Sopranos is still the best TV show ever: Appreciation Thread - or maybe the wire

IMG_4798.jpeg


Remember to enjoy the little things in life everyone
 
MirrorNoir said:
Especially on the Wire, where Simon's message took priority on letting the characters just exist outside the context of the greater storyline.
Click to expand...
I think a lot of that was due to what the network did to his stories on Homicide: Life on the Street. In a later edition of the book, he talks about submitting a script for the episode Robin Williams was on and complained about 85% of it being rewritten. A veteran writer responded with "Your first script and they only rewrote 85% of it? Wow, they must have really liked it". So when he does The Wire, he wants more control. And it kind of worked, there are some solid stories in there, but as mentioned there are some lows.

It is funny after reading the books realizing how much of the monologues in The Wire are just Simon regurgitating whole sections of Homicide and The Corner.
 
Internet War Criminal said:
And this is partly why the Shield rarely hit the same highs as The Sopranos (thought it definitely did sometimes) but never hit the same lows, either.

There are no Shields episodes where I think 'Urgh, fuck that, skip.' Shit, there's few moments in the show overall where I'll be skipping discussions, etc... The Sopranos, on the other hand, in the latter seasons, has a bunch of shit that is just pointless and I don't want to ever see again. Roe and Carmela in Paris? Fuuuuck that. Dream sequences? Even more.
Click to expand...
Idk, even the kids weren't as annoying as that sheboon detective.
 
Internet War Criminal said:
There are no Shields episodes where I think 'Urgh, fuck that, skip.'
Click to expand...
The Shield has one of the worst television episodes of all time in Copilot. You can skip it entirely. It actually breaks continuity and creates some plot holes or at least some major inconsistencies. Every Sopranos episode ties into the main plot and Tony directly. Every scene is about Tony.
Internet War Criminal said:
Shit, there's few moments in the show overall where I'll be skipping discussions, etc... The Sopranos, on the other hand, in the latter seasons, has a bunch of shit that is just pointless and I don't want to ever see again. Roe and Carmela in Paris? Fuuuuck that. Dream sequences? Even more.
Click to expand...
The dream sequence with Adriana is one of the best parts of the show. Carmela's own mind tells her that one of her friends was murdered. She uses it to blackmail Tony over real estate investments. And it is part of Carmela souring Tony's relationship with Christopher over Cleaver being a death fantasy about whacking the boss who cheats with another guy's fiance.
 
TheHarbinger said:
Every Sopranos episode ties into the main plot and Tony directly. Every scene is about Tony.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say that, especially the first season where they're still feeling out what the series is going to be. There's an overaching narrative, sure, but most episodes have their own plot that resolves by the end, or at least gives the audience enough of an ending to be satisfied unless it's deliberately leading into the next story.

Like the episode where Chris gets pissy that he has to pay for everyone's meals because he's the new guy. A Netflix show would milk it for several episodes before he finally snaps and something happens. Sopranos? He and Paulie hash it out after they kick the shit out of that waiter who came after Chrissy for a tip before the episode's end.

I feel like Sopranos had the right balance of self-contained episodic storytelling and overarching main plot that weaved through the season. Most shows that tried to copy it later on just kept stretching everything out like a goddamn soap opera.
 
Arthur Morgan said:
I wouldn't say that, especially the first season where they're still feeling out what the series is going to be. There's an overaching narrative, sure, but most episodes have their own plot that resolves by the end, or at least gives the audience enough of an ending to be satisfied unless it's deliberately leading into the next story.

Like the episode where Chris gets pissy that he has to pay for everyone's meals because he's the new guy. A Netflix show would milk it for several episodes before he finally snaps and something happens. Sopranos? He and Paulie hash it out after they kick the shit out of that waiter who came after Chrissy for a tip before the episode's end.

I feel like Sopranos had the right balance of self-contained episodic storytelling and overarching main plot that weaved through the season. Most shows that tried to copy it later on just kept stretching everything out like a goddamn soap opera.
Click to expand...
the sopranos has really good pacing for the most part one of its core strengths
 
Seventh Star said:
But you're missing out on Carmela being hilariously insensitive to Ro about her dead husband and kid. I think it's worth rewatching just for how much of a manipulative cunt she is lol.
Click to expand...
That dinner scene is so damn tough to watch

Carmela is such a insufferable cunt

Fishnumm said:
the sopranos has really good pacing for the most part one of its core strengths
Click to expand...
There's some hickups here and there. Mainly at the fourth season and the last. First season had perfect pacing

Fuck you guys, i might have to rewatch Sopranos for the 10th time now
 
Internet War Criminal said:
And this is partly why the Shield rarely hit the same highs as The Sopranos (thought it definitely did sometimes) but never hit the same lows, either.

There are no Shields episodes where I think 'Urgh, fuck that, skip.' Shit, there's few moments in the show overall where I'll be skipping discussions, etc... The Sopranos, on the other hand, in the latter seasons, has a bunch of shit that is just pointless and I don't want to ever see again. Roe and Carmela in Paris? Fuuuuck that. Dream sequences? Even more.
Click to expand...
As big of a fan of The Shield that I am, there are a ton of moments especially in season one and three where when doing a rewatch, I said "fuck it" and skipped the episode if it's a filler episode or just fast forwarded to the myth arch scenes. Where I never do that watching Sopranos, granted with notion that I love the family scenes and sometimes the family plots being being more interesting than the mob stuff in certain episodes.

Sopranos does let you get into the heads of a lot of characters while Shawn Ryan keeps you, frustratingly at times, at arms lengths. The only characters we get a detailed look into the psyches of are Shane, Acaveda, Julian, and Dutch. We rarely if ever get lore or backstory on key characters and at times when we did so for Claudette, it comes in a Dan Harmon by way of Rick Sanchez type passive aggressive rant where Claudette breaks the fourth wall to curse out the fans for wanting to know more about the character. And certain characters like Ronnie, Danny, and Mara are extensively denied any sort of character development when the show really could have been improved with them being g heavily fleshed out.
 
Wesker said:
There's so much meat to each character in each of them and they all hold meaning. Most of what Tony really is is displayed in each of them. Skipping them is real tourist retard shit.
Click to expand...
No one who is on their 7th+ rewatch is sticking through all of the season 6 dream sequences.
 
Re: the subtitle

The Sopranos is the greatest television of all time with regard to people, the Wire is the greatest television of all time with respect to things (in this case systems, more specifically how institutions corrupt individual intentions).

What people are usually grasping at when they call the Wire the greatest tv show of all time in response to people saying it’s the Sopranos is the Wire is the smartest to show of all time and it’s not even close.

The Sopranos ingeniously layers character study over a crime drama, thus creating broad appeal by functionally telling parallel stories, it does a lot of smart things, but the Wire is like a show from an alternate reality where humans are all 45 IQ points smarter. It makes others shows look like cartoons with its verisimilitude without ever being boring. That’s insane. But the Sopranos might still be more entertaining. The Wire is more like a joke you clap for.
 
Uzumaki said:
The Sopranos is the greatest television of all time with regard to people, the Wire is the greatest television of all time with respect to things (in this case systems, more specifically how institutions corrupt individual intentions).
Click to expand...
The characters in The Wire all speak the same two ways. Oscillating between Shakespearean and ghetto ebonics depending on the purpose of the scene. Where one second they are throwing street words around with lots of slang and in the next scene are waxing philosophically about the modern American ideals with encyclopedic knowledge of history. Like the writers simply can't stop themselves from making the characters speak using the writers' voices and not talk like a unique character. One scene Omar is talking like Omar. Next scene he's talking like David Simon. This happens often.

It also doesn't help that characters will often have verbatim dialog of another character to draw parallels but in the end it makes the show seem more like a writing exercise than natural conversation. The characters on The Sopranos are not as eloquent. But at least they sound like real people. Whereas on The Wire you have characters throwing out catchphrases for the audience to react to when they recognize them.
Uzumaki said:
...but the Wire is like a show from an alternate reality where humans are all 45 IQ points smarter. It makes others shows look like cartoons with its verisimilitude without ever being boring.
Click to expand...
It's more like The Wire's characters have normal IQs and all other shows have characters, cops and criminals, that all behave like retards. In most cop shows the criminals never use a lawyer. Even on The Shield the criminals are almost never in the interrogation room with an actual lawyer. They just get mentally broken by Dutch or intimidated by Vic in almost all episodes. It's very repetitive and unrealistic. The Wire does things the exact opposite.

The Wire is essentially the only cop show with realistic arrests, case work, and interrogations. And realistic court scenes. Where even big drug kingpins show up to court, plead guilty, and are sentenced in mere minutes of procedure. Whereas other shows would have some dramatic 'gotcha' moment where the prosecutors are screaming and the courtroom is erupting in shouting over some last minute testimony. Other HBO shows like Sopranos or Oz usually had criminals use lawyers or just refuse to talk to the police or FBI no matter what.
Uzumaki said:
That’s insane. But the Sopranos might still be more entertaining. The Wire is more like a joke you clap for.
Click to expand...
I find both shows entertaining. But I roll my eyes at some of the cringe worthy scenes like comparing the drug game to a chess game. Where you can tell that the writers are busy congratulating each other behind the scenes at how incredible their dialog is when it just comes across as having zero subtly. It's just so forced that it's distracting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom