Rank the original cable series: The Wire, Deadwood, Sopranos, etc.

[commasense]

To celebrate the start of the new series of The Wire tomorrow night, I thought I’d start a thread asking Dopers to rank the various original HBO and Showtime series. Here’s mine to start us off:

1. The Wire. Far out in front of the rest for me. I first tuned in because it is set in my hometown, Baltimore. But I stayed for the complex plotlines, the great acting, the gritty view of life in the inner city, and its honest depiction of the tragedy and futility of drug prohibition. And it’s filled with great characters, sometimes tragically flawed (e.g. Frank Sobotka), but almost all of them real and fascinating. I just love this show.

2. Deadwood. As complex, sophisticated, and well done as The Wire, but since I don’t live in S.D. in the 19th century, I’m giving the nod to my hometown candidate. The show is a joy to watch, and Al Swearengen is one of the greatest characters introduced in the last several years.

3. The Sopranos. The one that started it all. A great show, and I still enjoy it. But the two above have done everything it did and more. It’s still miles better than anything on broadcast TV, and it’s wrapping up before jumping the shark.

4. Six Feet Under. In the first few seasons I enjoyed its dark sense of humor, but lately it’s just become a soap opera. I now rarely watch an episode more than once (which I routinely do with all of the above three), sometimes because they’re just too unpleasant (like the one in which David was abducted), others because I’m just not interested. It’s become harder and harder to really like any of the characters. Most are whiny and annoying. A few people like that in a show add interest, but a whole cast of them just gets irritating.

5. Carnivale. Started out interesting, and it’s well acted, but it’s trying a little too hard and ends up being pretentious.

6. Entourage. It maybe a little too early to judge, but a show about essentially shallow and stupid people doesn’t seem to have too much potential. The only really interesting character is Eric, and he may not be enough to carry the show.

7. The L Word. As a heterosexual male, I naturally have nothing against a show that routinely features hot girl-on-girl sex. But, as someone with gay friends and family members, I’ve grown a little tired of the notion popular in Hollywood that the problems of homosexuals are much more poignant and interesting than those of straight folk. Also the fact that all of the lesbians on the show are supermodel beautiful makes it painfully obvious that at heart the show is really just lesploitation.

8. Dead Like Me. Potentially interesting concept, but after a few episodes it seemed repetitive and didn’t hold my interest. If there are any fans out there who can give me some reasons, I might be tempted to give it another try.

Off my scope: Curb Your Enthusiasm. I don’t like it for the same reason I didn’t like Seinfeld: repetitive, predictable plots, one-note jokes, mediocre acting. And I’ve never enjoyed comedies in which the humor was based on the humiliation of the protagonist. Larry David is a better actor than Jerry Seinfeld (everyone is a better actor than Jerry Seinfeld), but his character on CYE is far more annoying and whiny than Seinfeld.

Also off my radar is Oz. I just never got around to watching it. Should I have?

So what is your ranking? Keep in mind we’re only talking about original series on premium cable TV, not ordinary broadcast shows.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

1. The Sopranos,
   I don’t see how anything else could be put in front of this one. The writing and acting are as good as anything which has ever been on television. This is a show which by turns goes from intelligent, profound drama, to laugh out loud comedy, to deep pathos, to avant garde surrealism, all punctuated by bursts of unpredictable and brutal violence. Even the violence is played for a spectrum of effect. Sometimes it’s tragic, sometimes it’s gritty but vicariously satisfying, even exhilirating. Sometimes its funny as hell. Sometimes it’s almost unspeakable sad (as with the final death in the last season). The show is populated with indelible, three dimensional characters, even in perpheral or tangential roles. It uses visual symbolism and ambiguity. It has never been predictable. It is the sign of any great work of serial art if it always makes you want to know what happens next. IMO, Sopranos is the best dramatic series in television history.

2. Curb Your Enthusiasm.
   I just love it. Larry David has a way of finding those little points of social discomfort or embarassment and then then just pushing on them until you can barely stand to watch. I think the dialogue is consistently piss-your-pants funny and that it never sounds written or sitcom-y. CYE is the anti-sitcom. It kicks ass.

3. Deadwood.
   The breakout show of the year with vivid characters, great acting, real history, great writing and the most engaging tv villain in years. I can’t wait for this to come back.

4. Da Ali G Show.
   Sacha Cohen rocks.

5. Honorable mention because it isn’t on anymore, but I used to love the hell out of The Larry Sanders Show.

[DMark]

The Sopranos - let’s face it, it is like watching a great movie every week. You never know who is going to get whacked, and you actually care for the characters. Great writing, great acting. A classic.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - hated it the first time I saw it. Then watched again, and then again, and now I have seen every episode and “get it”. It grows on you. One of the few shows that make me laugh out loud.

Deadwood - again, I expected to hate it as I really never liked a western since I was 9 year old. But this was a dose of reality, and the story is totally based on the real lives of the characters portrayed in the show. Gritty, dirty and crude…and somehow spellbinding. The profanity (and I am no prude) is a bit much at first, but then you realize they were no saints back then and it really hits home. Just kinda weird to hear in a “western”.

The Wire - you really get to see the good and the bad, of the bad and the good. Any show that can make me like a murdering drug dealer and hope he lives another day is a show that is not your ordinary television program. It also has an interesting documentary feel to it. Looking forward to the new season starting tomorrow night.

Carnivale - sore of David-Lynch-ish, odd, mysterious…great sets, interesting characters and story lines. Not sure where this show is heading, but I am content to go along for the ride.

The Shield - wow. Some shows move so fast you think it is two hours long, and you never know what the hell is going to happen next.

Six Feet Under - yeah, it is a soap opera, but a damned good one.

Queer As Folk - the last season sucked (pun intended) but I will tune in next season to see if it gets any better.

Sex And The City - too bad it ended. I know, there are a lot of snobs here on the board who loathed that show, but I always found it funny.

Dead Like Me - never knew why I watched it, but still do, and this season seems to have finally picked up and found their thread. So far so good…but with MGM being sold to Sony, don’t know what will happen to this show.

Monk - quirky, funny, but some of the plots are lame. Plus they split the season in two, so you see 6 new shows and then, bam…it is over for another six months.

Bill Maher - OK, so I am rabidly anti-Bush, but I think this show is really funny and he says a lot of things I wish I had said first.

And though it is not cable per-se (UPN), Amish In The City is the first reality series that actually didn’t suck all that bad. Didn’t see every episode, but will tune in next week for the final episode.