The Wire -- What Am I Missing?

[Vyse]

[ QUOTE ]
One thing that I think really separates the Wire from other TV shows is in how much it leaves out. They only actually show about a third of scenes they could show if they wanted to explain everything. The viewer is left to extrapolate and imagine what happened in between.

This allows the show to tell very complex and subtle stories about 20 characters at the same time. It's really brilliant in how it can advance independent stories of 3 or 4 different characters in the same scene.

This is basically the opposite of 24, in which there is never any confusion at to what is happening because everything is repeated four times in order to fill up time because the format demands it.

Here's a couple example scenes which show up in basically every season of 24:

George Mason (on the phone with Division): I'll tell Jack to download those new protocols onto his phone right away.

(new scene)
George: Tony, get into my office
Tony: What is it, sir?
George: Go tell Jack there are new protocols and he needs to download them onto his phone.

(new scene)
Tony (to Jack over the phone): Jack, Mason says there are new protocols that you should download onto your phone.
Jack: Got it, I'll be able to download those in about three minutes.

(Commercial break)

(new scene)
Jack (in the car, to some random agent in the car): OK, I'm downloading those protocols now. They'll take about five minutes. La dee da.

(Some unrelated scene back at CTU)

(new scene)
Jack: Alright, I'm done downloading those protocols.
(Jack and random agent pull up to a builing and get out of the car. A bunch of terrorists start firing at them. Random agent is killed and Jack calls CTU for back-up, giving him a chance to use his fancy new protocols.)

[/ QUOTE ]

lol @ how inaccurate that 24 bash was, even in terms of purposely inaccurate and biased bashes.

[geormiet]

The show gets better and better as you go on. Nothing wrong with disliking it, surely it doesn't imply you are stupid or inferior for having different taste in something.

I started watching it on the recommendation of 2p2. The series I had watched prior to the wire was the shield.

At first I was underwhelmed with the wire. It got off to a slow start, and felt not nearly as exciting as the shield. However, as the season progressed, I grew to like the show more and more. Season 1 eventually gets quite exciting, and you should try to watch some more episodes. If you finish season 1 and you don't like it, then you should definitely give up on it.

I'm halfway through season 4 now and it's no contest the best show I've seen on television. I used to live in Baltimore and I don't know where they come up with all these character actors, especially the little street kids.

[ViolentGandhi]

To clarify, I don't like The Wire or 24. I love The Shield though.

[thatpfunk]

SC,
from your posts i think that you have good taste. if you manage to finish the 4 season of the wire and it isnt in your top 5 shows of all time i will be pretty shocked.

[NickMPK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One thing that I think really separates the Wire from other TV shows is in how much it leaves out. They only actually show about a third of scenes they could show if they wanted to explain everything. The viewer is left to extrapolate and imagine what happened in between.

This allows the show to tell very complex and subtle stories about 20 characters at the same time. It's really brilliant in how it can advance independent stories of 3 or 4 different characters in the same scene.

This is basically the opposite of 24, in which there is never any confusion at to what is happening because everything is repeated four times in order to fill up time because the format demands it.

Here's a couple example scenes which show up in basically every season of 24:

George Mason (on the phone with Division): I'll tell Jack to download those new protocols onto his phone right away.

(new scene)
George: Tony, get into my office
Tony: What is it, sir?
George: Go tell Jack there are new protocols and he needs to download them onto his phone.

(new scene)
Tony (to Jack over the phone): Jack, Mason says there are new protocols that you should download onto your phone.
Jack: Got it, I'll be able to download those in about three minutes.

(Commercial break)

(new scene)
Jack (in the car, to some random agent in the car): OK, I'm downloading those protocols now. They'll take about five minutes. La dee da.

(Some unrelated scene back at CTU)

(new scene)
Jack: Alright, I'm done downloading those protocols.
(Jack and random agent pull up to a builing and get out of the car. A bunch of terrorists start firing at them. Random agent is killed and Jack calls CTU for back-up, giving him a chance to use his fancy new protocols.)

[/ QUOTE ]

lol @ how inaccurate that 24 bash was, even in terms of purposely inaccurate and biased bashes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have seen every episode of 24 and I like the show a lot. But the dialogue is extremely redundant. The show's strength is that, despite of this, it is rarely boring because it makes everything seem so urgent and important. The excitement of the moment masks the fact that you've heard all of this before.

But if you were to write up a summary of everything that happened in a season of 24 versus a season of The Wire, the summary of the Wire would take up about 10x as much space.

[SomethingClever]

[ QUOTE ]
SC,
from your posts i think that you have good taste. if you manage to finish the 4 season of the wire and it isnt in your top 5 shows of all time i will be pretty shocked.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm warming up to it, but I can relate to OP being a little disappointed in the first few eps.

[Vyse]

[ QUOTE ]

I have seen every episode of 24 and I like the show a lot. But the dialogue is extremely redundant. The show's strength is that, despite of this, it is rarely boring because it makes everything seem so urgent and important. The excitement of the moment masks the fact that you've heard all of this before.

But if you were to write up a summary of everything that happened in a season of 24 versus a season of The Wire, the summary of the Wire would take up about 10x as much space.

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably because everything on the Wire requires interpretation and a ton of background information.

EDIT: The Wire is to The Shield what Sleeper's Cell is to 24 -- muuuuuuuuch slower paced (and inferior).

[stabn]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I have seen every episode of 24 and I like the show a lot. But the dialogue is extremely redundant. The show's strength is that, despite of this, it is rarely boring because it makes everything seem so urgent and important. The excitement of the moment masks the fact that you've heard all of this before.

But if you were to write up a summary of everything that happened in a season of 24 versus a season of The Wire, the summary of the Wire would take up about 10x as much space.

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably because everything on the Wire requires interpretation and a ton of background information.

EDIT: The Wire is to The Shield what Sleeper's Cell is to 24 -- muuuuuuuuch slower paced (and inferior).

[/ QUOTE ]

Rofl no. But it is ok if you ADD kids like the shield more.

[FlyWf]

24 is the most exciting show on television, but it's nowhere near the best.

If you don't like slow paced drama, that's OK. It doesn't mean that you're stupid, you just have different tastes.

The Wire is slow, dense, thoughtful, and important. It's not for everyone. 24 is a pretty good show(though not remotely close to the best), but if someone has a low tolerance for the ridiculous I would easily understand them not liking it.

The Wire is The Shield for grownups. I love them both, but come on. Inferior?

[Vyse]

Actually, Veronica Mars is the best, but that's another story. 24 combines instant gratification with long-term longevity without ever becoming stale, and the best acting in the history of the universe.

I think it's silly how if I say I like 24, I automatically don't like slow-paced dramas. Veronica Mars is quite slow-paced, almost to a fault.