So, OP, did you start The Wire yet?

Update: I admittedly started watching The Sopranos first. I watched the pilots of both The Sopranos and The Wire and liked the Sopranos pilot better.

I am through the first 3 seasons of The Sopranos. Great show, Tony Soprano is one of the most iconic TV characters ever (I know, I'm late to the party).

I am begging, PRAYING, that Janice Soprano gets wacked. Goddamn she is irritating.

I choose Sopranos...by far.
After reading everyones rave reviews on The Wire I gave that a shot and got bored by mid second season and quit watching it. I've probably seen each episode of The Sopranos at least 6-7 times and can never get tired of it.
I also agree with anyone who mentioned Oz or Six Feet Under. Another one of my favorite shows was Lost, although the payoff wasnt worth putting in the time.

Watch The Wire. The Sopranos had it's moments but was boring and repetitive more often than not and ended terribly. The Wire is superior in every way IMO.

Um, you might want to have a look at the post two above yours.

Pretty much agree with everything you said, except I think Lost was worth it even if you didn't like the payoff. Probably my second favoirte show of all time behind Sopranos.

Osiris let us know your opinions, I'm intrigued!

Then you didn't give it a shot and you missed out on a lot of stuff.

Then you didn't give it a shot and you missed out on a lot of stuff. Especially being that each season of the Wire focuses on a different aspect of the city of Baltimore.

The Wire grows on you. Even a long time after you are done watching the show.

Also, you have to pay attention. It's not a show where you can be doing something else, Twitter, FB, laundry, etc. You'll lose a lot of details if you are not 100% into the show. That may sound like a chore, but the payout is huge!

This. I watched the series on DVD about 3 years ago in about a month span. Like you said making it your central focus makes it that much better than it already is.

I liked all of the Wire. I liked that it didn't really have a main character but equal time many of it's great actors. I enjoyed the season long plot lines. The Sopranos went on two seasons to long and didn't do a good job with it actors. The focus was to much on the main character. I also didn't like the ending. I like the show but it isn't on my top ten. The shield, BSG, Lost, the wire, are all better than the sopranos.

Not to go OT, but you didn't think that Lost went on about two seasons too long too?

Nope, I loved lost. There were only two episodes I didn't like. Jack's tattoo episode and some other episode I can not recall. However, they could have reduced the seasons and still have told pretty much the same story. I just didn't see a need to do so.

I watched the entire series and prefer The Sopranos. Did I give it a shot?

On the topic of Lost, I think it may be my second favorite show behind The Sopranos. I definitely prefer it to The Wire personally.

I guess you missed the part where I wasn't replying to you and in answer to your question YEAH you gave it a shot and missed BADLY.

I guess you missed the part where I wasn't replying to you so I don't care but since you want an answer to your question YEAH you gave it a shot and missed BADLY.

LOL a season and a half is giving the show a shot.
Just liked Sopranos better.
Maybe someday I'll decide to try The Wire again. I forgot to mention that I attempted to watch The Wire twice. Both times I barely made it midway through season 2.
As far as Lost, it could've been the perfect show if it didnt get so messy and convoluted towards the end.
BTW, I'm curious as to what happens to Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, and Omar.

LOL not this show.

LOL at trying to tell me that a season and a half is enough and then turning around and wanting to know what happens to Avon, Stringer and Omar. Terrible. Watch the REST of the show. You don't give up on a show like The Wire about 1 1/2 seasons.

I don't know, I think 18 episodes is enough to determine whether you want to continue or not. After 18 episodes the main characters were fairly well established and you should know whether it's worth it to you to continue or not continue.

For me I knew really early on, like the end of episode 1 that I was going to continue but for Treme I labored through a few episodes before giving up.

It took me two tries to get into The Wire, but the second go-around I watched the entire run. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as The Sopranos. Mostly what I remember is that Baltimore sure is a dreary and depressing place (luckily I have been there several times since on business and it is not nearly as miserable as The Wire made it out to be). Then again, it is probably the only "cop drama" I have ever really watched through...just normally not my cup of tea, so that says a lot. But if it wasn't for all the hype I would have never tried it out, and certainly not twice.

Like I said not this show. Each season is very different and unique. 18 episodes is not enough.

I've probably already said this somewhere in this thread a long time ago but my feelings on the Sopranos are that: I liked the Sopranos it's a top 5 show for me but it got so full of itself and dumb and stretched out at times after the 3rd season. The last half of the last season was very good but from season 4 to the end of the 1st half of season 6 it just got caught up in the hype of itself and made a mockery of itself at times. If they had tightened things up and not spent so much time on secondary characters that no one cared about and weren't interesting and shortened it by one season it would have been that much better. Still can't put it above The Wire for those reasons.

Picture coming into focus now...

Actually Lost and Sopranos have something in common - both started off great, had tons of promise, and sucked hard in their last season.

How good can the Wire really be, considering it spawned its own musical?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O_vQozw4N0o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

But seriously, both shows have their merits and it's difficult to dismiss either.

The Wire wouldn't have been made if it weren't for The Sopranos.

The Sopranos.