The wire is in a different universe when compared to the Sopranos.

Oz ebbs and flows. Season 3 is one of the best seasons of television ever, and season 5 was berry berry bad.

Season 1: Fantastic. Jefferson Keane is one of the most interesting characters ever.

Seasons 2 and 3: Very compelling television

1st half of season 4: The rise and fall of Adebisi. Unbelievable stuff.

After that? Ick.

It's set in the depression era, about a travelling circus called "Carnivale", which has two factions to it, a good one and an evil one, but the show never really tells you which is which. It's got biblical themes, set in the 30's, etc. and was supposed to go 6 seasons but got cancelled after 2. I still tihnk it's pretty good.

I'll just add on to what everyone said. Some of the best characters on TV ever (maybe a slight exaggeration? but not much) are on Oz, but there's a lot of fluff too. To name you some, Jeffesron Kane, Adebesi, Schillinger (every time after you see this guy in a movie, you can only think "Holy [censored], it's Schillinger but he's not a psycho"), Beecher, and the best of them all -- Said. Also maybe Augustus and Pinkamo and maybe even McManus. These characters are amazing.

[Edit: Holy crap, I forgot O'Rielly. What is wrong with me? ]

That being said, there's a lot of episodes that are meh, especially after/during season 4. Last season (6? 7?) picks it up somewhat, so it's worth it to finish the series. Once you get invested in the characters you will have to see their ends.

The other thing that can be said of this show is that it is not afraid to kill ANYONE. ANYONE, I say again. You think some of the shows on TV now aren't afraid to kill main characters, but you're wrong. Oz will kill anyone at any time. Remember this. It makes the show close to completely unpredictable.

Let me be the first to defend The Wire, and tell you how wrong you are in saying this. Now I've only seen season 1 of OZ, and liked it mind you, but the characters weren't even in the same league as even the weakest character on The Wire.

Are you saying the Wire is much better than the Sopranos? I don't see how that's even possible, given how awesome the Sopranos is.

the guy was asking about whether he should watch the show and you toss in spoilers? ugh

this is why i never read wire threads anymore

yep sounds right

Yes. The wire has ass-zits that are more compelling than the Sopranos.

I think you are in the minority here(not that you think the Wire is better than the Sopranos) but that you think the gap between them is huge

lol

Sopranos was a soap opera with dudes.

The Wire is a quasi reality show about an important social and politcal issue. Oh, and the acting and writing is awesome.

I guess it might be easier to write for the Wire, but still, it's so well done.

Look, this is something I think a lot of Wire, Sopranos, Carnivale, Six Feet Under fans will agree with..OZ was the trigger that got alot of us into the other shows.

I think the overall thing with Oz is that it never tried to be more than it was...a killer prison show. What's amazing to me is just HOW unrealistic and contrived so much of the show really was...but it still worked..you know? We still kept coming back for more...

For those of you that have watched every season...there are so many examples of just plain ridiculous storylines (Agamemnon's marriage to Miss Sally, escaping ala Andy Dufresne, Richie Hanlon, Jazz Hoyt's descent into madness), horrid acting (McManus at times, Lauren Velez, the two old cats, etc) ... you just have to be amazed that despite that, it last as long as it did and really still has a cult following.

Amazing characters that you grew to root for (Beecher, Said, Alvarez, Sister Pete, etc), compelling characters that fascinated you (Keller, Schillinger, Poet, Said again, Cyril) and downright brilliant narration by our boy Augustus Hill.

Give it a chance...don't expect to be wowed, but anticipate not being able to put it away.

As an aside, I can't believe in all of this no one has mentioned the brilliant acting of Chris Meloni (he of SVU fame) as the tortured Chris Keller. I remember watching the show back then thinking...damn, this guy is good if I'm starting to root for someone this vile.

Finally...while I just spent the last 20 min pimping Oz..do yourself and the board a favor and watch The Wire first. Untouched in it's brilliance..you won't be disappointed by any of it.

Also...check out The Corner...more good stuff.

aisle,

blah blah blah nit nit nit

Oz rules. Great TV. Watch it.