The Wire Question

[MLK]

The Wire has surpassed The Sopranos as my favorite show on television. Season 2 wasn't that great, but I still enjoyed it.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by MLK

The Wire has surpassed The Sopranos as my favorite show on television. Season 2 wasn't that great, but I still enjoyed it.

Yeah, Season 2 is much harder to get into (starts off very slowly), and I didn't care for the characters nearly as much that season, but it does introduce some minor characters (the "Greek", etc) that become important later on. It also was necessary to expand the scope beyond "the corners" and that was a good way to do it. In the end, I think it was also good to show that many of the issues facing the inner-city are economically driven (and not racially driven).

Season 3, on the other hand, provided an incredibly realistic look at the political workings of the city and the police department... as well as providing an amazing resolution to the story started in season 1.

Overall, it's probably my top show EVER, and like you, the Sopranos is right up there near it, but just a step behind.

[Moniker]

Originally Posted by MLK

The Wire has surpassed The Sopranos as my favorite show on television. Season 2 wasn't that great, but I still enjoyed it.

I liked your first statement.

Then you had to keep typing.

Season 2 may very well be my favorite, though I'm a fan of all five (especially 2, 3, and 4).

While The Sopranos has some characters and moments that may never be matched, The Wire is undeniably the series with the strongest vision and consistence of quality. Season 5 lagged a bit, but the second to last episode alone was enough to justify all the extra hours and dollars that went into keeping the show running an extra season. Even though it's my favorite show of all time, I think they ended when they needed to, and I eagerly await whatever future projects David Simon delivers.

[Moniker]

Of course, since this is a forum where people seem to care more about technical shit than stories, characters, etc., let me just say that I don't know of any Blu-Ray plans for The Wire. Even if they did release a stunning box set with all 5 seasons, I'm not sure I'd buy it anytime soon (if ever). And I own 3 different Wire shirts, a poster, and wrote a huge piece on it for our local paper. So you can tell what a nut I am for it.

I currently own Seasons 1-4 on DVD, so a BD box set would have to be very cheap or given to me as a gift. And would the quality be all that different? I have no idea, since I'm not much of a technical guy. I will say, however, that if a Sopranos series box set was released on BD I'd probably want that one before The Wire. I'm not really sure why.

Of course, a complete series box set of Lost is what we'll all be needing come late 2010.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Moniker

I currently own Seasons 1-4 on DVD, so a BD box set would have to be very cheap or given to me as a gift. And would the quality be all that different? I have no idea, since I'm not much of a technical guy. I will say, however, that if a Sopranos series box set was released on BD I'd probably want that one before The Wire. I'm not really sure why.

I agree, but Sopranos is a different matter. They have been airing ALL the seasons from 16:9 HD transfers for years now. The creator's okayed it, and it was shot with that possibility at least in mind (for the few first seasons) and with that as the intended presentation (for the last seasons). So... a 16:9 HD BD release of the complete series would feel "natural" for the show.

The Wire, on the other hand, never felt "correct" in the 16:9 promos and "previous episode" clips on HBO, and, obviously, they wanted the 4:3 framing. If they did a BD set (in proper 4:3 ratio) I'd buy it, but I doubt it will happen.

BTW, given your taste in TV shows, you should really like the "Mad Men" set you mentioned picking up in the other thread.