Re: Breaking Bad : Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:53 am  

Grimmy wrote:

I loved Breaking Bad but can't believe people are putting it ahead of the Wire. IMO the best tv series ever

I enjoyed The Wire, but I just didn't think it was anything better than a decent cop show.

I think Walter White was about 50 times more interesting as a character than Jimmy McNulty. I think Stringer Bell and Omar Little were the most interesting characters in The Wire and the show would have been better if they played even bigger roles.

It's a small thing, but I always hated the opening music for The Wire. In none of the 5 series did the song ever do anything than bug the hell out of me. In BB they just had the ultra short theme tune and got on with the telling of the story.

For me The Wire just came across as a TV version of films like Training Day and LUV. And I much preferred Training Day and Luv to The Wire. I think BB is a great film expanded over 5 seasons of TV time.

Re: Breaking Bad : Fri Dec 20, 2013 2:53 pm  

For people who are into this kind of telly, I'm reading an interesting book at the mo called 'Difficult Men' - it's about the writers and show-runners of series like The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and Mad Men - fascinating peek behind the scenes, with some interesting insights into how the medium has evolved over time. Recommended.

Re: Breaking Bad : Fri Dec 20, 2013 3:45 pm  

bren2k wrote:

For people who are into this kind of telly, I'm reading an interesting book at the mo called 'Difficult Men' - it's about the writers and show-runners of series like The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and Mad Men - fascinating peek behind the scenes, with some interesting insights into how the medium has evolved over time. Recommended.

Looks interesting. I'll give it a read after I watch The Shield, if I get round to it.

Re: Breaking Bad : Fri Dec 20, 2013 4:54 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

I enjoyed The Wire, but I just didn't think it was anything better than a decent cop show.

I think Walter White was about 50 times more interesting as a character than Jimmy McNulty. I think Stringer Bell and Omar Little were the most interesting characters in The Wire and the show would have been better if they played even bigger roles.

It's a small thing, but I always hated the opening music for The Wire. In none of the 5 series did the song ever do anything than bug the hell out of me. In BB they just had the ultra short theme tune and got on with the telling of the story.

For me The Wire just came across as a TV version of films like Training Day and LUV. And I much preferred Training Day and Luv to The Wire. I think BB is a great film expanded over 5 seasons of TV time.

I don't think there's much between them and I certainly rate The Wire as more than just a decent cop show; for me though, Breaking Bad was better written, more compelling and had a better story arc. Acting wise, I don't think there's much to choose - Walter White was a brilliantly realised character, but there were some fantastic performances in The Wire - like you, I think Omar was one of the best, and the same actor is now carving it up as Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire. There aren't many shows that could make an anti-hero out of a gay stick-up man, and I think Michael K Williams performance had a lot to do with that.

Either way up, thank goodness for HBO - if it wasn't for stuff like this, I'd never watch any telly at all.

Re: Breaking Bad : Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:31 pm  

Finished Breaking Bad on Friday night, a fitting end to a superb series. Loved it from start to finish.

The Wire had been my favourite programme, but BB probably shades it as it was consistantly brilliant. The quality of The Wire fell away a little in season five, although I would rate season four as the best TV season ever.