I didn’t want to go through each individual HBO show’s thread and look for a type of general consensus, and thus run the risk of being spoiled on plot twists and the like…
So, which HBO shows do you love, and which ones do you hate?
I’ve watched Carnivale (liked it), Entourage, The Wire, and Deadwood (loved them), and Sopranos Season I (hated it).
I’ve never watched Big Love, or Extras, or Curb Your Enthusiasm, or Rome, etc. Which ones are worth my time?
The Wire’s not just the best show on HBO, it’s the best thing on TV period. It’s like there’s The Wire, and then there’s everything else on television.
I’ve got to be the only guy out there who hasn’t seen any more than a couple of episodes of ‘The Sopranos.’ I keep putting it off and putting it off, but I’m determined to sit down and get through it one of these days.
I also haven’t had the time or the interest to check out ‘Rome’, ‘Entourage,’ ‘Big Love’, ‘Extras’, ‘Curb’ or ‘Sex and the City’.
Of the remaining stuff, I’d rank them something like this:
OZ and Curb Your Enthusiasm are great shows.
And yeah Rath, definitely check out The Sopranos. It’s one of the best shows to grace television, IMO.
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| Originally Posted by LDKA0186 The Wire’s not just the best show on HBO, it’s the best thing on TV period. It’s like there’s The Wire, and then there’s everything else on television. |
Agreed. An important show with something to say. Next season is supposed to be the last and I have a feeling that when it’s all over those five seasons of that show could serve as a valid document of the state of the union in the early 21st century. I’ve loved all of it, but there’s something about that second season that won’t let go. Maybe the fact that it’s one of the only pieces of entertainment in ages that actually dealt with the state of the working class in America. And not just in a facile “oh, look how sad” way, but in a way that shows you the current state, the importance of, and the tragedy being visited on the workers of the country.
You can’t say enough about this show. (And that’s without mentioning the stellar acting.)
Good - all dramas, plus Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, and Extras (the one ep I’ve seen, anyway)
Bad - the rest of the comedies
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| Originally Posted by Ravi And yeah Rath, definitely check out The Sopranos. It’s one of the best shows to grace television, IMO. |
Believe me, I intend to. I just happened to get into Deadwood and Six Feet Under first, and now I’m hooked on The Wire (second season!) and I think I’ll make that my next selection.
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| Originally Posted by RathBandu Believe me, I intend to. I just happened to get into Deadwood and Six Feet Under first, and now I’m hooked on The Wire (second season!) and I think I’ll make that my next selection. |
After The Wire (and in your case, Deadwood), you’ll be wondering what all the fuss is about with the Sopranos.
Is there anyone who’s ever watched The Wire and not liked it? That show better tickle my brain while stroking my man flute and feeding me ice cream for all of the hype it gets.
My vote goes for Six Feet Under. It’s the only HBO show I’ve seen that I’ve managed to get fully engrossed in.
It ain’t hype. It’s just honest reporting.
Bill Simmons wrote an article this past summer about his own experience discovering “The Wire,” and he described it as a show you have to come to on your own terms, at your own time. It’s not something like “The Sopranos” or “Six Feet,” which, in terms of exposure, has been fairly ubiquitous. It’s this show that you hear a lot about, and maybe you wonder what all the fuss is, but it’s something that flies largely under the radar. So when you do decide to check it out, it’s brilliance leaves you with that feeling–“why aren’t more people talking about this?”–like you’ve discovered it and you’re part of the select club who knows about its greatness.
I’m finding this to be true. I came to ‘The Wire’ as research for a project, and I was surprised at how not only did it live up to the hype, but surpassed it.
That’s an excellent summation of how to approach that series.
So how were the third seasons of Deadwood and Entourage? I ask since I don’t get HBO and watch the shows on DVD.
I’m also planning on checking out The Wire soon.
The Wire and Curb Your Enthusiasm should be at the absolute top of your priority list. I like Rome over Deadwood but they are both good too. Entourage is very watchable as well. Reeling through old episodes of these shows on dvd or ‘on demand’ is a really good idea.
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| Originally Posted by Supremo Is there anyone who’s ever watched The Wire and not liked it? That show better tickle my brain while stroking my man flute and feeding me ice cream for all of the hype it gets. |
It’ll do all that and your taxes.
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| Originally Posted by Ravi So how were the third seasons of Deadwood and Entourage? I ask since I don’t get HBO and watch the shows on DVD. I’m also planning on checking out The Wire soon. |
Third season’s, nothing special.
The Wire is the best thing on TV today, probably ever. Every season was fucking brilliant and the show should be on the top of everybody’s must have’s.
The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Curb, Deadwood, Entourage and Band of Brothers (if it’s qualified to be discussed ) are all top notch shows.
The third season of Entourage was nothing special. Deadwood’s was fucking fantastic.
The Wire took me a while to fully appreciate. It wasn’t until the second season that I really understood how much more than a cop show it is.
I sometimes think of HBO’s originals as more like literature than TV. To stretch that analogy past it’s breaking point, Carnivale is Stephen King (great characters, terrifying atmosphere, trouble living up to it’s lofty aims), Deadwood is Shakespeare (labrythine plotlines, memorable villains, and a mastery of the language so total that it can be intimidating), the Wire is Dostoevsky (intimate in character, sprawling in scope), and the Sopranos is maybe Capote (I look at it as dark comedy foremost).
That’s actually a really good analogy, although you could also compare Deadwood–at least in my humble opinion–to Dickens.
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| I sometimes think of HBO’s originals as more like literature than TV. |
Good point. After the second episode in the second season of The Wire I felt like I’d just finished the first few chapters of a novel. I like that HBO gives its series room to breathe and try different ways of telling a story. In the case of The Wire, just letting them go a couple of episodes before revealing the spine of the season is almost unheard of in TV today. It’s always nice to be rewarded for being able to pay attention.
Also, “The Wire” has Jimmy McNulty, who after his successive successes in fucking over his old bosses at CID in the first two episodes of season two, is probally one of the all time great TV cops.