Yeah, I guess that whole desert-y thing is what fascinates me about Breaking Bad. Caught my imagination a lot like No Country did. The whole frontier thing alive and well even in the 21st Century. The bleak and yes, gorgeous shots of the desert Southwest I prefer to those of the streets of Baltimore. We’ve seen that and used it up, too. Urban decay. I get it. Just seems like more possibility out West, especially with our history with Mexico and the current issues facing the border area. I, too, got the first season of the Wire on my Netflix and never had much of a desire to put the remaining seasons on it. Didn’t much like McNulty or Avon Barksdale, for that matter. Guess it builds, as TROUB noted, so I probably shoulda stuck it out. Also noted is the fact that I will probably be the victim of vicious flaming for saying McNulty and Barksdale aren’t interesting characters. So be it.
Yeah, Breaking Bad is great, but The Wire is just on a different level. And anybody who has no problem with BB’s pacing shouldn’t have any trouble getting into The Wire.
A lack of likable characters was exactly why I didn’t care for The Wire.
When David Simon’s work birthed the TV show Homicide, the police had affairs, played dirty politics, etc. but still most of them were fairly decent folk most of the time, of decent intelligence, and they had a deep camaraderie with their partners and the other homicide detectives. The criminals were by-and-large idiots, drunkards, and druggies.
In The Wire, they stripped out the camaraderie of the detectives but left in politics and messed up personal lives. Most of the crooks are still idiots, drunkards, or druggies, and though given a little bit more attention still aren’t likable. In total, outside of Stringer Bell, none of the characters had any redeeming characteristics (or were only a redeeming characteristic, and weren’t particularly rounded). The scenarios are also silly. We’ve got a crew probably the size of your average Homicide department all working full-time on surveillance, a whole season devoted to the writers’ vision of what would happen if drugs were legalized, and the world’s most boring bent union organizers.
Between The Wire and Homicide, if you want the real deal I’d fairly certain that Homicide is the much more faithful recounting of what life looks like in terms of crime fighting.
The best show ever made is probably either Kings, Sons of Anarchy, Twin Peaks, Cowboy Bebop, Niea Under 7, or Key the Metal Idol
I can easily say that Breaking Bad is the best show on TV right now. I can’t judge if it’s the best ever because it’s not yet finished. I can’t judge it against shows that have fully developed and finished their story lines. Breaking Bad isn’t finished saying what it has to say.
But so far it has been brilliant. Visually it’s stunning to watch. The desert backdrop is all very new and a refreshing change from the backdrops of other TV series.
The acting is amazing. The writing is amazing. I can’t ever guess where the story is going. I like that. The story is unpredictable, but at the same time it’s understandable and realistic in terms of what the characters would actually do. The writers are not scared to explore any consequence of the choices made by their characters that they feel is worth exploring. The side effects of the meth business are not swept under the rug. The characters have to seriously deal with every bad choice that they’ve made. No other TV show is like that.
The Sopranos and The Wire had bad people getting away with a lot of bad stuff. With Breaking Bad it’s as if a good person was placed into The Sopranos or the streets of The Wire.
Well, that’s how that particular effort at getting data for a poll worked out. Perhaps someone else (hint, hint) might select the “top x-number” of shows from that thread and build a for-real poll that would allow multiple choice voting and let it run for a few days or weeks and just get a better sense of the feelings of that portion of SDMB who play along with polls.
Or one might select another batch of “top ten” shows without reference to that thread at all. I seem to recall such a poll within the past month.
Sadly, as you may have noticed, Breaking Bad was among the also-ran group at 4 votes. Not an encouraging finish for the Best Ever show, as I see it.
You have my blessing to be the one (hint, hint) to do that new poll! 
I love Breaking Bad. I watched all of The Wire, and I liked it, but I’m not sure why everybody went so nuts about it.
I am a huge fan of The Wire and have all the seasons on DVD. I was watching *Breaking Bad * long before anyone I know but your thread is seriously flawed since it has no mentions of the actual best TV series of all time - the British original of Cracker starring Robby Coltrane.
So is that my fault or yours?
It’s certainly a great show. I just watched the first two seasons on dvd in the last couple months. I had some of season 3 on my dvr, but I had to delete it for space.
Anyone know of a season 3 marathon coming up anytime soon? I’d like to catch up.
I see your point. I’ll be back in a minute.
The thread is “seriously flawed” because it contains no mention of Cracker? You totally got me there. Touche, dude. Touche.
There was one not long ago! I can’t vouch for this site Download Breaking Bad Episodes but there are other online sources available.
Also see the official website for clues for the next marathon.
You’ve given me hope. After 4 or five episodes of the Wire we managed to always find something else to watch.
It joined my DVD pile of series that I started to watch but quit - Weeds, Rome, Madmen, The Wire
Maybe I’ll force myself to watch a few more episodes.
I didn’t like McNulty or Avon (I don’t think I was supposed to) but I very much liked Omar, Bodie, Bunk, Brother Mouzone, Wallace, Lester Freamon, Slim Charles, the boys from S4, the stripper, and the guy who started Hamsterdam (forgot his name).
You didn’t like any of those characters?
I didn’t particularly like McNulty either. There were a lot of characters I didn’t like. But every episode had something interesting going on, and with so many characters it was easy to find one story to like each week. And wait for the people you didn’t like to die 
I feel completely opposite about the desert than you do. I’m very Midwestern and have no desire to visit the desert and have no wanderlust for it. Honestly, the show makes me feel hot and thirsty. So, it’s possible that the setting turns me off so much that it takes the show down a few pegs for me. For someone who really likes the desert, well that would only enhance the show for them.
Thanks, I’ll just hop in my time machine and watch that one. 
I’m going to have to check out The Wire someday too.
I did like it when that bum put those hats on those gangstas so that McNutty would know who be the real G.
Bunny (Colvin?). Those are a lot of my favorite characters, too. And Stringer Bell and Bubbles.
Sounds about right to me. Pretty much all those results look about right to me, considering how early in its run Breaking Bad still is (was). If BB ran for 4 seasons and ended a couple years ago it’d probably have 8 or 9 votes, IMO.
I didn’t necessarily hate them, but I couldn’t say that I cared about them overly. Omar seemed to only exist for the sake of being awesome. Personally I couldn’t buy it. Bodie, similarly, seemed unrealistic, a misunderstood youth who’s secretly a caring and wise leader. I can’t say that I particularly remember the rest.
I have a case of looking at what a person does, not what they say, so where it says that Bunk is an alcoholic and infidelitous, unless he does something to even that out, I can’t say that I care to think he’s a nice guy no matter how friendly he seems. And being a good bud to McNulty – asshole of the year – certainly isn’t that counter.