The Shield..same level as Breaking Bad/The Wire etc?

[purbeast0]

I haven't seen any of The Wire, but the bits of The Shield I've seen were fucking terrible.

The Thing's attempts at being gritty and intimidating...acting in general...were laughable, and the plots generally involved a bunch of dumbass stereotypes and cliches.

you do realize that the shield was before he made fantastic four, right?

 

[Childs]

Spoiler

aceveda's bj still haunts me.

I always laugh and think "that chicken**** ****s*cker!" every time I see that actor. Not an anti gay thing, just a "wtf I'd rather die than do that while being recorded on camera phone" thing. Gun to your head is one thing, but once the camera phone comes out, you gotta fight to the death!

 

[Craig234]

I've long said that cop shows have an evolution in the 'realism'. Dragnet was a very realistic show - until later seen as cartoonish.

Adam 12 was a spinoff more realistic, now cartoonish.

Hill Street Blues was seen as more gritty - now sort of cartoonish.

Went on to NYPD Blue.

I'd say after that the Shield took it to a new level - was excellent for the time, still has a lot of good but seems more flawed by now.

I think the Wire and Breaking Bad were better, but the Wire is a different kind of show, more character-driven.

There was another show about LAPD that went for the latest gen of realism, and had a lot of good shows, but wasn't as good as the others (what was it, something-land?)

 

[zinfamous]

you do realize that the shield was before he made fantastic four, right?

Well I always think of him as The Commish, which is long before the Shield, and certainly does Chiklis no service when trying to portray that gritty hard character.

 

[zinfamous]

I've long said that cop shows have an evolution in the 'realism'. Dragnet was a very realistic show - until later seen as cartoonish.

Adam 12 was a spinoff more realistic, now cartoonish.

Hill Street Blues was seen as more gritty - now sort of cartoonish.

Went on to NYPD Blue.

I'd say after that the Shield took it to a new level - was excellent for the time, still has a lot of good but seems more flawed by now.

I think the Wire and Breaking Bad were better, but the Wire is a different kind of show, more character-driven.

There was another show about LAPD that went for the latest gen of realism, and had a lot of good shows, but wasn't as good as the others (what was it, something-land?)

Southland.

It was good, but I had no interest beyond the first season because I didn't really want another drama to deal with, and I wasn't compelled by anyone in that show.

 

[DaTT]

Did anyone watch The Chicago Code? Done by Shawn Ryan on network TV (yuck). Still not bad, too bad it was cancelled so quickly. I think it had potential.

 

[TwiceOver]

I've recently been rewatching BB and while I put BB and The Shield on the same level, I have to put BB ahead because nearly every episode was flawless and the whole thing came together without dragging it out. The Shield had at least one season that could have just not happened without affecting the outcome of the show.

Once again, I'll give The Wire another shot one of these days. It just didn't do-it for me and I slept through a lot of them.

 

[lupi]

haven't watched any myself, but from listening a lot of others talk about it the list seems to be either BB or wire, cross between user preference or some liking the non-network version, with the shield a respectable third place.

 

[SAWYER]

Boardwalk Empire>all

 

[DaTT]

Boardwalk Empire>all

1 more season!

 

[zinfamous]

Did anyone watch The Chicago Code? Done by Shawn Ryan on network TV (yuck). Still not bad, too bad it was cancelled so quickly. I think it had potential.

I couldn't get past 3 episodes. It was so...I don't know "network." I thought it was all crap up to that point, and I wanted a decent Chicago cop show.

 

[RossMAN]

I put the Shield right there in first place with BB, followed by The Wire. To me, the seasons in the Wire were hit and miss. The first is an all time great, with up and down from there. The shield, like Breaking Bad, just kept getting better and better and had a perfect ending.

Not to mention, it really paved the way for the non-pay cable shows we all love these days.

What are you smoking?

1) The Wire
2) Breaking Bad
3) The Shield

/thread

 

[Craig234]

Well I always think of him as The Commish, which is long before the Shield, and certainly does Chiklis no service when trying to portray that gritty hard character.

Actually, I think the Commish makes people rate him as a far better actor to do both - though I find his 'Vegas' character pretty useless.

 

[Craig234]

I think there are some roles that really use an actor well and make them shine - like Chiklies in the Shield or Shatner in the original Star Trek - and then there are roles that use the actors not well and make them look bad, expose limits, like Chiklis in Vegas or Shatner as TJ Hooker.

Cranston was incredible in both Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad - but forgettable as the evil general in whatever that sci fi film was.

 

[Cyco]

I think there are some roles that really use an actor well and make them shine - like Chiklies in the Shield or Shatner in the original Star Trek - and then there are roles that use the actors not well and make them look bad, expose limits, like Chiklis in Vegas or Shatner as TJ Hooker.

Cranston was incredible in both Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad - but forgettable as the evil general in whatever that sci fi film was.

Don't you be talkin' about no TJ Hooker! True, Shatner was barely digestible in that role but Heather Locklear made it all worthwhile. Have to agree with you with Chiklis in Vegas though.

 

[QueBert]

The Wire > *

Season 2 wasn't as good as the rest, but it wasn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. The last season was hit and miss, but the final episode was so damn good it made up for the low points of that season. I don't get emotionally involved in television shows, but there were a few moments in the final episode where I shed a tear.

Haven't seen much of Breaking Bad, mentally I don't think I can watch Cranston play this kind of role. He was close to perfect as Hal on MITM and that's just how I see him. Sort of like how Ed O'Neill will always be Al Bundy to me. I know he a good actor, but if they put him in a Wire like show and he did the greatest job in the world, I'm only capable of seeing him as Al.

 

[TwiceOver]

Haven't seen much of Breaking Bad, mentally I don't think I can watch Cranston play this kind of role. He was close to perfect as Hal on MITM and that's just how I see him. Sort of like how Ed O'Neill will always be Al Bundy to me. I know he a good actor, but if they put him in a Wire like show and he did the greatest job in the world, I'm only capable of seeing him as Al.

You would be missing out. Have you seen the list of awards for BB?

 

[John Connor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIom3LSbB0I

 

[purbeast0]

fyi this will be the best $31 you've ever spent.

http://slickdeals.net/f/6675054-the-shield-complete-series-dvd-31

i haven't seen it since it aired so i snagged it because i've been talking about wanting to watch it again recently.

 

[SAWYER]

I just blazed through Justified from the beginning and am current, Boyd alone makes Justified better than The Shield to me

 

[squarecut1]

Looked up netflix and they dont have shield for streaming. Another show that they dont have.

 

[torpid]

I just blazed through Justified from the beginning and am current, Boyd alone makes Justified better than The Shield to me

I have a hard time with Justified lately. I miss the Margo Martindale season. I'd put that up there with the best of The Shield. Last season, and this season, not even close.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Looked up netflix and they dont have shield for streaming. Another show that they dont have.

I think that Amazon Prime Video has it (if you're a prime subscriber)