Rank your Top 5 favorite HBO Original Series shows

[GoatMonkey]

1. Dream On
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. Sopranos
4. Rome
5. Entourage

 

[thesurge]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Who the fuck said they thought it was deep and profound? Its good because it isn't. It is unpretentious, gritty without being over the top, and realistic (considering). The fact that you even compared it in such a way to the serial crime shows on the networks is downright pathetic.

Yeah, it's gritty and "realistic" because they're allowed to swear and show nudity/sex. Beyond that it's just a string of tedious cop-show cliches. If only they had cut the emphasis on the cops in half and diverted the saved effort into the street segments the show would be worth watching.

Sorry, you are wrong.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: Excelsior
How many full episodes of The Wire have you actually seen?

I watched the first 11 episodes, but I couldn't make it through the season because it was completely disappointing.

I'd imagine you'd find very few people will agree with you.

 

[misle]

I haven't had HBO in years, so I'll go with:

1. Tales from the Crypt
2. Kids in the Hall
3. Dream On
4. John Adams (been downloading)
5. Deadwood (rented the first season)

 

[Loop2kil]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Who the fuck said they thought it was deep and profound? Its good because it isn't. It is unpretentious, gritty without being over the top, and realistic (considering). The fact that you even compared it in such a way to the serial crime shows on the networks is downright pathetic.

Yeah, it's gritty and "realistic" because they're allowed to swear and show nudity/sex. Beyond that it's just a string of tedious cop-show cliches. If only they had cut the emphasis on the cops in half and diverted the saved effort into the street segments the show would be worth watching.

Though I did like The Wire, I totally agree...needed more about the street action and much less about the cops (and why the crap so much air time spent with the news room during this last season...wtf was that about)

My list:
1. Sopranos
2. Deadwood
3. Band of Brothers
4. Oz
5. The Wire

 

[dr150]

1.) Rome
1a.) Entourage
2.
3.
4. Sopranos (first seasons were good...the should got progressively worse/bland)
5.

 

[Chunkee]

1 entourage
2 curb
3 sopranos
4 oz
5 carnivale/six feet under

curb is so over the top goddamn funny... entourage...is very entertaining...the wit... sopranos, character development...oz..my god, i will never go to jail...carnivale...the fury of the right hand of god enters the bizarro ....six feet under...make me feel like my family is normal

jC

 

[slayer202]

I love HBO, looks like I need to get the DVDs of deadwood, OZ and The Wire. I've only seen an episode here and there

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Loop2kil

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Who the fuck said they thought it was deep and profound? Its good because it isn't. It is unpretentious, gritty without being over the top, and realistic (considering). The fact that you even compared it in such a way to the serial crime shows on the networks is downright pathetic.

Yeah, it's gritty and "realistic" because they're allowed to swear and show nudity/sex. Beyond that it's just a string of tedious cop-show cliches. If only they had cut the emphasis on the cops in half and diverted the saved effort into the street segments the show would be worth watching.

Though I did like The Wire, I totally agree...needed more about the street action and much less about the cops (and why the crap so much air time spent with the news room during this last season...wtf was that about)

My list:
1. Sopranos
2. Deadwood
3. Band of Brothers
4. Oz
5. The Wire

The creator chose a theme each year, looking at the city with a different POV. This past season happened to be the newspaper. David Simon worked for the Baltimore Sun for 12 years.

He again worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. They originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of Burns when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: Excelsior
How many full episodes of The Wire have you actually seen?

I watched the first 11 episodes, but I couldn't make it through the season because it was completely disappointing.

Well, your loss. It sounds like you've let your opinion of other cop shows or movies creep in to your view of this show. I've seen many myself, but I approach each show with a clean slate.

The clichés you speak of weren't just pulled out of thin fucking air for this show. The creators, writers, and producers didn't say "Oh man, I saw ____ in this movie. Lets put it in The Wire." Nope, they drew on their own experiences in the city, working as detectives, school teachers, and journalists for the newspaper. So if you think it was all over the top and cliché and couldn't enjoy it because of that, fine by me. I, OTOH, am sad to see the show end because there isn't one to replace it. It was head and shoulders above the current cop dramas that are all over TV.

 

[Muadib]

1. Dream On
2. Tales from the Crypt
3. Sex in the City (I can't wait for the movie!)
4. Six Feet Under
5. Real Sex

Except for the occasional HD movie, there's nothing on it now that I watch, and that's just sad.

 

[neomits]

White People love The Wire

 

[boomer6447]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
old school

1)Dream On>all

Amen...I loved that show.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
Maybe all those cliches are an accurate representation of how real police work, but that doesn't mean they aren't cliches. I've seen them in countless cop movies and shows, and it's tiring.

Yeah, what we need is a cop show that tells it like it isn't because reality is overrated and cliche. Maybe a show where the cops pull someone over and then break into song and dance. That sounds like it could be a hit, but only if a real cop show writer/director got a hold of it, like Bochco or something.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Mr. Show
Curb Your Enthusiasm

Never seen any others.

 

[rchiu]

Dream on
Oz
Arliss
Entourage
Sopranos

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Platypus
Also Perknose, how the hell can you even consider John From Cincinnati? That was like easily the worst show that's ever been on HBO and I'm a big Mitch fan.

I liked it. I even felt I understood it. Obviously, I'm in the minority here, perhaps even a minority of one. I can live with that.

Hey! At least I didn't list Arliss in my top five, k?

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
I tried watching it thinking it would be special, but it turned out to be just another cop show. Cue angry boss yelling the main character's name in his office, character's partner sighing at another crime scene, corrupt cops being douche-bags, and hard-ass cops with hearts of gold solving cases on a miraculous, unlikely chance discovery. Tedious.

Chance discovery? What? Are you talking about their pager # code being "cracked"? That was hardly chance.

The show involves season-long investigations involving laborious wire taps and surveillance. It is impossible to watch the show out of order because individual episodes don't really have any stand-alone purpose. The show demonstrates the similarities between various institutions in a city and shows us that there aren't "good guys" and "bad guys". What other chop shows had that?

The "cops with hearts of gold" don't really exist in this show. McNulty's heart would more accurately be described as full of bile and poison. He drinks himself into a stupor regularly and crashes his car while driving drunk, never getting caught or called on it. He cheats on his wife and can't even take care of his kids. There is no gold in his heart AT ALL. At least not in the first couple of seasons.

By the way, everything doesn't work out in the end. Too bad you missed the last episode of the season.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

http://xkcd.com/386/

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: M0oG0oGaiPan
http://xkcd.com/386/

You go to bed at 2:30 pm? what are you 70?

 

[darkxshade]

It's Omar... It's Omar


*runs off*

 

[Liviathan]

1. Not Necessarily the News
2. See Number 1

 

[juiio]

If only they had cut the emphasis on the cops in half and diverted the saved effort into the street segments the show would be worth watching.

Try seasons three, four, and five.

 

[Josh]

1. Entourage
2. Sopranos
3. Oz
4. Lucky Louie
5. The Wire (haven't seen it all yet)

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

1. The Sopranos
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. The Larry Sanders Show
4. Entourage
5. Flight of the Concordes

I have not really watched The Wire (which I know many critics rate as THE best TV show ever broadcast), just because it seems really hard to pick up in the middle, but I gather it would have a place on my list if I did watch it. I didn't have cable when Six Feet Under was on, but haven't loved what I've seen of it. I don't love Oz, Carnivale, Big Love, or Deadwood, but will concede they're all good shows. I really liked the first season of Rome, and LOVE Da Ali G Show.

As for the people implying there are no good shows on HBO, as far as I'm concerned you're just trumpeting your own ignorance. If you simply haven't seen these shows, fine, but I don't believe that any credible critic would disagree that HBO has broadcast many of the finest original shows on television over the past couple of decades (albeit also some real clunkers, like John From Cincinnati and Lucky Louie).