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Old 02-13-2019, 04:53 PM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,511,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
Oh okay, I started watching it so far, but I think the realism works against the show, because, no one is allowed to do anything to crazy, cause they are limited by the reality of the world.
Just wait—
While it might not reach “Fast and Furious” levels it gets crazy...
And the realism is what (IMPO) makes it so great

That was what made “Breaking Bad” so good—
The realism and the irony of the juxtaposition of various elements
Like Walt and his brother in law having intertwined careers...
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Old 02-14-2019, 04:06 PM
 
21,108 posts, read 13,420,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
Oh okay, I started watching it so far, but I think the realism works against the show, because, no one is allowed to do anything to crazy, cause they are limited by the reality of the world.
Truth is stranger than fiction. I'm sure there is plenty of crazy!
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Old 02-15-2019, 02:40 AM
 
5,110 posts, read 3,038,798 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loves2read View Post
Just wait—
While it might not reach “Fast and Furious” levels it gets crazy...
And the realism is what (IMPO) makes it so great

That was what made “Breaking Bad” so good—
The realism and the irony of the juxtaposition of various elements
Like Walt and his brother in law having intertwined careers...
I'm not saying it has to be The Fast and the Furious, I just didn't think it should be so realistic, and maybe only semi-realistic, but still allow for a lot of boundary pushing, like 24, or something like that. But it doesn't even push as far as Breaking Bad so far, unless I just need to watch more of the show. I feel that so far, the show has cliches in that I have seen before.

Like the police captain chewing out the main cop, like we've seen so much before in other fiction, even when the cop didnt' even do anything that was that big of deal, yet they have to make the captain a drama Queen, which is a cliche that goes all the way back to Dirty Harry at least. Things like that, do not make it seem that original so far, but we'll see.

The problem with realism, is that the more realistic you go, the less dramatic and crazy the situation can be.
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Old 02-15-2019, 02:56 AM
 
Location: Various
9,049 posts, read 3,486,486 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
I'm not saying it has to be The Fast and the Furious, I just didn't think it should be so realistic, and maybe only semi-realistic, but still allow for a lot of boundary pushing, like 24, or something like that. But it doesn't even push as far as Breaking Bad so far, unless I just need to watch more of the show. I feel that so far, the show has cliches in that I have seen before.

Like the police captain chewing out the main cop, like we've seen so much before in other fiction, even when the cop didnt' even do anything that was that big of deal, yet they have to make the captain a drama Queen, which is a cliche that goes all the way back to Dirty Harry at least. Things like that, do not make it seem that original so far, but we'll see.

The problem with realism, is that the more realistic you go, the less dramatic and crazy the situation can be.
I'd suggest not wasting any more of your time on it. It's not for you.
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Old 02-15-2019, 03:03 AM
 
Location: Honolulu, HI
24,200 posts, read 9,128,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
It's one of those shows which is considered to be one of the best shows on TV, and my friend who loves it tells me to watch it as well. So I watched the pilot and found it be incredibly underwhelming surprisingly.

It's hardly even original for a police show, as it relies on these big cliches, such as the main cop sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, and his captain get's overly dramatic about it, and chews him out for after; like this kind of thing hasn't been exhausted so many times before.
This show was based of REAL EVENTS in all of Baltimore. What's so great about it? It shows you the CONNECTION from drug dealers on the streets, to local politicians, to the school system, to law enforcmeent, the baltimore port, and news media.

You need to watch the entire first season first, before judging.

The proof is in the pudding
Quote:
The Wire is lauded for its literary themes, its uncommonly accurate exploration of society and politics, and its realistic portrayal of urban life. It is now regarded by many critics as one of the greatest television shows of all time.
Quote:
The Wire introduces a different institution of the city and its relationship to law enforcement in each season, while retaining characters and advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in chronological order: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news medium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire


Only reason people never gave it a chance is because it was "too many black actors."
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Old 02-15-2019, 07:03 AM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,511,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
I'm not saying it has to be The Fast and the Furious, I just didn't think it should be so realistic, and maybe only semi-realistic, but still allow for a lot of boundary pushing, like 24, or something like that. But it doesn't even push as far as Breaking Bad so far, unless I just need to watch more of the show. I feel that so far, the show has cliches in that I have seen before.

Like the police captain chewing out the main cop, like we've seen so much before in other fiction, even when the cop didnt' even do anything that was that big of deal, yet they have to make the captain a drama Queen, which is a cliche that goes all the way back to Dirty Harry at least. Things like that, do not make it seem that original so far, but we'll see.

The problem with realism, is that the more realistic you go, the less dramatic and crazy the situation can be.
So you prefer a show like “24†above “The Wireâ€
If that is your standard, then you really shouldn’t bother watching the “The Wireâ€
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Old 02-15-2019, 07:32 AM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,511,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocko20 View Post
This show was based of REAL EVENTS in all of Baltimore. What's so great about it? It shows you the CONNECTION from drug dealers on the streets, to local politicians, to the school system, to law enforcmeent, the baltimore port, and news media.

You need to watch the entire first season first, before judging.

The proof is in the pudding


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire


Only reason people never gave it a chance is because it was "too many black actors."
Considering when it began that might be true for some possible viewers but I think that is too broad an indictment for its lack of main-stream success... I think you have to consider other factors

It was on HBO—not many people had HBO back then—it was a premium upgrade—lot of people were still using OTA television and avoiding cable and there was certainly no streaming platforms to be had...

It was a great drama masquerading as a “cop” show which meant it was more nuanced, more anti-normal tv cop shows, more character-driven vs plot driven—likely was more sophisticated than most people’s normal fare
“The Wire” was Shakespearean-level fare and most people were happy with Punch and Judy show quality
McNulty was no “hero” cop and most of the cops he dealt with were worse and that was definitely going against the grain of what people wanted to hear then...

“The Wire” was “Homicide-Life on the Street” w/more profanity and sex...
And while “Homicide” had a great reputation among critics it wasn’t everybody’s favorite show

Baltimore as a locale narrowed the window of recognition—-
Most shows were set in either small-town/rural America, LA, NYC, or Chicago—
Baltimore was an unusual choice and likely to be more of a turnoff than a grabber
There were no big name actors as I remember to draw anyone’s attentions—for viewers that is a real turnoff
And it certainly didn’t help to create groundswell interest in new series
McNulty was played by a fairly unknown Brit as was Stringer Bell—no name recognition for Idris Elba then
Two female leads were a fearless, smart black lesbian cop and a not very glamorous attorney—

“The Wire” did so much to CREATE the appeal/reputations of cable television and nascent streaming platforms for future quality series like “Breaking Bad”, “Game of Thrones”, “House of Cards”. “True Detective, “OITNB” and others because when “The Wire” began HBO was not a powerhouse of independent programming
“Oz” was the hour-drama that HBO created prior to “The Wire” and while it was good fare and a critical success, I never watched it—but there were certainly black actors in that cast

So a statement like “there are too many black actors” is just too simplistic
There were other shows with black casts—comedies—but still successful on mainstream tv in earlier years

Last edited by loves2read; 02-15-2019 at 07:52 AM..
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Old 02-15-2019, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Houston/Brenham
5,819 posts, read 7,177,451 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ironpony View Post
I'm not saying it has to be The Fast and the Furious, I just didn't think it should be so realistic, and maybe only semi-realistic, but still allow for a lot of boundary pushing, like 24, or something like that. But it doesn't even push as far as Breaking Bad so far, unless I just need to watch more of the show. I feel that so far, the show has cliches in that I have seen before.

Like the police captain chewing out the main cop, like we've seen so much before in other fiction, even when the cop didnt' even do anything that was that big of deal, yet they have to make the captain a drama Queen, which is a cliche that goes all the way back to Dirty Harry at least. Things like that, do not make it seem that original so far, but we'll see.

The problem with realism, is that the more realistic you go, the less dramatic and crazy the situation can be.
I disagree with almost everything in your post. The Wire was a realistic nitty-gritty look at Baltimore and drugs/police/politics/etc. I can't recall anything written that couldn't have happened in real life (and many did!). It is not a 24-type show. It is not a Breaking Bad type show. I loved both those shows (BB is a top five for me), but they are not The Wire. And The Wire is not them.

And if you think realism precludes the crazy, you haven't been watching life these last 5,000 years.

Seriously, if these are the types of issues bothering you about this show, it's probably not for you. There are some very popular shows where I can't get past certain things, and so I don't watch them. And they run season after season, which amazes me. People are weird.
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Old 02-15-2019, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,528 posts, read 17,441,601 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocko20 View Post


Only reason people never gave it a chance is because it was "too many black actors."

This show came out before we reached the heights of PC, in my opinion. I never gave it a second thought about the number of black parts. I just assumed it accurately reflected the Baltimore police force and the city in general. Plus the fact that I didn't recognize any of the actors at that time made the characters seem more real to me. And man, did I love Bunk!
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Old 02-15-2019, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Elysium
12,283 posts, read 7,991,615 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Copanut View Post
This show came out before we reached the heights of PC, in my opinion. I never gave it a second thought about the number of black parts. I just assumed it accurately reflected the Baltimore police force and the city in general. Plus the fact that I didn't recognize any of the actors at that time made the characters seem more real to me. And man, did I love Bunk!
I think at the time the only faces that I recognized was a reoccurring newspaper editor played by Clark Johnson who was one of the other detectives on Homicide Life On The Street. And in the second season, the white season focusing on the Checkers Union and the Greek connection for the importation of the drugs there was Chris Bauer who played one of the star officer's husband on Third Watch which was in production at the same time as The Wire.

However race was always a part of The Wire's story. When BET got it in first run syndication they cut so much of the dock workers, or white drug dealing folks out of their showing that you never saw that the initiation of the case was a police major being jealous that a memorial to longshoremen and not police was going up at the local Catholic Parrish so he just started an investigation to see where they got the money from to outbid the cops.
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