Deftones

by the numbers? are you serious? wow. just wow.

Mike86

Personally I like the show but I really don't think its as great as a lot of people say it is. HBO has produced better series in my opinion (Six Feet Under, The Sopranos) and personally I found The Shield to be a better show all around for a show that's sorta similar in tone. I'd say finish the first season and see how you feel about it because the show basically calls back to itself throughout the entire series and if you don't like the first chances are you won't like the rest. A lot of people are likely going to disagree with me but really I just don't see why its so great either.

7Keys

Like I said I've only seen the first seven or eight shows, but yes I'm serious.

And don't call me Shirley.


The Shield was a show that I was interested in from the start, although I never got to finish the first season. It's next on my list after the Wire to watch.

siddd5

The Wire is not your typical show. It takes it's time, but after a while, it lingers, and you appreciate its sublety and it's nuances.

DeanoBKN

Give it to at least the end of first season. You will appreciate it more as the show continues, trust me.

It's was one of the greatest TV shows in history, and i'm sure you'll find a lot of people on this forum that would agree with me.

cdollaz

I watched the entire first season and it never did much for me. Like you said, it's not bad, just really slow and kinda boring.

bootsy

You got that right. You are way off.

superfro

You're definitely doing them in the right order. I loved both, and there's a lot of similarities in both, but if you compared them The Shield is like The Wire's crackhead cousin.

And The Wire is definitely slow at times, but the show has amazing characters and growth. IMO it does require patience.

Charlie Goose

I disagree. I thought the show was excellent from the first episode, it doesn't require patience to "get going". If it hasn't grabbed you by the 8th episode, then you probably won't enjoy the rest of the run.

wirefan

This.

There are a ton of characters and rather than just jump in (like the Shield) this show takes the build momentum route. Part of it may be that the investigation really takes a while to get going in terms of them making progress (which is intentional), but that definitely picks up as the season goes on.

I would give it to the at least the end of Season 1, if at that point you still think it's paint by numbers, then maybe it's just not for you.

Oh and on a really random, yet somewhat related note - if you plan to continue watching and for some reason also watch Top Chef All-Stars on Bravo... steer way clear of Anthony Bourdain's blog about the show... he draw parallels to one of the Top Chef episodes and The Wire but completely gives away some massive plot points about things that happen in later seasons on The Wire.

Neil M.

Agreed. I couldn't stop watching this show once I saw the first 2 episodes. My guess is the op won't like the rest of the show.

Mike86

Okay its called having an opinion. I have mine and you have yours.. I guess I'm another that just found it to be a bit slow for my tastes. I like when there's an arc that ties everything together but at times in this show I just wanted it to get going already. I didn't necessarily say it was a bad show either I just said I don't think its as great as a lot of people say it is, but it is a good show and better than most crap on television. It just isn't my first choice of show to watch. The show for me is kind of like Mad Men. I can appreciate that its a very good show but at times the slowness of it all kills it for me and I really need to be in the right mood to watch it.

CKMorpheus

Watching The Wire is like reading a great American novel. Slow burning and wholly satisfying.

Original Desmond

After watching all seven series of the Shield in like a month, i started the Wire. Haven't got through the first episode yet, I know i need to give it another go

Meglos

I bought season one, and finished it in about a week. When I was done I was, "Well, it was good, but I don't see what all the hooplah's about."

I then bought season two. Within the first four episodes, I was hooked for life. Before I had even finished that particular boxset, I had gone out and bought seasons three and four.

Your mileage. It may vary.

Navinabob

The Wire is the closest you'll ever get to a shop about police, crime and how the two blend with the world around it. The show tackles unions, education, drugs, politics and education and blends those complex elements seamlessly into its police vs. crime theme.

You can't compare it to The Shield because it is rooted much deeper into actual police work. The Shield will have multiple gun fights an episode where as The Wire won't ever have one. It's like comparing the West Wing to 24... two totally different animals.

superfro

I disagree. If anything they're the only two series I can think of that had the most sensible and drastic character developments/changes/evolutions over their series. But again, The Shield is usually on crack in comparison to how The Wire plays out.

david12

Not to bring you down superfro...but The Shield and "Most sensible....character developments," Seriously? I love the Shield and watched every episode, but to think that anything about that show was realistic is giving it too much credit. You said it yourself when you spoke of the fact that the Shield was on crack.

The Wire on the other hand is perfection. Yes, it does take time to get going but it is an eye opening experience about true police work, buracracy, inner city life, drugs...etc. For those of us who connected with it, it just cannot be undone as the best television we've ever seen.

PacMan2006

"The Shield" actually didn't have very many "gun fights" at all. Guns were drawn, perps arrested and interrogated, but fire fights weren't happening every other episode.

I'm on season two of "The Wire," and while I can really appreciate how the show connects police, local government, and the world of crime together, I can't get past my lack of immersion with the characters.

To that end, I see this show in the same vein as "Law & Order." if you really enjoy the process of intricately solving a crime (rather than the characters solving it), "The Wire" is for you. And if you like a show that features a handful of characters who you feel deeply connected to and invested in, you'll likely be unsatisfied.

superfro

Not to make this a Shield thread all of a sudden...but "on crack" as far as the pacing and hyperbole of storytelling, but as far as characters go, yeah..I definitely feel things made sense. People changed on that show, both personally and professionally, and those changes made sense as a natural progression based on the story of the show IMO. If you look at where people are when The Shield starts and where they are when it ends it's a much different landscape, but you can trace back how people got where they are. I feel that same way about The Wire. I don't about any other shows I can think of at the moment.

Navinabob

The characters were great on the Shield... but the show resembles true police work as much as Nip/Tuck represents plastic surgeons. The Wire had characters that functioned in a world with real physics, politics and consequences. The Shield was pushed, blended and muddied stuff so it was entertaining... but not real.

If the Mackey lived in the same universe that the Wire did, after the 2nd episode you'd see him just filling out paperwork for the next four episodes at his desk before getting suspended, going home, doing yard-work, getting drunk, and then hanging himself.

story

I really tried getting into this when it would air after episodes of Six Feet Under or Oz and I just couldn't get into it. I'll never blind-buy it so maybe I'll have to put it in a Netflix cue someday. But to the original poster's question, it probably sucks you in as you continue but I tried about as long as you did and it just didn't work for me.

Sessa17

Could you please explain this. How even in the first 7-8 episodes is the show "by the numbers". That would imply that it is exactly like a number of other shows, so please post what shows are exactly like the Wire. I can understand the show being to complex for people, to boring to people because it is so drastically different from everything that has ever been done in the genre, but "by the numbers" is something I have never seen, or can even fathom calling this series. Even in the first season.

Navinabob

Homicide is the only show that comes close (which makes sense considering the writers/actors/producers have a strong cross-over).

chino77

you sound like me. i watched half of the first episode of the wire 4 yrs ago and turned it off. it was so damn boring. a few months ago i watched the entire series of the shield in 3 weeks...i couldnt stop watching. someday i will give the wire another shot but it wont be for a long time.