really, but a few slang words caused me a bit of confusion at the start.

PS, mods get a bit funny of not fully starring out swear words. Only mention it cause I don't want you to earn a suspension.

jp_bl_68 · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:40

Thanks for the warning. It took me a while to work out all the slang. Re-ups, G-packs, basically all of the drug lingo was confusing.

I think you should at the very least try to watch the first 3/4 episodes. Some great characters are introduced.

Dark_Angel · 6 Oct 2009 at 21:47

I am just going to do a bit more writing on my current chapter (which I am putting off by posting on OCUK...) and then will try another episode out.

I do like that there doesn't seem to be a main character though - makes a refreshing change.

mjt · 6 Oct 2009 at 22:52

Meridian said:
And Carcetti.

M

Aidan Gillen's Irish

jp_bl_68 said:
If you thought episode 1 was bad then just wait. There's a scene later on in the series that's just two guys saying **** and **** for about 5 minutes, literally.

that's the best scene ever. a whole conversation just using 1 word

Weebull · 7 Oct 2009 at 10:58

L1ght said:
I still can't believe McNulty and Stringer Bell are from and grew up in the UK. Totally convinced me of their Baltimore accents.

I can't link to it, given the swearing, but if you search for "McNulty's English accent" on youtube, there's a scene of him slipping subtly back into his Yorkshire tones halfway through a rant at Rhonda Pearlman.

JAzz · 7 Oct 2009 at 16:28

Superb show, Season 5 imo wasn't as good as the others but the previous four are just brilliant. A lot of shows have a good season and don't follow it up but this was kept it going. Best was Season 4 which was just an epic season.

Also how cool is Omar? Not your usual pancy homo is he!

=VTA=MANFACE · 8 Oct 2009 at 20:27

Season 4 came today ! Going to have a hot bath jump into bed and watch the first two episodes.

Liefrich · 8 Oct 2009 at 20:50

JAzz said:
Superb show, Season 5 imo wasn't as good as the others but the previous four are just brilliant. A lot of shows have a good season and don't follow it up but this was kept it going. Best was Season 4 which was just an epic season.

Also how cool is Omar? Not your usual pancy homo is he!

Yeah Omar is a great character, I really like Brother Mouzone as well. In fact almost all the characters are great.

Season 5 for me was the least believable season, which is ironic considering the writer of the show was a journalist. Perhaps what he wrote was actually true, even so, the dodgy character journalist guy still annoys me. Still the last few episodes are epic.