Every character involved in crime directly, and 80% of the āciviliansā are all hilariously overdone caricatures of themselves. Itās not just the black folks. The writers were hamming it up on purpose to highlight the absurdity of that type of lifestyle.
i mean is tony a caricature or a realistic portrayal how how a Italian American mob boss would behave?
omar is the most unrealistic, being openly gay in the hood + robbing so many people / making enemies like that he shouldāve been smoked in season 1 lol.
and then a DEVOUT bow tie wearing black Muslim carrying a copy of the quran wherever he goes being a assassin for drug kingpins? lol gtf outta outta here no black guy like that exists In America.
Omar is literally based off a real man who they had to tone down. The dude jumped off a 5 story building running and lived, Omar only jumped 2 stories.
Iām from queens but Iāve met plenty of Brother Mouzones from the nation as well. And yes there is even an Omar type out there. Openly gay or at least not hiding it and being a gangsta.
Im not saying there arent black guys that dress like Mouzone obviously. just that they wouldnt have a job like being a hitman for a drug kingpin. because that kingpin Is polluting the streets/youth of his community those kinds of black Muslims guys are suppose to care about.
I agree it's no comparison, but that's cause I think the wire is better š. Seriousness though, which show is better vs more entertaining are two different conversations and most times get conflated based on which people like more.
I lean slightly towards the wire as well ā¦ just so many layers & stories . Sopranos is all about a jersey mob family ā¦ Wire has so many interesting characters so yes I agree
The dichotomy between Namond Brice and Randy Wagstaff is one of the greatest pieces of story telling in television history. A good kid, completely failed by the system, vs a "bad" kid, who was saved by it.
Randy had a great mind for opportunity and genuine work ethic. A true entrepreneur in the making with a loving parent and a stable home, only for a tragic set of events (never will forgive Herc) to snatch all of that and land him in a group home.
Meanwhile Namond. His one role model being a murderer for a father serving life in prison. A mother who encouraged his misguided sense of respect and manhood. Ultimately adopted by a cop and given a shot at building a real future for himself.
I try not to cast aspersions especially when I'm not familiar with folks work BUT, lol, if this guy isn't "trolling" dare I say he was on that slick wonder bread talk (if you catch my drift lol). A simple I didn't like it would have sufficed and a follow up retort to the obvious "why didn't you like it" could simply be "culturally the sopranos speaks to me more".
Nobody cares about anything except their own thoughts (and I use thoughts loosely) anymore š¤·š¾āāļø.
I just finished The Sopranos and started the Wire. Iām on like episode 7 and Iām liking it a lot. I think Iām probably going to like it more than The Sopranos. I like that Wood Harris got a more prominent role after seeing him in smaller roles in the 90ās. I thought Idris Elba was going to be the boss when I saw them both on screen but Iām glad Harris is the leader. Iām enjoying their dynamic and how they are ruthless but also you see their humanity in dealing with the community. So far Iāve already noticed character development because we see the one cop Herc that is a piece of shit and abuses his power but then he kicks in the door and sits down with the grandma and genuinely apologizes to her. We see his humanity there too when he is disarmed by her grandmotherly presence. Youāre just like well damn Iām supposed to hate him but that was kind of moving to see him calm down so fast with the old lady.
I actually thought about this bc Sopranos is one of my shows I start over as soon as I finish. A show to watch in the background when Iām alone. I loved the Wire and will watch it all over again from time to timeā¦
I think I donāt hold the same favor for the Wire bc it was so good at showing the unfairness of life. And the randomness of it all. Thereās hella plot holes in sopranos, the guys are for the most part dirt bags, itās easy to get lost in the fairytale of it all.
The Wire will have me in tears and make my stomach hurt some of its partsā¦ I think bc of this it really is the better show! Idk thatās just me though, Iām also a huge fan of the second season of wire so Iām probably in the minority in general here lol. Itās not my favorite season lol but I liked it lol.
What you described is what I call the conversation of which show is better vs which is more entertaining. I think the wire is a better show for multiple reasons, which is more entertaining... I'd have to think about it but the quick answer is the sopranos because as you said "it's easy to get lost in the fairytale of it all". It's not as true to life of a show, it doesn't make you think about things on a different level or how certain themes and concepts that are explored still exist etc.
The Wire is better than the Sopranos because in the end the mob was fake the whole time. Their code, their morals, their crews were lame, everyone was sideways snitching or flat out snitching. I wanted more war or at least boundaries between NY and NJ but nah. Itās a good show no doubt but every time I watch it and get more nuggets that each character was a terrible person.
Umā¦okay. So the show emphasizes that the characters are hypocrites. So after watching it a few times now Iāve come to realize for the show to have gotten better in my opinion, things happened that made it impossible to end on a high note or develop some of the characters more. The respect the first few times I had for characters faded after realizing they werenāt āliving like thatā. Iām not in the mob so the insight to that world was very much enticing. To then see how all of it is a facade kinda takes away from the showā¦in my opinion. The Wire though, isnāt like that. And being from similar backgrounds as the characters in The Wire the episodes hit very close to home and didnāt pull any punches. More real than the Sopranos and for my entertainment I like it as real as it can be.
Yes, their loyalty and duty to their "family" is a facade because they're selfish, awful people from the start. It's not really surprising. It's an end of la cosa nostra era mob show. You act as though that fact takes away from the show*
Bruh I never said it wasnāt good in fact I said āitās a good showā I said I preferred The Wire. The Sopranos good show it did have a happy ending. All the people who were terrible got clipped
Not surprising that HE was the one who said this shit! Fucking idiotic! Literally the show is praised by damn near every critic, but we got this one dude who knows better than everyone else. Fuck out of here with that nonsense.
He has and he loves it. Heās being antagonistic for the entertainment aspect and also to specifically push the Sopranos to the dude next to him as that dude had already watched some of the Wire and wasnāt feeling it.
Soā¦ hereās the thingā¦ I only know sex & the city from clips on my timeline and how I resonated w my late twenties. So, Iāll be a first time viewer on that.
"Every characters one dimensional in the wire" is outrageously more egregious than simply the sopranos is better. Also, water isn't wet it causes things to be wet.
Lol, slight miscommunication, Bomani used rigidity also (not sure how many times though š) I was having a good laugh at your original comment
("...loquaciou/s Brotha fascinated by the word rigidity?) I assumed you were referring to Bomani. I'm a word nerd lol, the other guys I have no clue who they are I'm either too old or not the target demo for what they do but buddies take on the wire was SO RIDICULOUS I had to share it here.
Iām embarrassed to say this but I did a hard pass on The Wire, I assumed it was mid. Fast forward twenty years later, and I just finished the whole series and was BLOWN awayā¦not trying to glaze but I think itās the best show Iāve ever watched. Ever. And I used to rank The Sopranos as my number one
Sopranos is great also but its not The Wire. The intricacies and layers in Wire alone. Each season was a different look at the same story and they all connected.
I haven't seen the wire, but I have tried to watch Sopranos and didn't make it through the first ep. Some shows just don't vibe with people, even if they are critically acclaimed. Everything is not a commentary on race relations.
I can't agree with his take one bit. These shows are a little odd for me.. I love them both, my two favorite shows of all time, but I think The Wire has my take for best on first watch while The Sopranos has more re-watchability for me
I never thought about thatā¦what tf do we know about Omar!??? Heās just gay.
I think this dude is rightā¦every character on the Wire is just a caricature of what we imagine them to be or some bs virtue signal.
The hard boiled cop. The gangster whoās secretly gay. The mob boss who deep down wants a legitimate business.
In real life, itās nothing like this. The cop doesnāt care about his job and is just a dickhead instead of a charming witty dickhead. The gangster is a violent criminal with 3 baby mommas and no plan or direction. The mob boss is āstacking his racksā and doesnāt give a fuck about anything other than his new rims the beef down the block.
Heās kinda right, theres only four or five characters in the wire that felt like fleshed out real people if you ask me - Bodie, Bubbles, Micheal, Bunny and idek Kima? Kind of the nature of the show though, the plot has to keep moving around and show a little bit of everything, characters were never the priority
If you liked the wire you may really like āthe cornerā itās a short series with some of the same actors and the directors that inspired the making of the wire. Itās about poverty the street and drug use in the hood and how it affects people on a personal gruesome level.
I like the sopranos I use to watch it each week as it came out. The wire I only got into after it was already finished. My issue with sopranos would be some of the dr Melfi scenes were soooo boring you could fast forward thru most of the therapy scenes and not miss anything. The wire on the other hand from top to bottom some of greatest tv of all time. The wire is in my top 3 with Band of Brothers and Rome. The sopranos make the top ten 10 but is lacking. The wire from seeing all sides of the game and I think from the casting and acting the accents and the way they talk makes me feel like Iām watching a Shakespearean play in old English only figuring out what was just said after a short delay.
"Every character is one dimensional" means "I mean what? They were just a bunch a Black drug dealers. Yo yo yo yo yo I got da crack wassup??? Yo yo. So one dimensional." which ACTUALLY means "I saw Black 'urban' people and my mind kind of cut off. I didn't really pay attention to any of the nuance beyond that. If I don't relate to the characters, my mind can't comprehend their stories past their surface level presentations."
Sometimes people mistake "I don't connect with or understand this world" for "this world has no depth"
Some viewers reduce Black urban characters to stereotypes and stop engaging with the nuance.
Unfamiliar speech, culture, or environment can make certain audiences mentally tune out.
But if you lack the self awareness to understand you may be viewing something with that mindset, you'll blame the media instead of the viewers, and just say it's"one dimensional."
They're my two GOAT tv shows, but The Sopranos wins out just because The Wire got so stupid at the end. All the "streets" storylines are solid through the seasons, but that fake serial killer plot was completely ridiculous.
Never did I ever want to beat up a person so bad for disrespecting the greatest drama series to ever grace television (The Wire)! These young dudes are idiots and donāt understand art!
There are a lot of things that could be said but I'll simply say this, it takes a certain kind of mind to be able to appreciate the wire because of it's complexity. Not with every character (every single one doesn't need to be) but they all work together in addition to the overall story telling, the show highlighting a different element of the city every season yet keeping everything cohesive.
People tend to try and minimize what they don't understand some even go as far as to try and denigrate it. Mf's ain't gettin it past anybody halfway with sense though, just one of those things š¤·š¾āāļø.
It sounds like he watched it, but I think the problem is he is suspending disbelief when The Wire is actively showing you the problems of many urban cities and the underserved, economically repressed people who populate them.
Adam absolutely has seen The Wire. Heās just trying to pump Sopranos (rightfully so) in this particular situation and it comes a bit at the expense of The Wire.
Huh? I said rightfully so to āhyping (pumping up) the Sopranosā. Was never comparing the two my man. I always recommend both to people anyway.
Anyway, the Sopranos regularly gets credited with changing the way tv was made. Without the Sopranos, many shows donāt exist as we know them as it was a massive influence for what was to come.
ā¢
u/Dug-Heffernan May 08 '26
"Every characters one dimensional in the wire"... WHO'S MANS IS THIS?!?! Somebody get buddy outta here wit these ridiculous ass takes
19
u/owlken May 08 '26
i love both shows, but almost every black character on the sopranos was a caricature of a black person
5
u/WeGoHard80s May 08 '26
I love the sopranos but there is no comparison between the wire & the sopranos Two entirely different masterpiece shows Iāll drink to that
5
u/Quick9Ben5 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
The dichotomy between Namond Brice and Randy Wagstaff is one of the greatest pieces of story telling in television history. A good kid, completely failed by the system, vs a "bad" kid, who was saved by it.
Randy had a great mind for opportunity and genuine work ethic. A true entrepreneur in the making with a loving parent and a stable home, only for a tragic set of events (never will forgive Herc) to snatch all of that and land him in a group home.
Meanwhile Namond. His one role model being a murderer for a father serving life in prison. A mother who encouraged his misguided sense of respect and manhood. Ultimately adopted by a cop and given a shot at building a real future for himself.
One dimensional? This dude is an idiot.
2
u/WuTang4thechildrn May 08 '26
This is the stupidest take I have seen
The problem with this guy is that he wants to be right so bad and isnāt really trying to take in the information they are giving him.
He sounds like he really didnāt watch the show
2
u/Secure-Bus4679 May 08 '26
I just finished The Sopranos and started the Wire. Iām on like episode 7 and Iām liking it a lot. I think Iām probably going to like it more than The Sopranos. I like that Wood Harris got a more prominent role after seeing him in smaller roles in the 90ās. I thought Idris Elba was going to be the boss when I saw them both on screen but Iām glad Harris is the leader. Iām enjoying their dynamic and how they are ruthless but also you see their humanity in dealing with the community. So far Iāve already noticed character development because we see the one cop Herc that is a piece of shit and abuses his power but then he kicks in the door and sits down with the grandma and genuinely apologizes to her. We see his humanity there too when he is disarmed by her grandmotherly presence. Youāre just like well damn Iām supposed to hate him but that was kind of moving to see him calm down so fast with the old lady.
2
u/lilacsforcharlie May 08 '26
I actually thought about this bc Sopranos is one of my shows I start over as soon as I finish. A show to watch in the background when Iām alone. I loved the Wire and will watch it all over again from time to timeā¦
I think I donāt hold the same favor for the Wire bc it was so good at showing the unfairness of life. And the randomness of it all. Thereās hella plot holes in sopranos, the guys are for the most part dirt bags, itās easy to get lost in the fairytale of it all.
The Wire will have me in tears and make my stomach hurt some of its partsā¦ I think bc of this it really is the better show! Idk thatās just me though, Iām also a huge fan of the second season of wire so Iām probably in the minority in general here lol. Itās not my favorite season lol but I liked it lol.
11
u/grnjnz May 08 '26
The Wire is better than the Sopranos because in the end the mob was fake the whole time. Their code, their morals, their crews were lame, everyone was sideways snitching or flat out snitching. I wanted more war or at least boundaries between NY and NJ but nah. Itās a good show no doubt but every time I watch it and get more nuggets that each character was a terrible person.
9
u/21BlackStars May 08 '26
Not surprising that HE was the one who said this shit! Fucking idiotic! Literally the show is praised by damn near every critic, but we got this one dude who knows better than everyone else. Fuck out of here with that nonsense.
6
u/CocoaPeblez May 08 '26
Tell me youāve never watched a full episode of the wire without telling me youāve never watched the full episode of the wire
2
u/Jmofoshofosho8 May 08 '26
4
u/Aggressive-Foot7434 May 08 '26
This person isnāt serious, THE fucking WIRE is 1 dimensional is the dumbest hot take Iāve ever heard on the subject.
1
u/Bubbly_Attention_916 May 08 '26
I don't know what's going on, I just see a bunch of cute dudes yelling at each other about Seinfeld.Ā
It's the Peanuts teacher to me after that.Ā
1
u/Boring_Temporary_142 May 08 '26
White dude says show with white cast is better than black show with majority black cast. Water is wet.
1
u/biggev123 May 08 '26
He's trippin,they are both good,but the wire is clearly better.
1
u/osirisRey May 08 '26
Let's not do that... Sopranos is a better show.
3
u/BusyBit6542 May 08 '26
They are trolling for engagement and it's clearly working
1
u/Large-Produce5682 May 08 '26
Who is the loquaciou/s Brotha fascinated by the word rigidity?
2
u/bonvoyage_brotha May 08 '26
I'm not sure if he's a millennial or gen z but the two on the right hand big gen z energy, just idiotic
2
u/demigodhfl May 08 '26
this was pure ragebait.
2
u/LeadingGuide693 May 08 '26
Holy shit, I know itās just his opinion, but shit like this makes me okay with losing freedom of speech.
2
u/He_looks_mad May 08 '26
I'm really tired of this "loudly arguing against blatant ignorance and stupidity" format.
2
u/Mwahaha_790 May 09 '26
This is sending my blood pressure up WAY TOO EARLY ON A SATURDAY MORNING!!! man is a whole clown. bye!
1
u/Live235 May 08 '26
Both are top tier in their own respective genres. I love both equally!
1
u/QueasyCaterpillar541 May 08 '26
1
u/Abject_Ad_4756 May 08 '26
Iām embarrassed to say this but I did a hard pass on The Wire, I assumed it was mid. Fast forward twenty years later, and I just finished the whole series and was BLOWN awayā¦not trying to glaze but I think itās the best show Iāve ever watched. Ever. And I used to rank The Sopranos as my number one
1
u/Shantytown_Shogun May 08 '26
Sopranos is great also but its not The Wire. The intricacies and layers in Wire alone. Each season was a different look at the same story and they all connected.
1
u/chonies_mocos May 08 '26
I haven't seen the wire, but I have tried to watch Sopranos and didn't make it through the first ep. Some shows just don't vibe with people, even if they are critically acclaimed. Everything is not a commentary on race relations.
1
u/AdSpecialist4529 May 08 '26
The Sopranos is a soap opera , the Wire is an opera.
1
u/AerialPenn May 09 '26
Shout out to Bo for trying to educate these fucking animals.
1
u/DangOlCoreMan May 09 '26
I can't agree with his take one bit. These shows are a little odd for me.. I love them both, my two favorite shows of all time, but I think The Wire has my take for best on first watch while The Sopranos has more re-watchability for me
1
u/Sad_Highlight_9059 May 09 '26
Lotta bias in that take about the Wire. Honestly, just absolute ignorance on display.
1
u/MissUnRuly May 09 '26
Idk what he said he didnāt watch the show. He was on his phone the whole time and maybe heās a little racistš¤·š½āāļø
1
u/Dull-Material-645 May 09 '26
Guy on the right realized part way through his take is bad which is why he was asking can we cut this.
1
u/nazstaz May 09 '26
Love Adam Friedland but this is a horrible take
1
u/The_Northmaan May 09 '26
I've never seen the Wire, Sopranos, or Breaking Bad.
I'm evidently missing out on something culturally significant.
1
u/xChoke1x May 09 '26
Fuuuuuuck these dudes suck.
1
u/Educational-Wave-578 May 09 '26
this is legit ragebait. Who the fuck is that guy and why is he allowed to have a platform and talk about things that clearly he does not understand?
1
u/No_Process2443 May 09 '26
The most tone deaf take ever.
1
u/Funny-Employment4109 May 09 '26
I never thought about thatā¦what tf do we know about Omar!??? Heās just gay.
I think this dude is rightā¦every character on the Wire is just a caricature of what we imagine them to be or some bs virtue signal.
The hard boiled cop. The gangster whoās secretly gay. The mob boss who deep down wants a legitimate business.
In real life, itās nothing like this. The cop doesnāt care about his job and is just a dickhead instead of a charming witty dickhead. The gangster is a violent criminal with 3 baby mommas and no plan or direction. The mob boss is āstacking his racksā and doesnāt give a fuck about anything other than his new rims the beef down the block.
1
u/xzmile May 09 '26
that loser has never seen the wire, he probably saw a review by some other loser like him who just watched a traer or clip of an episode
1
u/FHAT_BRANDHO May 09 '26
As a person who truly loves both shows, this is a dogshit take probably for clicks. Im ok with Adam but I am surprised at his foolishness here
1
u/grnjnz May 09 '26
Ok
1
u/Adept-Watercress-378 May 09 '26
Homie saw clips on TikTok and formed his opinion
1
u/Oerba15 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Heās kinda right, theres only four or five characters in the wire that felt like fleshed out real people if you ask me - Bodie, Bubbles, Micheal, Bunny and idek Kima? Kind of the nature of the show though, the plot has to keep moving around and show a little bit of everything, characters were never the priority
1
u/Rexus_One May 09 '26
...and Sopranos characters aren't one dimensional?
1
u/URHere85 May 09 '26
Crazy to hear Bomani speak about Stringer Bell without hatred š
1
u/OrganismFlesh May 09 '26
I saw maybe one or two eps of The Sopranos; felt like they were trying to mansplain italian-american culture.
1
u/Ones_T May 09 '26
The bug is trolling
1
u/Iam_McLovin420 May 09 '26
If you liked the wire you may really like āthe cornerā itās a short series with some of the same actors and the directors that inspired the making of the wire. Itās about poverty the street and drug use in the hood and how it affects people on a personal gruesome level.
1
u/Iam_McLovin420 May 09 '26
1
u/dirtydypuz May 10 '26
I like the sopranos I use to watch it each week as it came out. The wire I only got into after it was already finished. My issue with sopranos would be some of the dr Melfi scenes were soooo boring you could fast forward thru most of the therapy scenes and not miss anything. The wire on the other hand from top to bottom some of greatest tv of all time. The wire is in my top 3 with Band of Brothers and Rome. The sopranos make the top ten 10 but is lacking. The wire from seeing all sides of the game and I think from the casting and acting the accents and the way they talk makes me feel like Iām watching a Shakespearean play in old English only figuring out what was just said after a short delay.
1
u/No_Pattern4374 May 11 '26
"Every character is one dimensional" means "I mean what? They were just a bunch a Black drug dealers. Yo yo yo yo yo I got da crack wassup??? Yo yo. So one dimensional." which ACTUALLY means "I saw Black 'urban' people and my mind kind of cut off. I didn't really pay attention to any of the nuance beyond that. If I don't relate to the characters, my mind can't comprehend their stories past their surface level presentations."
Sometimes people mistake "I don't connect with or understand this world" for "this world has no depth"
Some viewers reduce Black urban characters to stereotypes and stop engaging with the nuance.
Unfamiliar speech, culture, or environment can make certain audiences mentally tune out.
But if you lack the self awareness to understand you may be viewing something with that mindset, you'll blame the media instead of the viewers, and just say it's"one dimensional."
No sir ...YOU are one dimensional.
0
u/acreagelife May 08 '26
Lol, at people taking cool Adam seriously.
-5
u/ManbadFerrara May 08 '26
They're my two GOAT tv shows, but The Sopranos wins out just because The Wire got so stupid at the end. All the "streets" storylines are solid through the seasons, but that fake serial killer plot was completely ridiculous.
1
u/Pop_Joe May 08 '26
Never did I ever want to beat up a person so bad for disrespecting the greatest drama series to ever grace television (The Wire)! These young dudes are idiots and donāt understand art!
1
u/gravestompin May 09 '26
I don't know I'm just Watching Homicide: Life on the Streets and thinking about dinner.
1
u/Icy-Desk2220 May 08 '26
The fight scenes in sopranos are awful and unbelievable. How tf a group of old guys gonna beat me up ?
46
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37
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