Finally finished The Wire, waiting for Game of Thrones to resume.

Poll question: Which HBO series should I watch next?

Poll result (25 votes) Boardwalk Empire (6 votes) Vote Treme (2 votes) Vote Deadwood (9 votes) Vote Oz (2 votes) Vote Rome (3 votes) Vote other (3 votes) Vote

i was surprised by how much i liked true detective. i didn't read much about it, i just knew it was popular and subject of heated debates i completely ignored. if you haven't seen that, i recommend it. 2 of the other great HBO shows i saw for the first time last year are one you already mentioned, GOT, and another, silicon valley, which was also one i was genuinely surprised by how much i enjoyed. it was really easy to get wrapped up in the story and quite funny.

i started treme years back and need to finish it. i liked it but canceled cable and didn't make time last summer to see the rest on hbo go.

just didn't grab you enough to go back and finish, or would it have had you if you'd kept cable?

i totally would've stuck with it if i kept cable. it was one of a few shows i just let fall by the wayside when i canceled cable. i should have access to hbo go again come GOT season 5, so i plan to finish treme then.

i can vouch for some beautiful cinematography, quirky characters, and great music in season 1 at least

Reasons:
-Only three seasons
-Al Fucking Swearinger
-Origin on my man-crush on Tim O. Justified solidified it.

Also, check out Luck on HBO, David Milch's HBO follow-up to Deadwood. Cancelled after one season, but worth the time.

From the same creator is john from Cincinnati. You're welcome.

Event after The Wire, The Sopranos, MR. Show, Arli$ and all the others I still think The Larry Sanders Show is the funniest show of the twentieth century.

damn. i gotta check it out then.

and then Generation Kill.

Although those are mini-series so they might not count.

Though it might be hard knowing the series never really got a true finish

If your 2 are The Wire & GOT, I wouldn't suggest Boardwalk.
Both of those are speeding, BE is a Sunday drive.
Rome is 2 seasons and Titus Pullo is one of TVs underrated characters.
Plus titties.

I loved the Wire, but that shit was a chore at times (especially the Carcetti stuff, Clay Davis stuff etc)

It builds as it goes.
I am biased though. I think it's the best of all time.
The Carcetti stuff grew on me. Clay Davis is gold though.

the production is impressive, for sure, but after a certain character dies early on, the show just rambles with no end in sight

Probably the 3rd too cuz Rosetti was awesome. After that? ehhh

honestly I never got over Boardwalk Empire, at the same time I haven't even glanced at Season 5.

but I thought all four of those first seasons were good to great.

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I gave up on Boredwalk

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that shit is always entertaining and hilarious.

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Then True Dective

for any flaws it has, it's still head and shoulders above any show not called The Wire.

I'm a fan of Boardwalk. I feel some of the complaints, but there's so much that's good about it

I've been meaning to give Deadwood another shot. I fell off in the first season.

Band of Brothers, and Generation Kill are both fantastic mini-series for sure.

What have you seen? Cause if you couldn't get into episode 1 I'm not sure how you could've possibly ever sat through the entirety of The Wire.

Like Mynoriti said, The Sopranos may have a few (minor) flaws when looked at in the big picture (the series as a whole) but it more than makes it up for it with it's comedic moments, exciting moments, etc.

The Wire is my favorite show ever but Sopranos is 1B. It's a different kind of entertainment. But I'm truly interested to hear what of The Sopranos you've seen, and what about it made you feel uninterested (if you can even pinpoint it). Cause while I value The Wire's completeness over any show ever, I always found that The Sopranos was more "entertaining" in its most basic sense (cliffhangers, WTF/exciting moments, etc.). The Wire was more mind-blowing because of its honesty and realism, and dedication to the story of Baltimore.

I think its just the first impression, typical NY/NJ/ETC obnoxiously stereotypical douchey "Italian"-American people who always tend to annoy me in pop culture and real life. And I'm part Italian (proudly so), but I could never relate to THOSE cats. Long ago hijacked the concept of what it means to be Italian.

quite a few times actually

i can see how from watching random clips someone could get that impression, but it's far deeper than just a bunch of cartoonish guidos killing people. It's a hell of a character study, and famiy drama. i would at least recommend watching from the beginning. I'd say give at least 5 episodes. if by then you still feel that way, it's just not for you.

>I think its just the first impression, typical NY/NJ/ETC
>obnoxiously stereotypical douchey "Italian"-American people
>who always tend to annoy me in pop culture and real life. And
>I'm part Italian (proudly so), but I could never relate to
>THOSE cats. Long ago hijacked the concept of what it means to
>be Italian.

>quite a few times actually

Those parts were really well done, too.


>i can see how from watching random clips someone could get
>that impression, but it's far deeper than just a bunch of
>cartoonish guidos killing people. It's a hell of a character
>study, and famiy drama. i would at least recommend watching
>from the beginning. I'd say give at least 5 episodes. if by
>then you still feel that way, it's just not for you.

^^^ this x1000. It's an amazing character study.

Like, nearly word for word.

It's good, heavy-handed at parts but good, it's well worth seeing, it's a much faster watch than other HBO shows and it has fewer eps - so you'll get it done faster.


"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

I've watched a lot of HBO over the years and nowadays I'm rewatching shows I really enjoyed. In order, this is what I'd watch for dramas and comedies. They're all good in their own way.

Dramas:

The Sopranos: One of the greatest series of all time. I just finished rewatching and it's still amazing. Gandolfini alone makes it worth it. If you haven't watched this yet I'd say this should be your #1.

True Detective: Definitely worth the watch. A slow-building noir 8-episode series with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It has a dark an entrancing tone with a disturbing storyline and interesting format. The finale disappointed some viewers but it's one of the best recent HBO shows and the second season (with a different story and cast) will be premiering in the summer.

Deadwood: Sometimes I say this is my favorite HBO show. If you like Westerns definitely give this a go. The writing is superb and the acting and characters are top-notch. Got cancelled too early but the three seasons are definitely still worth it.

Rome: Criminally underrated show. Great characters, excellent set pieces, and an unrivaled look at Rome. Also got cancelled too early, yet the show still provides enough closure so don't let that scare you off.

Carnivale: Another slept on early HBO show. Follows a traveling carnival in the 30's and a mystical fight between good and evil. Clancy Brown is fantastic in this show. Once again, got cancelled too early, but still worth watching. After you finish read up on how they would have continued it. As much as I love HBO, they seem to cancel the wrong shows and continue some duds.

Band of Brothers: Miniseries, but why not count it. This series brings more character development than any movie can and is a great depiction of WWII. You'll recognize a lot of young actors before they got their break, such as Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy. Highly recommend this one.

Treme: I would say this show serves as the greatest example of character development. David Simon takes over a dozen characters and makes them all relateable and interesting while balancing their stories. Other shows falter in divvying up screen time between characters (especially Boardwalk Empire) but this show nails it. Great music too and will really make you want to visit New Orleans.

Boardwalk Empire: This show always showed a lot of potential but seldom reached it. Really good period piece with excellent sets, costumes, etc. and exceptional acting by Buscemi, but it drags on at times and spends too much time on annoying characters while ignoring or killing off those you care about. It can be a frustrating show but still delivers and is definitely worth the watch.

The Leftovers: Another good recent series. It can be a bit depressing, but the story is unique and surreal and the characters are very interesting.

Luck: This only ran for one season but I enjoyed it a lot. If you have any interest in horse racing then check this out. Dustin Hoffman & Kevin Dunn shine in this, but sadly they had to cancel it because too many horses were being injured.

In Treatment: I only watched a couple of episodes but they were pretty captivating. Gabriel Byrne is a psychotherapist and each episode focuses on one patient. There are several episodes with the same patient throughout the season. If you don't want to watch the whole thing (which I didn't) you can pick whichever patient or actor interests you and just watch their episodes.

Comedies:

Curb Your Enthusiasm: 30 minute comedy series. If you like Seinfeld, check this out. Some misses but when Larry David is on he's hilarious. A lot of seasons, I like the later ones better.

Flight of The Conchords: Might be my personal favorite comedy show from HBO. It's an off-brand type of humor that not everybody will like, but I loved it. Story about two struggling New Zealand musicians in New York. 30 minute show with quirky musical performances. The two leads play off each other well and make for a very funny show.

Entourage: Kind of like a Sex In The City for guys. A total bro show about a rising star in Hollywood and his crew. It's entertaining.

Veep: Julia Louis Dreyfus kills it in this. A comedy about politics.

Silicon Valley: Only one season so far, with 2nd season premiering in the spring. Funny show about the IT world in Silicon Valley.



As you can tell there's a lot of great HBO shows to explore. Pick any of the above and you can't go wrong. I remember Generation Kill and The Pacific being good but I watched them too long ago to recommend. I never got into Six Feet Under, Oz, True Blood, or Big Love.

I recently finished watching Twin Peaks for the first time. Not an HBO show, but you can see the effect it had on television. I'd recommend watching it before the sequel comes out in 2016.

This is the first show I can remember where switching between different character stories never even begins to annoy me. Everything is interesting (only slight possible exception might be Druggy-Douche Dario, but that's always pretty brief)

Thanks for taking the he time to do that writeup. I'll be referring to it

Its already surpassed the Wire (which I also really enjoyed), and is actually challenging Game of Thrones as favorite show.

The atmosphere is engrossing, the tone nourishing, the writing is brilliant, the acting is inspiring.

Can't remember a show or movie where I cared so deeply about so many characters.

Its got heart and nuance in buckets

Damn, I gotta check it out. It's gunna be a damn good year since I'll be watching The Sopranos, Deadwood & Twin Peaks for the first time and finally doing my first Wire rewatch.

show isn't widely hailed as one of the great ones. I feel like I've discovered the Arkenstone or something lol.

I disagree with it being better than The Wire, but it's really, really good, and completely slept on.

Some people like Season 3 the best, but I'm not one of them. It's still great though.

I'm a little salty that they had to wrap it up with Season 4, and that it only got five episodes to tie everything up, but it still has a satisfying conclusion.

It was the Wire before the Wire same creators/writers and even some of the same actors.

I mean, it would have to share that slot with Game of Thrones, and it certainly has more flaws than Game of Thrones, but I can't remember ever feeling so connected to and invested in multiple characters as I did with this show. That and the whole atmosphere, I can't think of a show I've watched that had more genuine heart.

For me it definitely beats out The Wire (which I enjoyed)

The music and old heads in that show were such a treat too...

and I'm an old 30's Gangster flick n Dungeons and Dragons head so you'd think I should be all over Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones..

Naw

Treme is fucking excellent.. like near The Wire level.. I'm sad I finished it and there ain't no more.

wave of serialized television.

Shows like Sopranos, Lost, The Shield, and others pushed it into the stratosphere, but Oz is the show that provided that initial spark of life. I’m not going to front like the show doesn’t have some serious flaws- especially toward the end- but in many ways that’s part of the charm. It’s almost a jump-the-shark premise from the very beginning, and there’s a certain...... cheese to the show that ‘s actually very endearing.

Even when the show goes off the rails in terms of the overall story, many of the character threads remain strong throughout the entire run. I’d say it easily rivals Lost in the character department.

Beecher, Sayid, Shillinger, Alvarez, Adibisi, McMannis, Augustus, the O’Rielly brothers, and a host of others provide an excellent cast of characters throughout and it’s worth watching.

Hell, the O’Rielly Brothers alone get one of the absolute best storylines in any show I’ve ever seen at one point. Not necessarily their entire arc, though the totality of their story is very well executed, but they have one particular arc spanning seasons 5 and 6 that is particularly well done and make the series worthwhile on its own, not to mention help elevate those seasons from some serious flaws. If you have a brother and have ever been tasked with truly being his keeper, that shit will hit home like crazy.

That said, it’s uneven and downright hokey at times, but for me that was part of the appeal. Plus, it really does have something for everyone and hits so many emotional notes right & well that it’s nothing short of impressive. There are some solid cameos from big name actors, a nice slice of shady politics, a shit ton of revenge, redemption, struggle, triumph, love, hate, fear, dominance, submission, defeat, corruption, repentance, ignorance, violence, brilliance (Ryan O’Rielly once again, that motherfucker is slick and manipulative as it gets. He’s more or less a loner with no backup who winds up a legit threat to anyone and everyone, including people with plenty of muscle and influence behind them. One of my all time favorite television characters.)

All that said, it’s still relatively primitive compared to a lot of these other shows and would likely be very different if done today, but for my money it holds up extremely well despite that primitive nature. My guess others would differ with me or say I’m overhyping the show and I wouldn’t necessarily begrudge them that opinion except to reiterate my earlier point that some of the cheesiness, some of the shark-jumping elements are kind of part of the show and there’s sort of a ‘Fast & Furious’ element where it just owns what it is and if you just sort of go with it, you’ll have some fun on the ride.

Of course, if you can’t get past all the full frontal male nudity and ass rape, none of that other stuff matters and it’s definitely not for you lol.