Poll: The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones (multiple votes allowed)?

[a user]

If you vote on the poll and haven’t watched all of the shows, please vote the last option as well as the show(s) you select.

 

[Persona]

The Wire. 100%.

And I say that as someone who deeply loves Breaking Bad, too.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

All of these are great shows and I actually love most of them, but I have to vote Breaking Bad just because I think its the most consistent of the shows being polled.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

They way Breaking Bad pulls you in is unlike any other show.

I loved binging BB. So intense and compelling.

 

[Batmannerism]

If I only pick one it's the Wire, because it manages to be entertaining and more realistic in its core premise. Not that realism is everything but it adds something to the viewing experience.

As the others go.....

Mad Men.....yeah okay, but do we really care ?

Breaking Bad, great idea and a great central character, but a bit too unlikely. Good ending though.

The Sopranos, great show but a Don and a psychiatrist ? Would never happen. Also, most frustrating ending ever in the history of tv.

Game of Thrones, well its straight up fantasy - nothing wrong with that. TBH Game of Thrones is basically Lord of the Rings meets the Sopranos with extra rape and incest. Creates characters that suck you in and then subverts your expectations by giving them anti-climactic disappointing endings.


IMHO a worthy addition to this list would have been Black Sails.

 

[henzINNIT]

I haven't sat down and watched Sopranos or Mad Men, but I've heard good things.

The Wire is probably the best television ever made. Breaking Bad would be a close second.

Honestly I think Game of Thrones is no longer in contention.

 

[Calvin Ellis]

The Wire is fantastic television just so heart breaking what happens to the kids at the end.

Another show that should be on that list is Power.

 

[Albright]

Oh it’s sooooo cool to hate GoT now...

 

[KaijuDude1992]

The Wire is fantastic television just so heart breaking what happens to the kids at the end.

Another show that should be on that list is Power.

Agreed as successful as Power was for Starz it feels like such an underrated show, because I never hear many people actually talking about it which is too bad because its a great show as well.

 

[Fincher]

The Wire. Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are great, too (I haven't seen the final season of GoT, but I doubt it's going to decimate my opinion like people make it sound). Sopranos is good, but I never considered it the masterpiece it was made out to be. I watched the first season of Mad Men and didn't like it. Since I did technically see it, though, I didn't vote for the last option.

 

[moviefreak]

For me, top of the pile are these two:
The Wire
Babylon 5
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way below...
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The Sopranos
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Breaking Bad
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GOT

Haven't watch Mad Men as yet.

 

[TheFuture]

I haven't seen Mad Men but followed the rest of shows avidly.

In terms of pure consistency it would be Breaking Bad for me.

Sopranos really came into its own at some point in Season 2 and didn't look back. GoT just broke my brain, as I feel strongly about how they ended the arcs of certain characters. The Wire's last season was......a bit too nihilistic even for my tastes.

Breaking Bad achieved the perfect blend of drama and humour while rarely letting up from episode to episode.

 

[Slick]

1.Breaking Bad
2.The Sopranos
3.The Wire

I will say that I find The Sopranos and The Wire to be the better written shows but Breaking Bad is a damn experience. No show have mad me fill bat **** insane like BB. Not that I’m saying the writing was not on point for BB because It truly was.

 

[The Batman]

I voted for Mad Men. For me, it’s more consistent than almost any other option on the list. The characters are fantastic, as is the world Matt Weiner and co. built. The attention to detail is great, and it really feels like you’ve been transported back to the 1960’s. I like the subtlety of the writing and how the show is rich in subtext. Don Draper is one of the greatest characters in TV history, and Jon Hamm deserved way more Emmys than he actually got for playing him.

Someone in this thread mentioned Mad Men and asked “but do we really care?”…I do, and so do a lot of people, that’s why it’s regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

Also, “Power” does not compare to the shows on this list, as entertaining as it was. Even at its best, the writing on that show was sloppy, and it only got worse after season 3 or so. The last season is even worse and more unsatisfying than the last season of Game of Thrones.

 

[MilkmanDan]

Someone in this thread mentioned Mad Men and asked “but do we really care?”…I do, and so do a lot of people, that’s why it’s regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

I think a problem with Mad Men is that, unlike most shows it gets compared to, it isn't build around crime or violence. Sure, there's Don's big secret, but that was it. Apart from that the show had to find a way to be engaging while portraying life and times of people whose life wasn't as inherently interesting and exciting as the criminal underworlds seen in Sopranos or The Wire .

 

[psylockolussus]

I haven't seen a ll of them. Though I did watch the pilot of Mad Men and Game of Thrones.

 

[The Batman]

If people need crime and/or violence in their TV shows in order to be engaged, that's their problem, not Mad Men's. Again, the show is still highly regarded at the end of the day, and more than enough people were/are engaged with it, which is why OP has it on the poll in the first place.

 

[MilkmanDan]

I agree, but I don't think there's denying that out of the shows on the poll, Mad Men is the one that can't rely on things like cool action or the shock value of violence as much as the others. I voted for The Wire because it is my favourite, but I respect Mad Men for being a great show without using those easy storytelling tools of crime and violence.

 

[Lip]

If people need crime and/or violence in their TV shows in order to be engaged, that's their problem, not Mad Men's. Again, the show is still highly regarded at the end of the day, and more than enough people were/are engaged with it, which is why OP has it on the poll in the first place.

And I'd love to see more shows like Mad Men, that doesn't need crime, fantasy and mind blowing twists to be engaging. (And I love the other shows by the way).

And I think The Americans is something at least worth mentioning. The series finale was one of the best finale I've seen.

Oh, and Six Feet Under. Amazing show.

 

[Bobber]

The Sopranos. And it's not even a question in my mind.
The Wire is right below that.

All the other shows can't compete.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I haven't watched The Wire yet, but for now it's The Sopranos. Come on.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Breaking Bad, with The Wire as a VERY close second. You can easily make the argument that The Wire is the better show because it’s much more realistic, but... I still like my shows a little bit stylish and flashy and I love tightly written narratives that wrap things up almost perfectly so that’s why BB takes the cake for me. Life isn’t actually like that of course (hence why The Wire feels so real) but that’s part of why we watch movies and TV shows... to get away from the real world.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I wish this poll would be scrapped and restarted anew with the additions of Dexter and possibly Deadwood...

 

[Lip]

Dexter had like 4 good seasons and the rest is a mess. I couldn't finish watching.

Showtime sucks, always drags their shows.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah, once Dexter got to that season with Colin Hanks it was clear it didn’t know what to do with itself.