Great debates: 'Sopranos' vs. 'The Wire'

Today, HBO is arguably the most respected and critically acclaimed network on television. But back in January 1999, when The Sopranos debuted, that certainly wasn't the case. Not that HBO didn't feature original programming pre-Sopranos: There was the terrific Dream On, which told the story of the lovably single Martin Tupper, and ran from 1990-96. And The Larry Sanders Show (1992-98) might be the funniest sitcom of all-time. Yet The Sopranos, which was in the simplest definition a small-screen version of Goodfellas, clearly raised the stakes for HBO and cable as a whole. Suddenly, it wasn't just about the big networks anymore.

  The Wire premiered to rabid critical praise almost immediately upon its premiere in June 2002. But viewership never came close to Sopranos numbers. It was grittier, to be sure—focusing on inner-city Baltimore, and with a far more racially diverse cast. And oh, what a cast it was. While The Wire's universe revolved around deeply flawed street cop Jimmy McNulty, the drama could still put him in the background and not miss a beat. The Wire had more solid characters than any show this side of Twin Peaks.

  Both The Sopranos and The Wire started off nearly flawless. Their first seasons were knockout good. But for me, The Wire just kept topping itself. At the end of season 3, a lot of people probably didn't know where they had left to go. But miraculously, creator David Simon and his excellent team of writers completely shifted gears—and went back to school. The result was season 4, maybe the show's finest hour. With The Sopranos, I thought they reached their peak season 3. I recall a terrific episode where the feds had the Soprano house under surveillance. And of course, there was "Pine Barrens," an all-time classic. Things started going downhill with season 4. By that point, I'm convinced a lot of late-comers to the extremely popular mob-drama were watching just so they weren't left out of the conversation.
  So, I guess it's pretty obvious which one I'm going with. How about you?

Previously:
My So-Called Life vs. Freaks and Geeks
90210 vs. Melrose Place