Neither the sopranos or breaking bad projects are straightup reunion projects the sopranos movie, titled the many saints of newark, is a prequel set in the 1960s and starring jon bernthal and. I like brba more but objectively i think the sopranos is. I watched the wire about 3 years ago well after the series concluded, and watched it in the same binge watching way i watched the sopranos, breaking bad, and game of thrones. Breaking bad season 1 vs the sopranos season 1 vs the. By natalie zutter and ilana masad for bookish after five years of water cooler freakouts over the superb writing and truly remarkable character arcs, breaking bad is finally over, with a series finale drawing comparisons to the sopranos and other tv classics. Eventually, everyone settles on the sopranos as the consensus. Mar 09, 2018 it took a slowbutsteady climb for the wire to emerge as a cultural. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, the sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as mad men, the wire, breaking. Breaking bad is a lot of fun and honestly maybe more tightly plotted, but to me its just a really well done thriller whereas sopranos is a deep exploration of psychology and vomits uncontrollably the human condition. While both books cover the sopranos, the wire and mad men, viewing america also explores lesser.
I believe that the wire, the sopranos, mad men and breaking bad are all firstballot hall of fame entrants. The wire is the goat for me, but the sopranos and breaking bad are very close behind and both more addictive and entertaining for me. Sep 01, 20 spoilers ahead from breaking bad up to episode 512, as well as the sopranos and the wire. However theyre ranked barely matters theyre all breathtaking achievements. Ive never seen the the wire yet, tried once but couldnt get past the 2nd or 3rd episode so interested on info about that one. I actually preferred the first season because it was at least grounded in reality somewhat. First off, the question of which shows peaks are higher is kind of unfair. Plz no spoilers personally i think the wire is better. Breaking bad has an oftenglacial pace, but concrete. Breaking bad refusing to fall into a whack of the week mob drama trap, the sopranos took bold creative risks with its narrative remember tony trapped in. From the sopranos and the wire to mad men and breaking bad. But if you dont want the sopranos and the wire to ruin all future television for you then id say start with game of thrones and breaking bad and enjoy them for the great shows they are and then prepare to step into a whole new level with the wire and the sopranos. Breaking bad for mealthough i have never seen the wire so i am casting a tained vote.
Breaking bad is seriously one of the best tv shows ive ever seen. The character exploration, writing, and thematic development over the course of those shows is just unmatched plus, specifically for the wire, just the sheer scope providing essentially a crosssection of an entire city is incredible. For a fan of hbo shows and the new golden age of tv this book is essential reading. Martin is able to make the byzantine landscape of television production intelligible to laymen. It is, among its other merits, that vanishingly rare thing. Amazon is giving away book classics like the call of the wild and emma, and masterclass has experts offering their. The wire tv series 20022008 the wire tv series 2002. Behind the scenes of a creative revolution from the sopranos and the wire to mad men and breaking bad, explores what the author brett martin describes as the third golden age of tv.
Difficult men chronicles the rise of the allpowerful showrunners of such iconic television shows as the sopranos, the wire, deadwood, mad men, breaking bad, and other television shows of that era. The sopranos and the wire while vastly different shows are both amazing and only get better on rewatches. The sopranos and breaking bad are both in my top 5, with brba ranked a little bit higher. The sopranos is far more experimental, and in more interesting ways. Breaking bad isnt the best tv show ever but its damn. On january 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrists office and changed tv history. The writing, acting, and cinematography is all there. While both books cover the sopranos, the wire and mad. Why there will never be another tv show like the wire. Klosterman concluded that, in the world of breaking bad, goodness and badness are simply complicated choices, no different than anything else. From the sopranos and the wire to mad men and breaking bad main by martin, brett isbn. For the people who have watched the wire, breaking bad. To be completely fair, breaking bad isnt over yet and cant be judged in the same vein as the sopranos yet, but my vote still goes to sopranos at this point.
Without david chases mob drama we would not have mad men or breaking bad. Alan sepinwall is the chief television critic for rolling stone and the author of breaking bad 101. Breaking bad, the sopranos or the wire steve hoffman. Alan sepinwall on turning points in breaking bad, the. The wire isnt just better than breaking bad its better than 99% of all the shows in tv history. It also has more replay value because it isnt a thriller, as its impossible to recapture the tension. His thoughts on television have appeared in the new york times, time, and variety. Why amcs breaking bad beats mad men, the sopranos, and the wire. Nov 02, 20 without david chases mob drama we would not have mad men or breaking bad.
The breakthroughs of the next few years the wire, mad men, breaking bad couldnt have happened without the sopranos kicking the door down. Buffy is 1 twin peaks is 3 i sure hope something new comes along soon to knock one or two of those off the list. I havent seen the wire its on my list, and grew tired with sopranos. If seinfeld was the show about nothing, then the sopranos was the show about everything. The sopranos and breaking bad movies and the end of. Shows such as the wire, breaking bad, the sopranos, mad men, deadwood, the shield tackled issues of life and death, love and sexuality, addiction, race, violence and existential boredom. The sopranos has easily had more influence on the tv landscape than the wire.
Difficult men dwells largely on the creators of those four celebrated dramasdavid chase the sopranos, david simon the wire, matthew weiner mad men, and vince gilligan breaking badplus a few others, especially alan ball six feet under and david milch deadwood. Tv, news, books, movies, documentaries because it explains our world and it explains why our world is effed up. Finished breaking bad when the finale aired and about to finish the wire. The sopranos wasnt that exciting to watch, nor did it. Laura lippman, a new york times bestselling novelist, has won every major mystery. Alan sepinwall on turning points in breaking bad, the sopranos, the wire, and more. Breaking bad is my fifth favorite show of all time. Uninterrupted interviews with cast members, lavish full page, full colour photographs of scenes and locations, articles zeroing in on themes through the show, etc, this is an absolutely essential hard back for the sopranos fan.
Everything that made the sopranos work has been picked apart and ripped off to create the next wave of tv drama. Television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the american dream at the beginning of the twentyfirst century. Game of thrones im finished the wire, caught up on breaking bad, 4th season of sopranos and at the beginning of the 2nd season of game of thrones. I like breaking bad a lot but i think it doesnt really compare with the sopranos and the wire, its overrated in comparison since its far more popular than those two. Alan sepinwall has been one of the nations most famous television critics for several years, largely thanks to his willingness to engage the internet tv fans whove driven so much discussion in the last decade. New title difficult men measures a new pantheon of tv characters from the sopranos and others against the dominating showrunners who created them.
Spoilers the sopranos vs the wire vs breaking bad which. Most critics would agree on a handful of shows the sopranos, the wire, six feet under, breaking bad, mad men, deadwood. The wire was kind of exciting to watch, but left a lot to reflect on. The wire, mad men, friends, the simpsons, breaking bad. Not sure about the wire but compared to the sopranos i give b. The wire never lost its focus of commenting on society and was better off for it, breaking bad should have constantly been harping on the insanity of u. I thought the sopranos was one of the most overrated shows ever the first season was great but after the death of tonys mother it never recovered.
More important than doing the job is the appearance of a job well done. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, the sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as mad men, the wire, breaking bad, and game of thrones. Ive watched breaking bad, dexter, the sopranos, lost and the. But chase had a tough time convincing any network to take on a story about a guiltcrazed gangster who goes to therapy, while his mom plots to kill him. Ross douthat of the new york times, in a response to klostermans piece, compared breaking bad and the sopranos, stating that both series are morality plays that are both interested in moral agency. The importance of the writers the difficult men of the title being the focus of the book on shows such as the wire, the sopranos, deadwood and mad men.
When talking the big prestige dramas of the last 15 years, id put the wire, sopranos, and mad men all above breaking bad. It was the first out of the gate, it delves the deepest into the human psyche while maintaining a consistent level throughout, and save for a couple stragglers, every actor knocked it out of the park. Breaking bad was really exciting to watch, but not much to reflect on. Sep 30, 20 i believe that the wire, the sopranos, mad men and breaking bad are all firstballot hall of fame entrants. Iil the sopranos, the wire, six feet under, and breaking bad.
Within this pantheon, in my view, sits the sopranos, the wire and breaking bad. Your buddies always namedrop the heavy hitters first. The sopranos sessions audiobook, by alan sepinwall. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Jul 15, 20 difficult men is an insightful history of popular us tv drama which traces the emergence of shows such as the sopranos, breaking bad, mad men and the wire, and explores their engagement with important social issues around love, sexuality, race and violence. Based on a nonfiction book cowritten by simon and the wire writerproducer ed. The greatest tv drama of the past 25 years, the finals. The sopranos is my fourth favorite show of all time. I want as a tv series or movies as good as season 1 of true detective. Breaking bad was a damn good show but it wasnt close to the sopranos or the wire. As a viewer of both i would say yes, purely because i find breaking bad more high velocity and more entertaining, i also like the characters a lot more and i think the story is a bit more entertaining.
Nov 12, 2014 a lot has been said of tvs canon of excellence. After reading the comments i have decided to watch season 3 of true detective. You can make an argument for the soprano s besting it. But chase had a tough time convincing any network to take on a story about a guiltcrazed gangster who. Though were probably twenty years into the revolution of tv drama, the generally accepted canon is still a relatively thin one. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, the sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as mad men, the wire, breaking bad, and game of. Theres other recent shows i like a lot like boardwalk empire and homeland but they arent as consistent as bb. Martin argues that the sopranos, the wire, mad men, breaking bad and a few other highquality tv shows are the signature american art form of the first decade of the twentyfirst century, the equivalent of what the films of scorsese, altman, coppola, and others had been to the 1970s or the novels of updike, roth, and mailer to the 1960s. Some with longer memories would suggest something like homicide. Ive watched breaking bad, dexter, the sopranos, lost and.
Each season of the wire is basically a selfcontained story that fits into a larger worldview. Difficult men parallels the creators and characters of the. Ive never really spent much time debating with myself over which of these two is better, mainly because one is, though not completely, to a great extent different than the oth. Agent jack bauer works for ctu counter terrorist unit dealing with terrorists assassination attempts, nuclear a. Breaking bad is the best show of the lot of them but the first season, i thought, was slow and not nearly as good as the rest of the show. Difficult men zeroes in on the shows that martin argues permanently transformed television the sopranos, the wire, six feet under, breaking bad and their.
Did the sopranos do more harm than good hbo and the decline. Difficult men is an insightful history of popular us tv drama which traces the emergence of shows such as the sopranos, breaking bad, mad men and the wire, and explores their engagement with important social issues around love, sexuality, race and violence. The sopranos sessions by matt zoller seitz, alan sepinwall. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, the sopranoslaunched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as mad men, the wire, breaking bad, and game of thrones. Havent seen the wire or breaking bad, but the sopranos stuck around longer than it should have. Never seen the sopranos but purely judged on season one. Although martin dedicates a majority of the book to sopranos creator david chase, whom he sees as having paved the way for the increase of creative, quality tv, he also provides interesting studies of mad men creator matthew weiner, breaking bad writer vince gilligan, and the wire showrunner, david simon. Life on the streets was based on a book written by wire creator david simon titled. The focus on a flawed and corrupted leading man has been used to form breaking bad, mad men, the shield, and countless others. Jan 20, 2018 24 9 seasons and tv movie, 20012010, 2014 24 is the best show of all time.
This book is a celebration of the series and for that, it scores huge. Breaking bad was more consistent and the 5th season was better than the wire s 5th season, but the wire was more ambitious and because it isnt overthetop it resonates on a level that bb cannot. How breaking bad breaks away from the sopranos and the wire and why vince gilligan should run the sec allen st. Breaking bad, the sopranos or the wire steve hoffman music.
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