Check your head Whiney we already did this poll: Who is HBO's KING DAVID?
― Leee, Saturday, 15 November 2008 05:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Xpost. OTM!
Never got the appeal of the Sopranos. Never saw much behind it, really. The Wire is the best show I've ever and probably ever will see in my life, though.
― Their time's limited, hard rocks, too (mehlt), Saturday, 15 November 2008 06:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm voting for the Sopranos because i think that the character development is more intense than any show in the history of television, and maybe only beats the The Wire in that because it doesn't have 7 billion characters to slog through in every ep
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, 15 November 2008 06:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't get people who don't get The Sopranos.
― Jouster, Saturday, 15 November 2008 06:57 (fifteen years ago) link
anyone who votes sopranos doesnt know shit about shit
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 07:00 (fifteen years ago) link
I watched the Sopranos in real time as it aired, with long gaps, while I watched five seasons of the Wire recently over a couple of months so they both feel totally different to me. Right now I have to say the Wire.
― a better command of the mummy language (joygoat), Saturday, 15 November 2008 07:04 (fifteen years ago) link
most otm thing nabisco ever said was when he observed that half the time the sopranos was just spinning its wheels - lotta great moments, sure, but way too much filler
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 07:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Half the time? Get real. I disagree, regardless.
― Jouster, Saturday, 15 November 2008 07:27 (fifteen years ago) link
sopranos is just better, sorry.
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 07:52 (fifteen years ago) link
both awesome but the wire at it's worst >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> sopranos at it's worst
― eman, Saturday, 15 November 2008 08:10 (fifteen years ago) link
superfluous apostrophes amirite
― eman, Saturday, 15 November 2008 08:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Score one for Pretty Tony
― Peter "One Dart" Manley (The stickman from the hilarious 'xkcd' comics), Saturday, 15 November 2008 11:12 (fifteen years ago) link
i've only seen season 3 and 4 of sopranos vs. all of the wire, so i'm saying the following with a v. limited perspective.
way too many characters on the sopranos just annoy me--tony (half of the time), janice, a.j., uncle junior, especially paulie (wtf?), others. i think i have a thing against italians and their speech patterns though, so whatever. i like what i've seen of the sopranos more than all the italian mob movies i've ever seen though, whatever that means. like, i kind of hate godfathers i and ii and goodfellas. boooooriiing.
the wire otoh has a v. special place in my heart. i think it's more overtly dramatic than the sopranos, with character development that leaps over the nuances of the sopranos, but it just feels more.. relevant? contracting jobs (who the fuck cares) vs. drug wars, etc. i don't know.
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 11:39 (fifteen years ago) link
oh boy, ix-nae on the 'speech patterns' comment above which sounds a little weird. i think what i'm getting at is in the italian-americans vs. native-americans on columbus day episode. i.e. i don't care about your bowling-shirt-wearing noveau-riche bada-bing jfk-loving blabla when there are sweeter things to talk about.
also i'd rather see d. west or l. reddick or lester or kima or omar or marlo or d'angelo get half-naked and laid over another half-bald fatass or nj guido scoring and then acting retarded. the combined IQs of characters on the wire >>>>>>>>>> combined IQs of characters on the sopranos.
i'm still going to watch all of the sopranos, because i like it a lot, so in re to my comments feel free to murder me and drop me into a quarry csi-style i mean pry open abandoned project apartments, leave me on the second floor, and re-staple the plywood with a nail gun you bought at home depot.
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:07 (fifteen years ago) link
^http://i35.tinypic.com/o7ooj9.gif
― Peter "One Dart" Manley (The stickman from the hilarious 'xkcd' comics), Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:38 (fifteen years ago) link
lol
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:38 (fifteen years ago) link
i almost said goombah
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:41 (fifteen years ago) link
http://news.filefront.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/_42222218_gall_mario.jpg
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:42 (fifteen years ago) link
btw the pine barrens episode of sopranos may be equal to or better than anything on the wire, just for the photography.
― Matt P, Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Any TV programme is going to suffer when compared to the Wire, frankly.
― Chopper Aristotle (Matt DC), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:07 (fifteen years ago) link
and the sound design, which was written into the script!
i agree with matt's comment about the collective IQ on the wire - just about everyone on the sopranos has got almost curb your enthusiasm levels of tunnel-vision self-regard
― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:14 (fifteen years ago) link
woops xpost
wire pwns will pwn poll no competition
sopranos birthed the genre - dont say oz plz plz - but the wire perfected it w/season and series long narrative arcs
and if you vote sopraons yr a racist
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:15 (fifteen years ago) link
i only saw one episode of sopranos and had no interest in ever seeing it again
― ketchup dood (harbl), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:19 (fifteen years ago) link
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:20 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm racist toward italians and new jersey though
― ketchup dood (harbl), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:20 (fifteen years ago) link
The Sopranos had some truly great episodes. The first few seasons, in particular, were classic. But it also had so many dull and repetitive episodes and the quality went so far downhill, that it absolutely does not deserve to win. The sheer abundance of "Tony has a wacky dream" episodes, should automatically disqualify it.
The Wire, on the other hand, maybe had its ups and downs, but overall was consistently great from beginning to end.
I hope The Wire trounces The Sopranos.
― Moodles, Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Maybe I should get a new login, cause I wanna vote for both shows. I love'em both equally. I'm a lover not a hater when it comes to these shows.
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Saturday, 15 November 2008 14:46 (fifteen years ago) link
btw the pine barrens episode of sopranos may be equal to or better than anything on the wire, just for the photography.― Matt P, Saturday, November 15, 2008 7:49 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Matt P, Saturday, November 15, 2008 7:49 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
OTM
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:33 (fifteen years ago) link
also for the snakes
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:38 (fifteen years ago) link
the last season of the wire was pretty awful
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:48 (fifteen years ago) link
just putting that out there
btw the pine barrens episode of sopranos may be equal to or better than anything on the wire, just for the photography.― Matt P, Saturday, November 15, 2008 12:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
― Matt P, Saturday, November 15, 2008 12:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
YES
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:51 (fifteen years ago) link
i mean, not objectively awful, but a pretty big drop-off.
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah i hated the last season for the most part but the rest of the seasons made up for it. now i can't actually remember if i've seen the sopranos because i don't know how i would have seen it. i just remember something about bears and i'm not sure when or where i watched it but i got bored.
― ketchup dood (harbl), Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:55 (fifteen years ago) link
i didnt see the last season of the wire tbh, but i didnt see the last season of the sopranos either
sopranos is funnier, possibly more great moments (in a visceral sense) than in wire, but wire suits me more i guess. mainly the thing i never 'got' wrt the sopranos was how relatable the characters were supposed to be - like, that's supposed to be the strength of the show, right? how human and understandable and universal these subhuman monsters were? idk, i never felt any connection with any of them, and the only characters i had affection for were the funny ones (paulie, ralphie before he killed the stripper, furio before he turned into a puss). the incredible savagery of these ppl stuck with me a lot more than their humanity. that was probably the point to some degree, but it wasn't fun to watch imo~
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 15:57 (fifteen years ago) link
agreed on s5 wire - tho i thought the last few eps were good
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:07 (fifteen years ago) link
they werent supposed to be likeable! i mean, they were supposed to be charming on the surface, i guess, but they all plumbed the death.
i guess there's something i like more about the sopranos' storytelling, it was more ambitious, more theatrical in a way, than the wire, which was very good at being straight-up layered journalistic narrative but was maybe too unwavering in its tone, or something. and ya, i thought the plain-jane look it had, the unobtrusive cinematography, had something going for it, but i want more sometimes.
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:07 (fifteen years ago) link
also nobody on the wire can touch gandolfini, or falco for that matter. not even close.
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:08 (fifteen years ago) link
(again, that's a format thing, as none of the performers on the wire had nearly as much screen time due to its total ensemble-ness)
― s1ocki, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:09 (fifteen years ago) link
thats true ^ but the sopranos just got soooo redundant is the main problem i have
and the wire was so much greater in scope - portrait of an american city ffs!
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:12 (fifteen years ago) link
i guess there's something i like more about the sopranos' storytelling, it was more ambitious
― s1ocki, Saturday, November 15, 2008 11:07 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
this is just completely insane
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link
xxxpost, yeah, but no one ever can anyone touch Omar.
― Their time's limited, hard rocks, too (mehlt), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:29 (fifteen years ago) link
ugh yes, this really drove me nuts by season 2 - so many episodes felt like artificial ways of extending the show's lifespan, it made me feel like i was being fucked with - w/the wire every episode felt like it had a porpoise~
http://www.chinahearsay.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/Porpoise1.JPG
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link
the fact that the wire always seemed more ambitious to me was a big point in its favor, but i think i see where slocki's cummin from\
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link
The Wire (the first season of the Sopranos is really the only one that to me competes at this level.) I am feeling lately that Mad Men is getting to this level of TV as well.
― Alex in SF, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:40 (fifteen years ago) link
mad men is def in the club - tho i thought the same abt deadwood until the supremely wtf ending
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:42 (fifteen years ago) link
mad men - lol really? i guess i need to see that huh
― ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:48 (fifteen years ago) link
rulez
― ketchup bro (ice cr?m), Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:48 (fifteen years ago) link
seen once vs never seen.
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:49 (fifteen years ago) link
also hbo is DEFINITELY pumping out hour long dramas but they're all in collaboration with European partners and generally run six episodes.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:35 (three years ago) link
I think Beforeigners has the potential to be the new Wire ...
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:42 (three years ago) link
The second story of The Killing (seasons 3 & 4) were up there with The Wire for me as well
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:43 (three years ago) link
was that the Sarsgaard era?
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:49 (three years ago) link
I remember really liking that one season anyway
Succession seems to me like the most obv omission from flopson's list
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:51 (three years ago) link
Self-consciously prestige, also much much more shakespearean than Wire or Sopranos
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:52 (three years ago) link
it's the one with the homeless kids ... and Joel Kinnaman made me want to marry him
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:52 (three years ago) link
Beforeigners is the Norwegian time travelling cop thing, right?
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:52 (three years ago) link
lol Succession is prob great for folks that like the Sopranos and can stomach watching such horrible people which ... I couldn't. Maybe if we hadn't spent 4 years with Trump as President I would be able to, but no.
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:54 (three years ago) link
oh yeah that was good. kinnaman adorable throughout xps
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:54 (three years ago) link
Yes, the Norwegian one with the Viking cop and the transtime community and the bougie porridge cafe
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:55 (three years ago) link
lol I have never heard of this show and it sounds unpossible
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:57 (three years ago) link
"Television Programs without Horrible People" sounds like a good thread to start and pretty challenging to name.
Sesame Street = Oscar the GrouchMr Rogers = I heard Daniel Striped Tiger killed some guy down by the bus depot
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:57 (three years ago) link
i will give beforeigners a look. there's too much stuff!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 21:58 (three years ago) link
Succession rules
― flopson, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:58 (three years ago) link
is Succession... a comedy? I kinda feel like it is?
it’s more like Arrested Development than Sopranos tho. milo was correct when he said all the good shows are comedies now
― flopson, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:59 (three years ago) link
yeah I think it's best appreciated as a bone-dry black comedy
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link
It isn't that I want to watch shows without any horrible people, it's that Succession is like, almost entirely horrible people. It's like, I don't give a fuck about any of you.
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link
yeah, I couldn't deal with Arrested Development either ...
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:01 (three years ago) link
I mean I called it shakespearean but it's more like his immediate uh successors who were a lot less humanist
sarahell, I think that response is 100% understandable
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:01 (three years ago) link
well succession is genuinely straight up Lear!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:03 (three years ago) link
I don't mean to wag my finger at those who can reconcile their hardcore Bernie Bro ethics and gaining great pleasure from immersing themselves in the fictional lives of "the enemy" ... I just can't do it, without some character(s) representing positive traits or sympathetic circumstances
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:04 (three years ago) link
xp but also relevant to sarahell's pointyeah the set-up is obviously taken from Lear, but none of the kids are exactly Cordelia
― rob, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:05 (three years ago) link
tbrr a large part of the enjoyment of watching Succession is watching these assholes eat themselves, so to speak
the kids take turns playing at being cordelia imo
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:08 (three years ago) link
yeah I get it. I just feel like people like that get too much attention IRL.
― sarahell, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:11 (three years ago) link
i can't argue with you there.
hey for anyone missing Succession, consider trying CALL MY AGENT which is on Netflix, a really enjoyable shitty people doing work comedy in French. Focused on the movie industry.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:12 (three years ago) link
i wouldn't say the attention that succession pays to its characters is good attention. the show does a pretty good job of stripping back the flash and glamor of rich person life, showing that even though the roys can do whatever they want, they're miserable fucks.
― voodoo chili, Friday, 22 January 2021 22:13 (three years ago) link
Xp and then catch A Very Secret Service which is a stylish 60s-set spy farce
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:26 (three years ago) link
Fuck, like i needed more! You recommend that dmac?
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:28 (three years ago) link
Times did a breakdown of the current haul of "foreign" cable:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/arts/television/international-losing-alice-gomorrah-flack.html
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 22 January 2021 22:36 (three years ago) link
Yep, its got a v nice vibe going on, def if you liked call my agent (which of course is the only paris-set office comedrama anyone should be boosting this last few years instead of That Other One)
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Friday, 22 January 2021 23:08 (three years ago) link
alright i grabbed an episode (and pembrokewhatever) on your recommendation
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 January 2021 00:08 (three years ago) link
Be good to hear back
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Saturday, 23 January 2021 01:05 (three years ago) link
Will do here
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 January 2021 02:11 (three years ago) link
Lol, maybe do it on the best of 2020 thread, this thread is for the sopranos being shakespearean
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Saturday, 23 January 2021 02:14 (three years ago) link
Methinks the lady doth etc
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 January 2021 02:15 (three years ago) link
Is this SAG war i see before me
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Saturday, 23 January 2021 02:16 (three years ago) link
Shakespearean
I dont understand what americans mean when they type this word
I am not convinced that they do either
/Pinefox
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Friday, January 22, 2021 1:18 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
I was the one that brought up Shakespeare and I'll take the heat if I'm wrong, but feel free to sub in "tragedy with flawed male protagonist who destroys everything around them and everyone dies at the end" if you so choose.
― Smokahontas and John Spliff (PBKR), Saturday, 23 January 2021 20:48 (three years ago) link
I'm no Shakespeare expert (obvs).
― Smokahontas and John Spliff (PBKR), Saturday, 23 January 2021 20:49 (three years ago) link
that predates Shakespeare tho -- the Greeks repped that shit like a motherfucker
― sarahell, Saturday, 23 January 2021 21:06 (three years ago) link
Let’s just all agree on my definition. 🤣
― DJI, Saturday, 23 January 2021 21:16 (three years ago) link
When Paulie reluctantly accepts a promotion in the show's waning days, he tells Tony "I live but to serve, my liege." Maybe that puts the whole Shakespearean thing to bed?
― henry s, Sunday, 24 January 2021 18:45 (three years ago) link
Also Johnny Sack misquotes Macbeth at 1:21 here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGpmriwtniA
case closed
― Number None, Monday, 25 January 2021 11:18 (three years ago) link
Who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate, and furious,Loyal and neutral, in a moment?
Sil
― Qanondorf (darraghmac), Monday, 25 January 2021 11:21 (three years ago) link