Best show of all time: Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men or Breaking Bad?

[munchausen]



I started watching Breaking Bad yesterday. I watched four episodes. I think the writing is great, but the direction is less great.

Really? I think the first episode especially is brilliant, the way it starts with Walt in his underwear in the desert, holding a gun, and then goes back to show you how he got there. It's quite a hook.

 

[StephenHero]



Really? I think the first episode especially is brilliant, the way it starts with Walt in his underwear in the desert, holding a gun, and then goes back to show you how he got there. It's quite a hook.

It feels like the tone of the show is off. There are some genuinely sad storylines, but it seems like they're trying to balance them out with some doses of black comedy and I'm not sure it's the best way to do it. Like the instance when he's told he's got cancer and then tells the doctor there is mustard on his jacket....I just don't buy that sort of nonchalant fatalism.

 

[Joffrey]

lol what the **** are you talking about? The show is amazing

 

[Reynard369]

I wasn't able to get into The Wire (tried twice) or Breaking Bad, but will try again at some point just because they're so well thought of. Never tried the Sopranos.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Mad Men is wildly inconsistent and has been on a general, downward spiral since about midway through the second season. AFAIC, it shouldn't even be in this conversation.

Breaking Bad is excellent, but is it Greatest of All Time caliber? Maybe. But debatable. I'd put it at #2 on this list, though.

Sopranos had some extremely high peaks and extremely low troughs. By the end of the series, it had grown very long in the tooth and was sort of like a houseguest who'd overstayed his welcome. This show should've gone out on top, which was much earlier than when it did. That said, the last season was fantastic. And I fall on the "love" side of the ledger w/r/t the final episode, though I'm acutely aware that the "hate" column has grown over the years.

The Wire is ******* phenomenal. Probably the only show on this list that I'd seriously and unquestionably put in contention for G.O.A.T. status. Season 2 was a disappointing snoozefest, but aside from that, the other seasons were pure awesomeness.

This list should include some comedies, IMO, including Freaks & Geeks and Eastbound & Down. (The latter of which was barely watched in its run, which just wrapped up. I'm convinced that this is the most unheralded and underrated show in recent memory, and that history will look very favorably upon it -- not just as hilarious comedy, but as legitimate social commentary).

 

[HORNS]

Really? I think the first episode especially is brilliant, the way it starts with Walt in his underwear in the desert, holding a gun, and then goes back to show you how he got there. It's quite a hook.

It feels like the tone of the show is off. There are some genuinely sad storylines, but it seems like they're trying to balance them out with some doses of black comedy and I'm not sure it's the best way to do it. Like the instance when he's told he's got cancer and then tells the doctor there is mustard on his jacket....I just don't buy that sort of nonchalant fatalism.

That moment makes the show and characters all the more tangible to me. Walt is a self-loathing character at first and his consideration towards others above his own interests is what put his great intellect in such a mundane life in the first place - this will become apparent in later episodes when you see what he could have been. But the first episodes are funny because Walt is pathetic, but that all changes like a great character in a great series should.

As far as a show that has been referenced the most and has been used the most by individuals as a metaphor for daily experiences, it is The Simpsons.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

That moment makes the show and characters all the more tangible to me. Walt is a self-loathing character at first and his consideration towards others above his own interests is what put his great intellect in such a mundane life in the first place - this will become apparent in later episodes when you see what he could have been. But the first episodes are funny because Walt is pathetic, but that all changes like a great character in a great series should.
As far as a show that has been referenced the most and has been used the most by individuals as a metaphor for daily experiences, it is The Simpsons.

The Simpsons is in the running for Greatest of All Time by sheer weight of its longevity, its foundational impact on televised comedy (and pop culture in general), its vast and iconic cast of characters, and the unmatched excellence of its first (roughly) 10 seasons. That said, it's sort of like a late-career Muhammad Ali at this point. It's stuck around long enough to take too many punches, lose too many fights, and generally remind everyone that it's a sad shadow of its former glory.

I will always consider The Simpsons one of the best shows ever. And I'll forgive it the latter half of its lifespan. But it's quickly approaching a juncture at which there is almost as much chaff as there is wheat in its total catalogue. When people speak of the transcendent excellence of the show, they're actually speaking of less than 50% of the show's run. That's a sobering thought.

Ultimately, The Simpsons became a victim of its own outrageous success. It's easy to fault its creators and showrunners for not having "gone out on top" and exercised the restraint to retire the show in what they must have realized would be its creative prime. But ****, I can't say I'd have packed it in if I were them. The show is a billion-dollar franchise, and it makes its creators and writers and actors rich beyond belief. Everyone's too caught up in the spoils to pull out now. Sadly, I suspect that this will eventually force the show to run itself into the ground. It won't go dark until it's quite literally drained of all life, and no one's watching anymore.

 

[Neo_Version 7]

24.

 

[munchausen]



The Simpsons is in the running for Greatest of All Time by sheer weight of its longevity, its foundational impact on televised comedy (and pop culture in general), its vast and iconic cast of characters, and the unmatched excellence of its first (roughly) 10 seasons. That said, it's sort of like a late-career Muhammad Ali at this point. It's stuck around long enough to take too many punches, lose too many fights, and generally remind everyone that it's a sad shadow of its former glory.

I will always consider The Simpsons one of the best shows ever. And I'll forgive it the latter half of its lifespan. But it's quickly approaching a juncture at which there is almost as much chaff as there is wheat in its total catalogue. When people speak of the transcendent excellence of the show, they're actually speaking of less than 50% of the show's run. That's a sobering thought.

Ultimately, The Simpsons became a victim of its own outrageous success. It's easy to fault its creators and showrunners for not having "gone out on top" and exercised the restraint to retire the show in what they must have realized would be its creative prime. But ****, I can't say I'd have packed it in if I were them. The show is a billion-dollar franchise, and it makes its creators and writers and actors rich beyond belief. Everyone's too caught up in the spoils to pull out now. Sadly, I suspect that this will eventually force the show to run itself into the ground. It won't go dark until it's quite literally drained of all life, and no one's watching anymore.

Yeah at this point the Simpsons is a brand attached to an increasingly shoddy product, but I would put seasons 3-8 up against any tv show ever made.

Seinfeld and Cheers are both in consideration for me. Certainly like both of them more than Mad Men, which I like a great deal.

 

[munchausen]

Also: The UK Office, Arrested Development, Spaced, Brass Eye.

 

[in stitches]



I wasn't able to get into The Wire (tried twice) or Breaking Bad, but will try again at some point just because they're so well thought of. Never tried the Sopranos.

dude, you are missing out HARD core

The Wire is ******* phenomenal. Probably the only show on this list that I'd seriously and unquestionably put in contention for G.O.A.T. status. Season 2 was a disappointing snoozefest, but aside from that, the other seasons were pure awesomeness.

lol, rewatch it, it is my favorite season. your arguments are invalid.

 

[thebunk]

The Wire. Really no contest. The perfect blend of plot, characters and social commentary. Sopranos somewhere mid series decided to care less about plot and then decided to focus more on the characters. Unfortunately everyone was so unlike able, that by the end, I just did not care and just wanted it to be over.

 

[in stitches]

i dont get all the sopranos hate. i loved that show from episode one till the end.

 

[jpeirpont]



Yeah at this point the Simpsons is a brand attached to an increasingly shoddy product, but I would put seasons 3-8 up against any tv show ever made.
Seinfeld and Cheers are both in consideration for me. Certainly like both of them more than Mad Men, which I like a great deal.

I'm always surprised how frequently Seinfeld is left out of these discussions. I think its mass appeal turn people off. For my money Seinfeld was better than Curb. I think Geoge Constanza > Larry David as himself.

 

[Lord-Barrington]

Breaking Bad? Really? That show is entertaining but it's hardly high art.