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The Wire vs Breaking Bad no holds barred cage match!

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The Wire vs Breaking Bad

  • The Wire

  • Breaking Bad

Results are only viewable after voting.
Craig234 said:
It's not always recency bias though - for example, I thought the Shield was great, but almost immediately dated by following shows that went further. Same with Hill Street Blues.

I call it the grittiness evolution - Dragnet was cutting edge when on. Barney Miller a little more edge. Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The Shield, The Wire. Each evolved.
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Watching episodes of NYPD Blue now is hilarious. It was so gritty and shocking in the mid nineties, and that was pretty much because they dared to show an ass. ....too bad it was Sipowicz ass. 🙁

But The Wire doesn't suffer from that. It's still really gritty in comparison. the difference is that the cliffhanger and intense drama became vogue again, especially with shows like BB and the Walking Dead. The Wire was never a Cliffhanger, the drama was never amplified--it was always an honest, slow burn. It dealt with serious issues (think about Bubbles and Hamsterdam and that young kid maturing through school and as an enforcer in the end). There was never anything serious in BB. Such things were masked by a veil of amplified drama and shock
(Gus's exploded head, for example)
.

The Wire is a cerebral slow burn. Breaking Bad assaults your senses and every single episode is instant gratification. Both are great, imo. The Wire is much better, though.
 
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slayer202 said:
not even close. breaking bad isn't on the top tier

KT is right, people only remember the most recent thing (and more people have seen BB for sure)
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I find that opinion very hard to understand. What would you say is "on the top tier"? As a whole I don't think there are any other shows that belong in the conversation with The Wire and BB, with the possible exception of Mad Men. The Sopranos was revolutionary in its time, but the great-to-clunker ratio, on an episode-by-episode and even season-by-season basis, pulls it out of serious competition. Other than very short-run British shows, which are an entirely different category, what else is there that even competes with these shows in terms of overall excellence in a serialized drama?

For me, Breaking Bad is the better show. http://grantland.com/features/bad-decisions/ is a good summary of why I hold that opinion, though I'd add that, for me, it depicts a world that is much more like my own than the world depicted in The Wire, and thus far more relatable. I don't have any clear frame of reference for the life lived by people in the ad industry in the 1960s, for a wealthy mob-connected family in Jersey, or for crack sellers and/or police in inner city Baltimore. I do, on the other hand, have the ability to relate to white, middle class people living in a midsize city and faced with real-world problems. I suppose that familiarity makes BB more accessible to me.
 
Don Vito Corleone said:
I find that opinion very hard to understand. What would you say is "on the top tier"? As a whole I don't think there are any other shows that belong in the conversation with The Wire and BB, with the possible exception of Mad Men. The Sopranos was revolutionary in its time, but the great-to-clunker ratio, on an episode-by-episode and even season-by-season basis, pulls it out of serious competition. Other than very short-run British shows, which are an entirely different category, what else is there that even competes with these shows in terms of overall excellence in a serialized drama?

For me, Breaking Bad is the better show. http://grantland.com/features/bad-decisions/ is a good summary of why I hold that opinion, though I'd add that, for me, it depicts a world that is much more like my own than the world depicted in The Wire, and thus far more relatable. I don't have any clear frame of reference for the life lived by people in the ad industry in the 1960s, for a wealthy mob-connected family in Jersey, or for crack sellers and/or police in inner city Baltimore. I do, on the other hand, have the ability to relate to white, middle class people living in a midsize city and faced with real-world problems. I suppose that familiarity makes BB more accessible to me.
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BB is more accessible for maybe the first 2 seasons. After that you would have to be related in some way to Pablo Escobar in order to find it accessible.
 
momeNt said:
BB is more accessible for maybe the first 2 seasons. After that you would have to be related in some way to Pablo Escobar in order to find it accessible.
Click to expand...

I don't see why, because the window into that world in BB is Walter White, and you (the audience) are just as naive entering that world as he is those first 2 seasons.

It's a solid device.
 
I've been watching The Wire for about 6 months now. Have to admit I just started Season 3 and am having trouble understanding why this show is so highly praised. It's definitely good but I heard 'best ever' thrown around a lot and am just not seeing it. Is season 3 where it really takes off or something?
 
Fingolfin269 said:
I've been watching The Wire for about 6 months now. Have to admit I just started Season 3 and am having trouble understanding why this show is so highly praised. It's definitely good but I heard 'best ever' thrown around a lot and am just not seeing it. Is season 3 where it really takes off or something?
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if you didn't like the first two seasons, I doubt you'll like the rest.
 
Fingolfin269 said:
Never said I didn't like it. I said I'm not feeling 'best ever'.
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season 3 and 4 are the best; 2 was a bit strange compared to the series.

but this goes back to my point: You're now watching The Wire in a culture that has already been exposed to a very different, very addictive type of model for TV serials. It's simply not going to be as entertaining as BB if that is the sort of thing you are expecting.
 
zinfamous said:
season 3 and 4 are the best; 2 was a bit strange compared to the series.

but this goes back to my point: You're now watching The Wire in a culture that has already been exposed to a very different, very addictive type of model for TV serials. It's simply not going to be as entertaining as BB if that is the sort of thing you are expecting.
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I am really just expecting good entertainment. But what you just said actually answers what I expected. Loved season 1. Thought season 2 was kind of meh. So if season 3 and 4 are closer to season 1 then I'll definitely keep going.
 
Fingolfin269 said:
I am really just expecting good entertainment. But what you just said actually answers what I expected. Loved season 1. Thought season 2 was kind of meh. So if season 3 and 4 are closer to season 1 then I'll definitely keep going.
Click to expand...

Season 2 is very much the black sheep of The Wire. It is an important part of the overall story--the docks, so the people in charge of bringing the drugs into Baltimore--but it is barely addressed in the rest of the series.

It is like that Archer season where, for some reason, they were all in Panama running drugs. For some reason, McNulty is patrolling the water (Well obviously there is a reason, but it's just weird)

Season 3 and 4 are the heart of the series.
 
zinfamous said:
Season 2 is very much the black sheep of The Wire. It is an important part of the overall story--the docks, so the people in charge of bringing the drugs into Baltimore--but it is barely addressed in the rest of the series.

It is like that Archer season where, for some reason, they were all in Panama running drugs. For some reason, McNulty is patrolling the water (Well obviously there is a reason, but it's just weird)

Season 3 and 4 are the heart of the series.
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And without Season 2 the Prius Superbowl Prius commercial wouldn't have been so awesome.

prius8f-2-web.jpg
 
I appreciate the recommendation to watch The Wire; I'm a few episodes in to the first season and have been pleasantly surprised. Good stuff.
 
Just finished the watching all 5 seasons of The Wire. Liked it a lot, some episodes a lot more than others. Really got to know and like a lot of the characters, thought there were some really good actors on the show (not necessarily the lead actors).

Might be time to give BB a try.
 
zinfamous said:
Season 2 is very much the black sheep of The Wire. It is an important part of the overall story--the docks, so the people in charge of bringing the drugs into Baltimore--but it is barely addressed in the rest of the series.

It is like that Archer season where, for some reason, they were all in Panama running drugs. For some reason, McNulty is patrolling the water (Well obviously there is a reason, but it's just weird)

Season 3 and 4 are the heart of the series.
Click to expand...

Season 2 was so awesome though. I defend it every time it comes up, lol.
 
I haven't seen The Wire but I'm looking forward to checking it out (apparently it's on Amazon Prime? decent). I'm just going through Breaking Bad again for the second time and goddamn, what an excellent fricking show. The acting and writing is top-frickin-notch.

I'm definitely looking forward to watching The Wire but it has come steep competition from Breaking Bad.
 
zinfamous said:
Watching episodes of NYPD Blue now is hilarious. It was so gritty and shocking in the mid nineties, and that was pretty much because they dared to show an ass. ....too bad it was Sipowicz ass. 🙁

But The Wire doesn't suffer from that. It's still really gritty in comparison. the difference is that the cliffhanger and intense drama became vogue again, especially with shows like BB and the Walking Dead. The Wire was never a Cliffhanger, the drama was never amplified--it was always an honest, slow burn. It dealt with serious issues (think about Bubbles and Hamsterdam and that young kid maturing through school and as an enforcer in the end). There was never anything serious in BB. Such things were masked by a veil of amplified drama and shock
(Gus's exploded head, for example)
.

The Wire is a cerebral slow burn. Breaking Bad assaults your senses and every single episode is instant gratification. Both are great, imo. The Wire is much better, though.
Click to expand...

We agree on the first point. That's why The Wire was the last item on my evolution list - I think it's still 'state of the art' in gritty pretty much, though the Omar character is a bit cartoonish - earlier series could try to do the same type of character but more dated now, like 'Animal' on Hill Street Blues or the photographer character in the Lou Grant newspaper show.

I also agree that The Wire had different qualities than Breaking Bad, the area I disagree is your opinion that it made it better. I don't totally disagree with your points at all, but I think Breaking Bad had great qualities I appreciate you don't seem to that would take some trying to explain, though you explained your points nicely, and as I say I largely agree.

It's worth mentioning another show that seems mostly forgotten but might fit your description of Breaking Bad even better - the HBO series "Oz". Perhaps Sons of Anarchy also. Oz if I recall came to admit that they'd become almost campy at finding outrageous ways to kill people, but it had a real place in that 'gritty' evolution of seasons-long story and gritty drama. Great show in areas.
 
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Don Vito Corleone said:
As a whole I don't think there are any other shows that belong in the conversation with The Wire and BB, with the possible exception of Mad Men. The Sopranos was revolutionary in its time, but the great-to-clunker ratio, on an episode-by-episode and even season-by-season basis, pulls it out of serious competition. Other than very short-run British shows, which are an entirely different category, what else is there that even competes with these shows in terms of overall excellence in a serialized drama?

For me, Breaking Bad is the better show. http://grantland.com/features/bad-decisions/ is a good summary of why I hold that opinion, though I'd add that, for me, it depicts a world that is much more like my own than the world depicted in The Wire, and thus far more relatable. I don't have any clear frame of reference for the life lived by people in the ad industry in the 1960s, for a wealthy mob-connected family in Jersey, or for crack sellers and/or police in inner city Baltimore. I do, on the other hand, have the ability to relate to white, middle class people living in a midsize city and faced with real-world problems. I suppose that familiarity makes BB more accessible to me.
Click to expand...

For everyone in the thread who likes a good crime drama, I'd say check out the series "Cracker" from the BBC (not the US remake).

It stars Robbie Coltrane as an anti-hero - the lasting quality is in some of the writing. It's mostly episode-based stories though, not the long-arc.

I do doubt it'll be for everyone's taste, if you don't like BBC-style drama, you probably won't like it.

I quoted the post because it not only resulted in my mentioning Cracker as a very good show if not in that 'top' league, but I agree with the comments.
 
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