'The Wire' voted 'All-Time Greatest TV Show' by EW

By Rappy
in The Media Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

pjosdjf3.jpg

The Wire has been voted the 'All-Time Greatest TV Show' in Entertainment Weekly's latest list of the 100 best TV series.

David Simon's HBO drama beat competition from The Simpsons and The Sopranos to top the list.

The latest edition of the magazine also features its 100 greatest albums and movies of all time.

EW's editor Jess Cagle said: "I promise you, no list in the history of lists has been constructed with more care, more smarts and more enthusiasm for pop culture.

"All of our debate and disagreement served to remind us of the amazing artistry now available in so many ways and on so many platforms, just waiting there to entertain us, enlighten us, inspire us and change our lives."

The TV list was evaluated on the principles of 'entertainment value: then and now', 'social and cultural significance' and 'groundbreaking originality'.

EW's TV Top 10:

10. Your Show of Shows

9. Mad Men

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

7. The Andy Griffith Show

6. All in the Family

5. The Sopranos

4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

3. Seinfeld

2. The Simpsons

1. The Wire

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a495635/the-wire-voted-all-time-greatest-tv-show-by-entertainment-weekly.html?rss

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

cork1958

Posted
Posted

You're kidding me?!  :o

 

There's only 2 shows in that list I'd even consider good!!

 

Never even heard of The Wire!

 

That list is almost as stupid as Rolling Stones usual crap list of greatest guitarists/songs!!

  • WAQT and Shiranui
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Dick Montage

Posted
Posted

If you've "never even heard of The Wire" - then I'd argue that your views on the list will be somewhat - let's say confined.  I don't 100% agree with the list - and haven't watched much of "The Wire" but I can see why it's on the list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Nick H. Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

How has The Sopranos been beaten by The Simpsons?! The Sopranos was great throughout, The Simpsons went up and then started to lose it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Experienced

br0adband

Posted
Posted

The West Wing is better.

 

Yes, it is, and it's not even on the list, sadly. It's a top five show, period, but we're talking about humans offering up their opinions I suppose.

 

How many awards did "The Wire" win while being on the air? Pretty much nothing that would be used as evidence of it being a great show - while "The West Wing" has a rather voluminous list of awards including several wins as Best Drama.

 

I know a lot of folks like "The Wire," and yes I've seen it, but I don't even put it in the same class as something like "The West Wing" in my own list. I wouldn't even have "The Wire" on a top 10 list of my own, go figure.

 

YMMV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Lamp0

Posted
Posted

Yes, it is, and it's not even on the list, sadly. It's a top five show, period, but we're talking about humans offering up their opinions I suppose.

 

How many awards did "The Wire" win while being on the air? Pretty much nothing that would be used as evidence of it being a great show - while "The West Wing" has a rather voluminous list of awards including several wins as Best Drama.

 

I know a lot of folks like "The Wire," and yes I've seen it, but I don't even put it in the same class as something like "The West Wing" in my own list. I wouldn't even have "The Wire" on a top 10 list of my own, go figure.

 

YMMV.

 

 

I haven't seen the West Wing, sounds like it's pretty good. Though isn't that the same writer/s as "The Newsroom"? I did not care for that show at all.

 

But I think The Wire is an absolutely outstanding piece of work. It's not just what it's saying, but how it says it, I have never really seen a show deliver like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Veteran

Ash

Posted
Posted

Still of the opinion that The Shield is better than The Wire but whatever.

 

I agree on this, The shield was solid and great from beginning to end.

 

I only really found the first and third seasons of The Wire to be really good.

 

The first because it was new and different. I found the rest of the series pretty much the same most of the way besides the third season.

 

The 3rd season I liked because it had an interesting concept. Without giving too much away to those who haven't seen it, basically A major in the police department designates a run down part of the city where the police will not arrest for drug dealing. This was an attempt to reduce the drug related crimes in the surrounding areas so that crime reduction will look good politically.

 

And the one thing I liked through the whole series.... "Omar Coming"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Lamp0

Posted
Posted

I agree on this, The shield was solid and great from beginning to end.

 

I only really found the first and third seasons of The Wire to be really good.

 

The first because it was new and different. I found the rest of the series pretty much the same most of the way besides the third season.

 

The 3rd season I liked because it had an interesting concept. Without giving too much away to those who haven't seen it, basically A major in the police department designates a run down part of the city where the police will not arrest for drug dealing. This was an attempt to reduce the drug related crimes in the surrounding areas so that crime reduction will look good politically.

 

And the one thing I liked through the whole series.... "Omar Coming"

 

I've never seen The Shield, but I don't know if I'd like it. I get the impression it's more heavy handed than The Wire?

 

...but my god man, you don't think season 2 or 4 of The Wire are worth anything?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Osiris

Posted
Posted

Don't know who came up with this list but wire wouldnt have a ###### show of making it into a proper top 10 imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mentor

BetaAddict

Posted
Posted

These lists are always debatable as everyone will have their own opinion what is the best shows based on what they have already watched. I have watched half the shows on the list, either partially or entirely at some point, but I personally would not rank any of those as my top ten. I would probably go a step further by ranking shows by genres or even decades, because Top 10 all time is too narrow and subjective to rank shows based on their true entertainment value. For example, Seinfeld and The Wire have nothing in common and shouldn't be compared directly. Breaking Bad versus The Wire would be a more accurate comparison. By the standards of this list, where is Friends, Bill Cosby Show, and Three's Company? All three of these were childhood classics and far more widely known and watched than The Wire. Then there's also the more recent wave of phenomenal shows like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Sherlock, Dexter, The Walking Dead, and the list goes on and on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Chicane-UK Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

I've not seen it and it's yet another popular show I must catch up on at some point - but I have to say that it's not unusual for recent stuff to top charts. People have very short memories when it comes to TV & Movies! You only need to look at the IMDB top 100 list and wonder how some films are right up there, when some absolute classics of cinema or literally GENRE defining movies are languishing way down.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted

The Wire is definitely number one, but I agree with others in this thread that West Wing should be up there too

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

LOC Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

As someone who grew up in the late 70's and 80's, All in the Family and shows from that era blow anything out these days away. There's no question in my mind about it. In fact, I think it's a travesty that I Love Lucy isn't even in the top 10, let alone it should be #1. So, yeah. Opinions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Veteran

Alwaysonacoffebreak

Posted
Posted

How can an opinion of some people be considered as "The all time greatest"? It should at least be "The all time greatest for us" or something similar, I'd only watch 2 of the shows on that list.

 

The Shield didn't even make it..that's one of the all time greatest for me, now what? Only that alone dismisses the whole list as "all time greatest"

 

And about the The Wire, no way it would even make it into my top 10. It's just meh for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing