Forum Topic

Sopranos or the Wire

Had a heated discussion on this in the pub last night. Nobody didn't love both series but there was strong disagreement as to which was the best.Sopranos for me but only just.

Ellen Kearney ● 5584d4 Comments

Brideshead or I, Claudius would be the all time top for me but I take the point that the current output from the States is far better than the UK's. The production of Wallander in English seems to be a good indication of how much British broadcasting has lost its way. It's a well made show but how much value over the original Swedish programme, also shown on the BBC. I enjoyed the latter more.Sopranos and the Wire both a league apart in the last decade.

Andy Jones ● 5580d

Never seen the Wire. Loved the Sopranos but thought the Shield was the best ever US TV show. As for UK would agree with Boys from the Blackstuff but would also go for Cracker.

Ellen Kearney ● 5582d

Guardian had a 'Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time' feature this week. Sopranos was top. Wire 14th. I know these lists are always going to be a bit contentious but 'Our Friends in the North' and 'Oranges are not the Only Fruit' better than the Wire, Band of Brothers and Boys from the Blackstuff (which I would have put at number one). Sadly this particularly list appears to be part boosterism for the author's mates in the business.

Ellen Kearney ● 5583d

Sopranos but only just.The sad thing is that it used to be the case 'back in the day' that this country did gritty realism and America was the home of preposterous escapist nonsense.There is an interesting article by Garry Bushell called 'Who Killed Eastenders' in which he posits that drama in the UK is mainly produced by middle class people with no real feel for working class life. The original team behind Eastenders who were born and bred in the area left after a dispute about the fate of Dirty Den. Since then according to Bushell it has been made by people who both fear and pity the working classes but have no real understanding of them. The series then developed into a humourless message based programme with no basis in reality.I have never watched Eastenders and I don't like Garry Bushell but there seems to be a great deal of sense in what he says in this article. It chimes well with my current experience of British TV which is often well made but has no feel for the lives of the larger proportion of the population who live outside the middle class media bubble of West London. There are honourable exceptions such as the Royle Family and Gavin & Stacey but even they are nowhere near as accomplished as the American TV series.

Paul Corcoran ● 5584d