re: Top 5 Shows

Current series:

1.Mad Men
2.Justified
3.Hannibal
4.True Detective
5.House of Cards

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no, just no. to second what the other guy said, breaking bad has some major flaws in the writing, especially pertaining to the characters, minus walt white

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What major writing flaws? What have you figured out that the rest of us hasn't? The Wire and Breaking Bad are two totally different shows. The Wire is covering a much broader range of topics (social and political) and plot lines. Slightly changing themes and character focus season to season. Breaking Bad is much more singular, which is why it plays like a long movie. From the very beginning, it is clear Walt's circumstances are a means to an end, a bad one.

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what? breaking bad has the worst female characters by far. marie was just a completely wasted and poorly written character, the subplot with her stealing was a complete waste of time

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I knew my comment about that would rustle jimmies. Did no one see my edit saying I was mostly joking? No, the parts about her stealing were not a waste time. It was about her, Hank and Skylar's development as characters. Skylar finding out about her stealing created a big rift between them. It also showed she and Hank weren't all good, like Walt and Skylar weren't all evil. I haven't watched it in a while but all of that contributed to tension between two couples. Not a waste of time (unlike the entire Season 2 of The Wire). And poorly written characters? Ha. I would argue that every major character in BB is more "well written" than any major character in The Wire. Gilligan devotes much more time and energy developing complex characters than does The Wire.

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what was bad about sopranos female characters? its a show about criminals, and not surprisingly they don't treat their women particularly well. but carmella was a strong character, tony's mom, although completely unbearable, was absolutely crucial to the explanation of tony's behavior/personality. meadow was a better character than walt jr. Melfi was an important part of the show. janice, although just as unlikeable as her mom, was still a better character than marie, as was adrianna

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Again, I said this only jokingly. I thought it several times during my rewatch. They took beatings and abuse all for the sake of material things the entire show. Its not about them being likable (they aren't and they have no redeeming qualities other than Meadow) its about their character and conviction. With that said, Carmella was not a strong figure IMO. Edie Falco did though deliver a great performance in her role as Carm. Opposite of that, I thought Melfi was a pretty terribly acted role but was probably not a weak character (I hated the way they ended it with her and Tony). Tony's mom character was admittedly pretty great, I laughed every time she was on screen during my rewatch.

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They harped on the old school theme pretty hard as far as women were concerned.

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That's true, that's really how it is in the gangster subgenre which is probably something Chase was trying to portray. Again I meant it mostly jokingly, didn't mean to hate on the show (again I do own it, I'm a fan).

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Dr. Melfi refusing to divulge the identity of her rapist to Tony was one of the "strongest female character" moves of all time.

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Good point. I wish they would have offered some sort of closure there but that was probably the point. I'll say again though that I thought the acting was lacking in that role.

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The Wire is a show you can get lost in and forget it isn't real. Breaking Bad is like a live action cartoon and the characters are like exaggerated caricatures.

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Isn't that something that anyone feels about any show they like? I was much more into the story, atmosphere and mood of Breaking Bad than Wire. Just my preference, maybe because as I said above, it is a singular story all about one man's actions. The Wire is not. And no Breaking Bad was not like a cartoon with exaggerated characters. I felt like they were real to life and all or most of their emotions and interaction were appropriate to the circumstances of the story. I feel like I've been trashing The Wire, I love that show and if I had given a top 5 it would probably be on it. I only responded to someone saying The Wire is GOAT with ease and BB is overrated.