The Sopranos vs The Wire vs Breaking Bad

[DIG]

Breaking Bad > The Wire

Not saying it's necessarily a better show, they're better in different ways, I just enjoyed it more due to it's faster pace and radical plot. Wire's superb however.

Sopranos we've finally embarked on after years of holding off, needed to follow up BB with something quality and it fits the bill. Oz is definitely still on the to-do list too.

 

[Macca19]

1)Who was the best leading man: Tony Soprano or Walter White or Jimmy McNulty?

3. Tony Soprano
2. Walter White
1. Jimmy Mcnulty

I think Tony had both the most depth and also the most realism as a character. Both Soprano and White are the ultimate anti-hero. You should hate them. You know you should hate them. They are cold, calculating, abusive...but you cant help but love them and sympathise with them. Mcnulty miles behind the other two as a lead. Reminded me too much of Quinn from Dexter

2) What show had the best supporting cast behind the leading man?

3. The Sopranos
2. The Wire
1. Breaking Bad

Really hard to seperate The Sopranos and The Wire with this one. This is where The Wire came into its own a bit but I feel The Sopranos had the better main and secondary characters by a bees dick. More development into those secondary characters. Breaking Bad miles behind in this.

3) What show had the most compelling storyline which made you want to tune in each an every week?

3. Breaking Bad
2. The Sopranos
1. The Wire

Pretty hard to seperate these three. I went with Breaking Bad just because it was so out there and it sucked you in with action more than the other two.

4) What show had the best cinematography?

3. Breaking Bad
daylight
2. The Sopranos
1. The Wire

Breaking Bad by the length of Russia. Not even comparable.

5) What show was the most consistent in its quality throughout its run?

3. The Wire
2. The Sopranos
1. Breaking Bad

I think The Wire was probably the most consistent. The Sopranos very close behind and BB very close behind The Sopranos. All three were pretty consistent really.

6) What show was the most unique and groundbreaking?

3. Breaking Bad
2. The Sopranos
1. The Wire

Story about a chemistry teacher cancer patient who becomes a meth demigod with an ex student is pretty unique and ground breaking! The Sopranos took everybody into the world of the Mafia. The Wire was a cop/detective show done as good as possible.

7) What show was the most realistic and gritty?

3. The Sopranos
2. The Wire
1. Breaking Bad

Probably deserves two questions. BB was probably the most gritty but clearly not all that realistic. The Sopranos I thought was the most realistic.

8) What show had the best ending in your opinion?

2.5 . The Sopranos
2.5 . Breaking Bad
1. The Wire

I loved the ending of The Sopranos. Thought it was spot on. Breaking Bad as well got it spot on. Both completely different but compelling in their own right. The Wire a fair bit behind.

Totals:
The Sopranos - 19.5
Breaking Bad - 16.5
The Wire - 12

I think thats a fair representation of how I see them.

 

[djrossie16]

I think there should be another category 'rewatchability' if that's even a word
I would rank the Sopranos very high on that scale due to the hilarity and brilliance of some of the scenes there.
Also the narrative style can focus in or in it's favour imo can be very swift in its scene progression so its more watchable i believe from that perspective. It'd be like you wouldn't need to fast forward because it timeshifts so effectively so I think that makes multiple watches better than the other shows for me anyway.

 

[Sterge]

I really need to watch The Wire. Am I the only one who finds the first two episodes very slow? It has kind of put me off watching it.

Got up to episode 7 a few months ago and just got over it, found it really boring

 

[pantskyle]

Sopranos is first and the other two aren't even in my top 5.

 

[flight23]

Sopranos is first and the other two aren't even in my top 5.

out of curiosity what are your top 5

not looking to pot, just interested to know

 

[pantskyle]

out of curiosity what are your top 5

not looking to pot, just interested to know

Ok lets see.

1. The Sopranos
2. The Simpsons
3. Arrested Development
4. Seinfeld
5. The Office UK

I've rated it on enjoyment for me, the fact I have re-watched them several times.

The Wire would maybe hit my top 10 and Breaking Bad may just miss it. I would have The Shield, Deadwood, Mad Men, X-Files there abouts.

So many epic shows. BB only started getting interesting for me several seasons in and The Wire has what I thought to be a very lame season.

From 2 onwards you could throw a blanket over. So many.

 

[flight23]

fair enough, you seem to prefer the half hour comedies and like you said its based on what you enjoy

cheers

 

[pantskyle]

fair enough, you seem to prefer the half hour comedies and like you said its based on what you enjoy

cheers

I enjoy all types but yes my favs would be those that gave me the most enjoyment.

I just finished watching AD for the 5ish time. It still makes me laugh and amazed at how clever it is.

 

[Roobs321]

The Sopranos is really good, but it really has no place beside the likes of Breaking Bad and especially The Wire. I understand the love, but I don't understand the 'best ever' arguments.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

There is a great lack of The Shield, which for me personally is of equal with Breaking bad as one of the greatest TV shows in history. Time will tell with Game of thrones.

 

[pantskyle]

There is a great lack of The Shield, which for me personally is of equal with Breaking bad as one of the greatest TV shows in history. Time will tell with Game of thrones.

It's better then BB.

 

[Showbags]

I think there should be another category 'rewatchability' if that's even a word
I would rank the Sopranos very high on that scale due to the hilarity and brilliance of some of the scenes there.
Also the narrative style can focus in or in it's favour imo can be very swift in its scene progression so its more watchable i believe from that perspective. It'd be like you wouldn't need to fast forward because it timeshifts so effectively so I think that makes multiple watches better than the other shows for me anyway.

+1

You can watch The Sopranos over and over again and still pick up on stuff that you might have missed the first few times.

For example ***SPOILERS*** when Phil Leotardo whacks Gay Vito he comes out of the closet to do it (it was subtly suggested throughout the show that Phil was gay himself, from his time in the can and he had an affair with Vito, which was why he was so adamant in trying to bump off Vito to cover it up).

Stuff like that and all the little subtleties and nuances of the characters and the history of all the families make it a great show for me. Basically every character they brought in was great value. Richie Aprile is still my favourite character on the show, so cold and sociopathic. Ralphie Cifaretto was fantastic and funny as all hell. Tony Blundetto was entertaining. Uncle Junior is one of the funniest characters in any show ever imo (The Sopranos actually is the funniest show of the 3 by a mile imo in a dark humour kind of way).

 

[grizzlym]

They're all great shows. And all different.

The Wire for me stands out. It's so angry and political in parts. And passionate.

For me it tops the class.

 

[charcoalchicken]

1. The Sopranos
2. The Wire
3. Breaking Bad

 

[Suspense]

oz was entertaining as hell, but it could get a bit silly.

tribey wrote a great post a while back summing up where oz lost the plot in s4&5:

Spoiler

Oz - forget Adibisi dying, how about each and every episode of Season 4 and 5:

• The rapid ageing pill. Why would a company even consider this let alone commit the millions to R&D?
• The guard who earns a tryout with the Kings based on a bit of playground 2-on-2 with Vahue (Rick Fox)
• Busmalis, an old man, somehow managing to dig his way out of a prison presumably built on foundations, etc.
• Dr Nathan falling in love with O'Reily, despite him, you know, murdering her husband.
• Clayton being able to smuggle weapons into the prison again and again despite being busted for it previously (the stun gun, then the pistol he gives Adibisi, then the gun he attempts to assassinate Governor Devlin with).
• Supreme Allah blowing up like a puffer fish and dying within minutes of eating a bit of egg.
• Cloutier, with head-to-toe third degree burns, disappearing from the infirmary.
• McManus turning up on that quiz show out of nowhere.
• Alvarez earning a parole hearing and having the full support of McManus and Sister Pete despite murdering 8000 blokes while in prison and cutting out the eyes of a guard.

A brilliant show that just went completely bonkers.

oh and the wire > breaking bad > sopranos for me but all great shows.

 

[Upgrayedd]

1.the oz 2.the wire. 3. big brother 4.supranos 5.breaking bad

 

[placebo]

The Sopranos is really good, but it really has no place beside the likes of Breaking Bad and especially The Wire. I understand the love, but I don't understand the 'best ever' arguments.

Has no place besides the likes of Breaking Bad? Really, Roobs?

Opinions and all that, sure, but considering Breaking Bad wouldn't exist without The Sopranos, and adding on the fact that it's also a great show, makes a statement like 'it has no place beside the likes of Breaking Bad' seem really silly.

Then again, I think The Sopranos is the greatest show of all time and a better, deeper, more skillful show than Breaking Bad (which is also a very fine show, nonetheless).

 

[NiceCunnington]

I liked The Wire more than The Sopranos. Both are significantly better than Breaking Bad.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

 

[Northworth]

• Who was the best leading man: Tony Soprano or Walter White or Jimmy McNulty?
• What show had the best supporting cast behind the leading man?
• What show had the most compelling storyline which made you want to tune in each an every week?
• What show had the best cinematography?
• What show was the most consistent in its quality throughout its run?
• What show was the most unique and groundbreaking?
• What show was the most realistic and gritty?
• What show had the best ending in your opinion?

Great questions and concept for a thread.. I love all of these shows

The Sopranos
Breaking Bad
The Wire.

• Who was the best leading man? Walter White Breaking Bad - Tony Soprano was also compelling but Walt's story arc was just about the best of all time. The Wire was more of an ensemble
• What show had the best supporting cast behind the leading man? The Wire. I think this show was strong across the board - there was some weak acting in breaking bad (Skylar) and the sopranos characters were all similar. Whereas the Wire had such a diverse group and all brilliantly executed - even when it was a smallish role.
• What show had the most compelling storyline which made you want to tune in each an every week? The Wire. I just think it was highly ambitious in what it set out to do and then achieved it
• What show had the best cinematography? Breaking Bad - just brilliant directing. Every opening scene was generally a real highlight
• What show was the most consistent in its quality throughout its run? hmm - I think Breaking Bad had more of a consistent run
• What show was the most unique and groundbreaking? In this case I actually think that The Sopranos was pretty ground breaking and ahead of the other two... to show the dark side of a modern family and all of the dysfunction was quite compelling - plus the gangster side of it... how quickly Tony could snap.. it was fairly unique.
• What show was the most realistic and gritty? The Wire. Desperately gritty
• What show had the best ending in your opinion? The Sopranos was a nice ending. I like how Tony crossed the line going after Phil in front of his family - and that triggered his end.... but we never saw it - just like Tony never saw it coming (as he predicted he would when he was in the boat with bobby). Just brilliant

 

[flight23]

• Who was the best leading man: Tony Soprano or Walter White or Jimmy McNulty?

kind of a loaded question against The Wire, Mcnulty was stuck on the damn boats for aaaages as a straight up watchable leading man, Tony nails it, but if you look at the transformation of Walt from start to end its startling

• What show had the best supporting cast behind the leading man?

The Wire nails this one based on the way the show was formatted with guys like Avon and Stringer and a few others leading the show for stretches

• What show had the most compelling storyline which made you want to tune in each an every week?

Breaking Bad went absolutely bonkers for a while there with massive cliff hangers peppered all through the series whereas The Sopranos just consistently built and The Wire sort of fooled you into thinking not much was going on until you looked back

• What show had the best cinematography?

Breaking Bad seemed to make a point of it, the unique desert setting at times and then the crystal blue persuasion montage was just beautiful

• What show was the most consistent in its quality throughout its run?

The Wire for me, each season is an amazing stand alone piece of work

• What show was the most unique and groundbreaking?

think they were equal here all for completely different reasons, The Sopranos breathing life and putting a new spin on something that had been done to death, Breaking Bad for showing us something we up until that point didn't even know existed and The Wire for showing us something that on the surface didn't really seem that interesting

• What show was the most realistic and gritty?

The Wire easily

• What show had the best ending in your opinion?

personally thought Breaking Bad for just wrapping so much of it up, closely followed by Tonys final scene



interesting questions to answer, thanks for putting em up

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Loved all three shows and rate BB and the Wire above Sopranos.

Whilst I've followed BB from the start and enjoyed every minute, for sheer quality in writing and performances I rate The Wire above all. It's epic, i've said it here before, but it's like a great american novel, with deep social commentary. It's covers crime, corruption, wharves, drugs, education, politics etc etc. Just brilliant.

 

[CF]

Never watched The Sopranos I have to admit. I might get around to it one day. I'd rate The Wire slightly ahead of Breaking Bad too. Both are quality drama that's for sure.

 

[Northworth]

Loved all three shows and rate BB and the Wire above Sopranos.

Whilst I've followed BB from the start and enjoyed every minute, for sheer quality in writing and performances I rate The Wire above all. It's epic, i've said it here before, but it's like a great american novel, with deep social commentary. It's covers crime, corruption, wharves, drugs, education, politics etc etc. Just brilliant.

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