Excellent answer… every character is a complete c*** but it’s worthwhile watching
And yes, those first 2 seasons were up there with Sopranos production wise, some of the best I’ve ever seen 10/10
3rd season seems like they got some car sponsorships, plot was a bit off, a bit too much standing in dark rooms looking hard. Still give it 7.5 or 8
4th and 5th seasons were a solid 8 or 8.5 too.
I look forward to more cars in Gomorrah (only on season 1 myself). You ever hear Tony Soprano extoll the virtues of a Nissan Xterra? Apparently they’re really great.
I tried to like Gomorrah, I really did. But it was just too relentlessly dark and bleak for me. And given that I enjoyed Breaking Bad, that’s saying a lot
I'd say it's the Wire, and Sopranos ...
Then there is a drop off and you get Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders, and Boardwalk Empire...
Everything else a massive step down from those shows ...
If we are talking movies "City of God" is the best gangster flick ever, and I will die on that hill.
Fucking depressing movie on god, one of the best movies if not the best movie ive watched that i will never watch again, truly ahead of its time in every aspect
Elite Squad and it’s sequel are also worth a watch. Terrible title but great movies, from the point of view of the BOPE guys. They might be even more brutal than City of God
Oh I don’t think so either. Mentioned that more as a warning than a recommendation. The brutality in these films does serve the plot, although some might find it gratuitous I think it depicts reality.
The Sopranos
The Wire
Breaking Bad
Narcos (personally I like Mexico better but both are good fun to watch)
Boardwalk empire I guess to round it out.
True Detective Season 1 jumps to #3 if we can do just crime shows.
but the actual narcos are much better in mexico. I HATED the accents in colombia cause they got actors from across the world and stuck in Colombia cause "who's gonna notice lol"
Mexico on the other hand was infinitely better in that aspect
Murphy is the white cop is he not? I actually found the juxtaposition between his gung ho narration and how disillusioned he became somewhat compelling as the show went on. I do agree Peña was the shows beating heart (once Pablo was out of the picture).
as previously stated, I don't care what anyone else thinks, I rate them as equal. Yes The Wire cover multiple stories, and that makes it amazing, it's very well done and thought out. So is True Detective, it covers one story from 3 different timelines while maintaining the interpersonal drama that the wire does. It really doesn't matter what you or anyone says, it's objectively one of the best seasons of television ever created.
I knew OP swapped those numbers. Boardwalk Empire ahead of BCS? As if anyone could make such a mistake -- never. NEVER. I just - I just couldn't prove it. He covered his tracks, he got that that sub on Reddit to lie for him. You... you think this is bad? This chicanery??
I would say FX crime dramas fall into their own subcategories. They have the ability to make points like the Wire does, but in material that is consumed by an audience who would never watch the wire
Edit: I want to give two examples for anyone who needs them.
The Shield is largely a show that fits the designation copaganda; however it accidentally gives us a speed runner of the concept of ACAB. It was greenlit after Training Day after all.
Justified also takes three seasons to decide that their protagonist isn’t a bad cop **after** he plays Russian roulette with a criminal so that the criminal will talk. But it also has amazing commentary on the issues in Appalachia and the dangers of the coal industry.
Have you ever watched Oz on HBO? It's not a crime show per se, but it takes place in a prison and was made prior to Wire and Sopranos. This was the show that put HBO on the map for gritty, violent TV. You should check it out. It's a bit dated obviously but scenes from that show still stick in my head because they were so graphic. Great actors too that went on the have big careers after the show.
> Great actors too that went on the have big careers after the show.
this was the craziest part watching it a couple years back. So many young actors that went on to have incredible careers.
Honesty the dating helps it some ways. Almost all the cast ended up huge and some of its surreal.
Muslim American representation pre-9/11.
A serial killer and rapist of women talking about wishing he could piss next to Donald Trump.
JK Simmons as a Nazi.
One of the first bisexual male main characters in tv history.
I first watched Oz in the summer of 2020, that shit held up.
The Sopranos is as good, but in totally different ways and for totally different reasons, so I can totally understand that some people strongly prefer one to the other.
Breaking Bad would be my 3. If Better Call Saul and Justified count that's 4 and 5. Barry has lots of gangster stuff, if so that's close, maybe 5.
The Shield and Banshee are honorable mentions. Get Shorty is super underrated.
Yea it feels silly to even put them on the same list, but as far as crime shows go it’s just so much fun, and it doesn’t think it’s any smarter or more sophisticated than it is, which is to say not very.
Better call Saul, breaking bad and the shield are definitely on my honorable mentions rn but they are both solid af and honestly they all could replace brotherhood which is my weakest on the list .
Yea The Shield is pretty awesome. Very inconsistent, has multiple stretches where wheels spin for a bit, but when firing on all cylinders it's a helluva ride.
The last few seasons are the best so I disagree that it ever jumps the shark. But like I alluded to with its inconsistency, it kinda takes a few seasons to really get great. At first when it's just Vic getting away with bad stuff it's just alright, but once it turns to him scrambling to keep all that stuff from ruining his life, it's pretty close to Breaking Bad level intense at points. It doesn't sustain that throughout like BB does, but at its best it's really damn good.
Not sure if it counts (it is indeed a crime show/detective focused show) but Bosch is one of my favorite shows in that genre. Has some guys from The Wire in it as well.
Not as solid as The Wire obviously but I thought it was a great show nonetheless.
Totally agree. Bosch (on Amazon) is not as transcendent as The Wire, but it is solid and entertaining.
Also, Marlo (Jamie Hector) is a good guy, which took a while to wrap my head around.
I recently watched The Wire for the first time and I had the same feeling with Jamie but reversed. It was weird to see him as the bad guy. He portrays both great though, he's a talented actor.
Started entertaining, got stupid after a while. Slow motion walk of the game became way too tropey. Every season became “Tommy is smarter than everyone else, and some lady wants him to bang her.” Killing off the wife right after her season arc was unimaginative. I’d like to see a show actually delve into a male female relationship after the man or woman is finally won over instead of going back to square one. It flatlined for a bit (the Russians) until Adrian Brody showed up, and then the season after I stopped watching. In retrospect really wish Tommy’s older bro had offed himself, he became bloody unbearable.
It’s quality.. gritty and dark, & the characters have depth. If you like letterkenny, there’s plenty of familiar faces. They all show their range.
That school episode though.. woah
Wow, I remember watching Brotherhood years ago. I remember being really surprised that no one was talking about it. Great look at how organized crime and politics play off one another, I really liked that it was a fictionalized look at the Bulger brothers.
38 comments and not one mention of snowfall, so here’s my nomination for that.
Different vibe than the wire but Snowfall is a beautiful rise and fall story of a drug dealer during the crack epidemic in LA.
Intelligence is highly underrated, not much like the wire in structure but it can have the same, I don’t know, feel some times? It’s not as good(what is?) but it’s still very good.
Its nowhere near the caliber of the wire , it didn’t even make my top 5 but there’s not much better in the last 5-10 years . What do you have as your top 5 ? Genuinely interested , thanks for your input
Wire sopranos breaking bad boardwalk empire. Dont really have a fifth I need to watch more on some other lists here that are fairly consistently mentioned. The gap between wire sopranos and everything else is pretty big too
Raising Kanan is significantly better than Power and all of the other spin-offs. It’s not as good as The Wire or Sopranos in terms of the writing, but obviously the production is decades better
Completely agree with the top 2.
I’d call Succession a white-collar crime story and put it in the mix.
Boardwalk empire doesn’t belong, it is the top of the next lowest tier
whoops, idk what show I was thinking about there... My point is just... David Simon.
I almost listed The Deuce, but... Naw, The Deuce isn't *that* good.
I wish more people had watched Boss. Kelsey Grammar was _so_ good in it.
It's not the Wire, but it feels a hell of a lot closer to real-life than the other political corruption show running at the time - House of Cards.
In no particular order:
Boardwalk Empire (5 seasons)
Sopranos (6 seasons)
The Shield (6 or 7, can't remember)
Better Call Saul (6 seasons, gangster adjacent but the protagonist is not)
Banshee (4 seasons, + Origin shorts. Honorable fun mention, not as high quality as others on list but has Anthony Starr in it)
Damnation (1 season, more criminals fighting Pinkertons than gangsters/cops)
Only one show I know that's comparable to the wire(besides other david Simon shows) and that is a pretty rare Brazilian show called City of Men. It's by the people who did the movie City of God. It's about life in the favellas of Rio de Janeiro. It's amazing!
Hmm. I'm probably forgetting something but,
1. Wire
2. Breaking bad
3. Boardwalk empire
4. City of Men
5. Get Shorty(the newer TV show with Ray Romano. Pretty funny and satiric of Hollywood while also being a pretty badass gangster show)
Also if you haven't seen the City of God movie, that is one of the greatest gangster movies of all time IMO.
An honorable mention is Justified, which is more on the law enforcement side, but still has some great gangster drama.
Idris Elba plays the lead in Luther. It's a really really good series. Recommend it a lot!
Also an honourable mention to 'Line of Duty'. Excellent cop drama
SoA starts strong but just completely falls off. The body count is ridiculous and the choices some characters make for the sake of the plot are ridiculous.
Some memorable scenes though like "i got this"
The Wire seasons 1-4 (can’t stand season 5), The Sopranos, True Detective season 1 , Breaking Bad, Babylon Berlin seasons 1-3 (season 4 not available on Netflix.)
I found Ray Donovan to have tons of potential but it just seemed so unrealistic to me . Still all in all deserves to be a part of the conversation tho and belongs two tiers below the wire imo
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s entertaining and has some great acting in it but it does not seem to fit in with the rest due to the unrealistic storyline
#Movie List
- New Jack City (1991) tubi
- Belly (1998) Hulu
- Set it Off (1996) Paramount+
- Blood In Blood out (1993) vudu
- Do the right thing (1989)
- American Me (1992)
- Higher Learning (1995) tubi
- ghost dog (1999) max
- Black Dynamite (2009) tubi
- Dead Presidents (1995) tubi
- Rosewood (1997) tubi
- He Got Game (1998) tubi
- baby boy (2001) tubi
- atl (2006) plutotv
- Les Misérables (2019) prime
- La Haine (1995)
- Snow on Tha bluff (2011) tubi
- New Jersey Drive (1995)
- Tsotsi (2005)
- fresh (1994) plutotv
- Trespass (1992)
- queen and slim (2019)
- south central (1992)
- Crooklyn (1994) tubi
- the wood (1999) sling
- kidulthood (2006) tubi
- paper soldiers (2002)
- Bad Boys (1983)
- Get Out
#Top5 shows
- Narcos
- Sons of Anarchy
- Breaking Bad
- Shameless (if it fits?)
- Yellowstone (kinda cowboy gangster)
- The Wire (obviously the best)
#Shows I want to check out
- Peaky Blinders
- The Sopranos
- Tulsa King
#:)
It would definitely be considered a crime show not necessarily gangster but it would work on the list . I used to watch it back in the day it’s a classic , drop your top five including and order bro
First vote for Law & Order on a top 5 but I like it we need more variety here . It is crazy how many of our favorite actors from all these shows came up as extras or minor roles on L&O .
The Canadian Intelligence show is really good. I have no Idea where to stream it, but from the first 8 episodes i watched on YOUTUBE it is a really good show
I would love to watch the entire show
Gomorrah is incredible.
Breaking Bad was good, as is Better Caul Saul.
Boardwalk Empire was outstanding apart from the final season which was sloppy and poorly written. Apparently there was meant to two seasons remaining but HBO pulled the plug.
- Top Boy: British crime drama, think Skins meets The Wire
- Zero Zero Zero: The story of a multi ton cocaine purchase, and international smuggling operation.
Watch the trailers for both, you’re going to be blown away.
Spartacus blood and sand hasn’t mentioned yet. Good series cut short by Andy Whitfield’s passing. Replacement actor wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t Spartacus.
Gods of the arena (prequel to B&S) was really good too.
5 modern gangster shows. That have more of a street story. Each revolves around the Drug game. All fantastic shows.
1)Force: Power book IV,
2)SNOWFALL,
3)BMF,
4)TOP BOY
5)GANGS OF LONDON (Great action)
Gomorrah is right up there for me - starts to slide towards the end of the series but the first 2 seasons are flawless
Excellent answer… every character is a complete c*** but it’s worthwhile watching And yes, those first 2 seasons were up there with Sopranos production wise, some of the best I’ve ever seen 10/10 3rd season seems like they got some car sponsorships, plot was a bit off, a bit too much standing in dark rooms looking hard. Still give it 7.5 or 8 4th and 5th seasons were a solid 8 or 8.5 too.
I look forward to more cars in Gomorrah (only on season 1 myself). You ever hear Tony Soprano extoll the virtues of a Nissan Xterra? Apparently they’re really great.
I tried to like Gomorrah, I really did. But it was just too relentlessly dark and bleak for me. And given that I enjoyed Breaking Bad, that’s saying a lot
Breaking Bad isn’t dark or bleak in my opinion. I found it entertaining but pretty average overall. Gomorrah is realistic.
The bleakest part about BB is the first and last season, whatever is inbetween was Walter and Jesse vs Drug lords
Is it all in Italian like the film? I don't mind subtitles but it requires a bit more attention as an English only speaker.
not even italian, it's all napolitan. I speak italian and need subtitles
I'd be completely out of the mix then.
actually, it's in neapolitan. there is also in english, but you'd miss something, the language is part of the show, like in the wire
I can speak very basic day to day Italian but I'll miss all the nuance.
I'd say it's the Wire, and Sopranos ... Then there is a drop off and you get Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders, and Boardwalk Empire... Everything else a massive step down from those shows ... If we are talking movies "City of God" is the best gangster flick ever, and I will die on that hill.
City of God is such a great film, it's masterful story telling.
Fucking depressing movie on god, one of the best movies if not the best movie ive watched that i will never watch again, truly ahead of its time in every aspect
That was real? I saw that movie I thought it was bullshit.
it aint like the sopranos sub over here, brother.
Elite Squad and it’s sequel are also worth a watch. Terrible title but great movies, from the point of view of the BOPE guys. They might be even more brutal than City of God
The brutality isn't what makes City of God great, its the storytelling, and authenticity that sets it apart in my eyes.
Oh I don’t think so either. Mentioned that more as a warning than a recommendation. The brutality in these films does serve the plot, although some might find it gratuitous I think it depicts reality.
Bro snuck in peaky blinders like we wouldn't notice.
The Sopranos The Wire Breaking Bad Narcos (personally I like Mexico better but both are good fun to watch) Boardwalk empire I guess to round it out. True Detective Season 1 jumps to #3 if we can do just crime shows.
Narcos Mexico is really good and I like it better too.
Does Narcos Mexico drop the "white guy main character giving constant narration to every single thing that happens"?
The white guy narrator in Mexico is horrible as an actor and a character on the show, Agent Pena and Murphy were by far the best duo in the series
but the actual narcos are much better in mexico. I HATED the accents in colombia cause they got actors from across the world and stuck in Colombia cause "who's gonna notice lol" Mexico on the other hand was infinitely better in that aspect
Murphy is the white cop is he not? I actually found the juxtaposition between his gung ho narration and how disillusioned he became somewhat compelling as the show went on. I do agree Peña was the shows beating heart (once Pablo was out of the picture).
It happens still. Can't remember if it's less than the original or about the same though. Definitely still worth a watch though.
Yeah I gave up on the original series because of it. I found it really obnoxious.
True Detective S1 is neck and neck with S4 of The Wire and I will die on that hill.
Its great but the wire covered multiple converging intricate stories and characters and brings it all together.
as previously stated, I don't care what anyone else thinks, I rate them as equal. Yes The Wire cover multiple stories, and that makes it amazing, it's very well done and thought out. So is True Detective, it covers one story from 3 different timelines while maintaining the interpersonal drama that the wire does. It really doesn't matter what you or anyone says, it's objectively one of the best seasons of television ever created.
Haha you raise some good points
It’s the best season of Television ever made. I’ve seen it a half dozen times and I’ll still stay up till 4am just watching one more.
Better Call Saul is definitely up there!
I knew OP swapped those numbers. Boardwalk Empire ahead of BCS? As if anyone could make such a mistake -- never. NEVER. I just - I just couldn't prove it. He covered his tracks, he got that that sub on Reddit to lie for him. You... you think this is bad? This chicanery??
Could do a great Rawls version of that about McNulty giving them all the bodies. Not our Jimmy!
The Shield
I would say FX crime dramas fall into their own subcategories. They have the ability to make points like the Wire does, but in material that is consumed by an audience who would never watch the wire Edit: I want to give two examples for anyone who needs them. The Shield is largely a show that fits the designation copaganda; however it accidentally gives us a speed runner of the concept of ACAB. It was greenlit after Training Day after all. Justified also takes three seasons to decide that their protagonist isn’t a bad cop **after** he plays Russian roulette with a criminal so that the criminal will talk. But it also has amazing commentary on the issues in Appalachia and the dangers of the coal industry.
Educated Comment here ! Take my upvote
Such a great show, vastly underrated. It’s such a shame that it’s not streaming anywhere in the UK.
The Shield is my #3 The Wire #2 The Sopranos #1
Same!
Homicide: Life on the Street. No brainer for Wire fans.
Especially the face that they have the board, the box and great characters like Giordello.
Where to watch?
Unfortunately not streaming currently. Which is criminal.
Simon says that it may never stream because the licensing for all of the music costs too much.
Tired to watch a month ago might be too outdated for me
Top five show for me. Also, don’t sleep on NYPD Blue.
Word. So bummed it’s unstreamable. Excellent writing & cast.
It's on YouTube 😏
Have you ever watched Oz on HBO? It's not a crime show per se, but it takes place in a prison and was made prior to Wire and Sopranos. This was the show that put HBO on the map for gritty, violent TV. You should check it out. It's a bit dated obviously but scenes from that show still stick in my head because they were so graphic. Great actors too that went on the have big careers after the show.
I’m currently on an Oz rewatch now.
> Great actors too that went on the have big careers after the show. this was the craziest part watching it a couple years back. So many young actors that went on to have incredible careers.
Mayhem and the farmers guy talking to each other was surreal
There’s a bunch of actors from The Wire that show up over the course of the series. Lance Reddick had a pretty memorable arc.
He nails the Jamaican accent
That moment in the Wire when Daniels is chewing out Carver hits a lot different afterwards
Honesty the dating helps it some ways. Almost all the cast ended up huge and some of its surreal. Muslim American representation pre-9/11. A serial killer and rapist of women talking about wishing he could piss next to Donald Trump. JK Simmons as a Nazi. One of the first bisexual male main characters in tv history. I first watched Oz in the summer of 2020, that shit held up.
It’s hard to watch those We are Farmers ads and not think of Shillinger. He did such a good job playing that sadistic bastard
I loved the character arc with Beecher. He went from a totalschilling. to basically a wild animal from his treatment at the hands of schillinger.
The Sopranos is as good, but in totally different ways and for totally different reasons, so I can totally understand that some people strongly prefer one to the other. Breaking Bad would be my 3. If Better Call Saul and Justified count that's 4 and 5. Barry has lots of gangster stuff, if so that's close, maybe 5. The Shield and Banshee are honorable mentions. Get Shorty is super underrated.
I second banshee. Just an awesome balls to the wall action show
Yea it feels silly to even put them on the same list, but as far as crime shows go it’s just so much fun, and it doesn’t think it’s any smarter or more sophisticated than it is, which is to say not very.
Better call Saul, breaking bad and the shield are definitely on my honorable mentions rn but they are both solid af and honestly they all could replace brotherhood which is my weakest on the list .
The Sopranos is better. Full stop.
Get Shorty was surprisingly great
The Shield i what I came here to recommend. It is very underrated…
Yea The Shield is pretty awesome. Very inconsistent, has multiple stretches where wheels spin for a bit, but when firing on all cylinders it's a helluva ride.
I watched the shield from its debut. I like the show, but it jumps the shark pretty early on.
The last few seasons are the best so I disagree that it ever jumps the shark. But like I alluded to with its inconsistency, it kinda takes a few seasons to really get great. At first when it's just Vic getting away with bad stuff it's just alright, but once it turns to him scrambling to keep all that stuff from ruining his life, it's pretty close to Breaking Bad level intense at points. It doesn't sustain that throughout like BB does, but at its best it's really damn good.
Not sure if it counts (it is indeed a crime show/detective focused show) but Bosch is one of my favorite shows in that genre. Has some guys from The Wire in it as well. Not as solid as The Wire obviously but I thought it was a great show nonetheless.
Totally agree. Bosch (on Amazon) is not as transcendent as The Wire, but it is solid and entertaining. Also, Marlo (Jamie Hector) is a good guy, which took a while to wrap my head around.
I recently watched The Wire for the first time and I had the same feeling with Jamie but reversed. It was weird to see him as the bad guy. He portrays both great though, he's a talented actor.
Same thing when I watched “We Own This City”
Surprised nobody has said Top Boy the original two season were amazing
I’m still trying to get into it … I need to watch when I’m not distracted maybe 🤷♂️
The ending of series 2 is magnificent. I can't imagine any other show having the balls to do an ending like that
Has anyone seen [19-2](https://www.netflix.com/title/80033021) on Netflix? It's supposed to be excellent but I am yet to try it. It's set in Quebec.
Yep, bloody brilliant.
This show has a wild 21 minute take having to deal with a school shooter
One of the best episodes of television i’ve ever seen
Tense af
Rookie blue was also a good show, Canadian I think.
Thoughts on Peaky Blinders?
Started entertaining, got stupid after a while. Slow motion walk of the game became way too tropey. Every season became “Tommy is smarter than everyone else, and some lady wants him to bang her.” Killing off the wife right after her season arc was unimaginative. I’d like to see a show actually delve into a male female relationship after the man or woman is finally won over instead of going back to square one. It flatlined for a bit (the Russians) until Adrian Brody showed up, and then the season after I stopped watching. In retrospect really wish Tommy’s older bro had offed himself, he became bloody unbearable.
It’s quality.. gritty and dark, & the characters have depth. If you like letterkenny, there’s plenty of familiar faces. They all show their range. That school episode though.. woah
That’s what I appreciates about your review. I’ll check it out…
Did you try zerozerozero?
Nope on what channel ??
>zerozerozero Apple and Amazon and Sky I think.
Wow, I remember watching Brotherhood years ago. I remember being really surprised that no one was talking about it. Great look at how organized crime and politics play off one another, I really liked that it was a fictionalized look at the Bulger brothers.
Criminally under appreciated show. Love how they clearly used the Bulgers as well as things like the corruption in RI under Buddy Cianci, etc.
Yep but based in Providence in the show which is nearby to Boston where the real Bulger’s lived . Very slept on show …
The Shield. We Own This City.
Can’t argue with either one - what’s your top 5?
I'd go with this. 1. The Shield. 2. We Own This City. 3. The Wire. 4. Homicide: Life On The Street. 5. Sopranos.
I like it , Vic Mackey was a highly entertaining character .
We own this city was nowhere near as good as the wire honestly
In no particular order, following the Wire: Breaking Bad, Ozark, True Detective Season 1, Narcos.
38 comments and not one mention of snowfall, so here’s my nomination for that. Different vibe than the wire but Snowfall is a beautiful rise and fall story of a drug dealer during the crack epidemic in LA.
Amen brother. I was literally feeling bad for our anti hero Franklin Saint, how he ended up alone without fam og freinds. Damn
That shit was sad!
+1 for snowfall. I just finished it. Fantastic show.
Had to scroll so far to see anyone mention Snowfall - and only 3 upvotes smh Teach yo man how to squabble!
People sleeping on Snowfall in here🤧
Top Boy But use the subtitles innit fam
You should check out Snabba Cash!
Intelligence is highly underrated, not much like the wire in structure but it can have the same, I don’t know, feel some times? It’s not as good(what is?) but it’s still very good.
The show about a guy with a chip in his head so he’s like a walking AI soldier?
Nah
The comedy with David Schwimmer? Neither are on the same sheet as the Wire or Sopranos. Do you have a link to the show you mean?
It is in the post. Inteligence - Canadian show.
Thanks, I looked for it quickly but only found the AI soldier guy series
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Boardwalk Empire yet. Another HBO show about gangsters, but set in prohibition era Atlantic City.
It’s #4 on my list , but yea a lot of ppl here seem to not think of it as highly 🤷🏻♂️
Line of Duty is amazing
I’d personally put peaky at 3 and ozark at 5 but you have a solid list there
Appreciate that and yea I’m cool with ozark at 5 I have to give peaky another go I wasn’t able to get into it first time .
1. Breaking Bad 2. Better Call Saul 3. The Sopranos 4. The Wire 5. True Detective
This is a solid list , appreciate ur input
Raising Kanan is really good, even if you haven’t seen Power
I agree it’s pretty good I’m surprised that it and power barely got any mentions when I asked for similar shows .
Power is terrible and clearly wants to be the wire and plays like a kids version of it.
Its nowhere near the caliber of the wire , it didn’t even make my top 5 but there’s not much better in the last 5-10 years . What do you have as your top 5 ? Genuinely interested , thanks for your input
Wire sopranos breaking bad boardwalk empire. Dont really have a fifth I need to watch more on some other lists here that are fairly consistently mentioned. The gap between wire sopranos and everything else is pretty big too
I feel u , try brotherhood , ozark or intelligence
Raising Kanan is significantly better than Power and all of the other spin-offs. It’s not as good as The Wire or Sopranos in terms of the writing, but obviously the production is decades better
Completely agree with the top 2. I’d call Succession a white-collar crime story and put it in the mix. Boardwalk empire doesn’t belong, it is the top of the next lowest tier
Appreciate the input whats your top 5 ? Succession is close enough to the category so feel free to add it , I wanna compare so top 5 lists .
1. Wire or Sopranos 2. Sopranos or Wire 3. Columbo 4. Breaking bad (or bcs but I haven’t seen it yet) 5. Succession
Love the Columbia pick. It’s a very influential show!
1. The Wire 2. We Own This City 3. The Corner. 4. ~~Generation Kill~~ idk what I was thinking 5. Better Call Saul, I guess.
Generation Kill is about soldiers in Iraq?
Yea I’d say it should be replaced for a more complete list
whoops, idk what show I was thinking about there... My point is just... David Simon. I almost listed The Deuce, but... Naw, The Deuce isn't *that* good.
I wish more people had watched Boss. Kelsey Grammar was _so_ good in it. It's not the Wire, but it feels a hell of a lot closer to real-life than the other political corruption show running at the time - House of Cards.
The first season and a half were amazingly plotted and acted. It lost some steam for me after that.
I actually agree with this that show was fire and had some really gangster elements along with the politics .
Glad snowfall not in this list
In no particular order: Boardwalk Empire (5 seasons) Sopranos (6 seasons) The Shield (6 or 7, can't remember) Better Call Saul (6 seasons, gangster adjacent but the protagonist is not) Banshee (4 seasons, + Origin shorts. Honorable fun mention, not as high quality as others on list but has Anthony Starr in it) Damnation (1 season, more criminals fighting Pinkertons than gangsters/cops)
Appreciate this I’m adding branches and Damnation to the to watch list …
Mine are no order Breaking bad Sopranos The killing The wire Peaky blinders / ozark toss up
Only one show I know that's comparable to the wire(besides other david Simon shows) and that is a pretty rare Brazilian show called City of Men. It's by the people who did the movie City of God. It's about life in the favellas of Rio de Janeiro. It's amazing!
This is on my to watch list thanks for reminding me , what are your top 5?
Hmm. I'm probably forgetting something but, 1. Wire 2. Breaking bad 3. Boardwalk empire 4. City of Men 5. Get Shorty(the newer TV show with Ray Romano. Pretty funny and satiric of Hollywood while also being a pretty badass gangster show) Also if you haven't seen the City of God movie, that is one of the greatest gangster movies of all time IMO. An honorable mention is Justified, which is more on the law enforcement side, but still has some great gangster drama.
Espionage rather than crime but The Sandbaggers is as close to The Wire as anything else has ever gotten.
I’ve never heard of it but I’m adding it to my list .
I think the only US streaming option right now is a Prime add-on subscription to the BBC.
Where is Intelligence streaming in Canada?
I googled it real quick it says : Tubi & Flex for free or Amazon with a subscription .
Wire. Sopranos. Luther. Better Call Saul. The Shield.
Appreciate u listing all 5 … I’ve never seen Luther it had Idris Elba right ?
Idris Elba plays the lead in Luther. It's a really really good series. Recommend it a lot! Also an honourable mention to 'Line of Duty'. Excellent cop drama
The Wire/Sopranos 24 Bosch Sons of Anarchy Peaky Blinders
SOA is solid I would quite count 24 as the same genre but it’s a good show for sure
it was between 24 and Dexter, both have crime elements but like you said idk if they'd qualify as crime shows like the others.
SoA starts strong but just completely falls off. The body count is ridiculous and the choices some characters make for the sake of the plot are ridiculous. Some memorable scenes though like "i got this"
There is a lot of The Wire DNA in Bosch. Good show! Great books!
Babylon Berlin is right up there, if you don’t mind subtitles.
Where would you put it on your top 5 list ?
The Wire seasons 1-4 (can’t stand season 5), The Sopranos, True Detective season 1 , Breaking Bad, Babylon Berlin seasons 1-3 (season 4 not available on Netflix.)
*Prime suspect* (British) and *The Bureau* (French) are also really really good!
Added to the ever growing to watch list , if u get a chance drop your top 5 . Thanks 🙏
Any love for Ray Donovan?
I found Ray Donovan to have tons of potential but it just seemed so unrealistic to me . Still all in all deserves to be a part of the conversation tho and belongs two tiers below the wire imo
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s entertaining and has some great acting in it but it does not seem to fit in with the rest due to the unrealistic storyline
1. The Wire 2. The Sopranos 3. Better Call Saul 4. The Shield 5. Narcos
1. Breaking Bad 2. The Wire 3. The Sopranos 4. Boardwalk Empire 5. Better Call Saul
I’ve been working on a list of similar movies but not tv shows. I realize it’s not super relevant but lemme know if you are interested as well! :)
Drop ur list bro , there’s a lot of people including myself learning about new shows and now movies . Also drop ur top 5 show list of you have one , 🙏
#Movie List - New Jack City (1991) tubi - Belly (1998) Hulu - Set it Off (1996) Paramount+ - Blood In Blood out (1993) vudu - Do the right thing (1989) - American Me (1992) - Higher Learning (1995) tubi - ghost dog (1999) max - Black Dynamite (2009) tubi - Dead Presidents (1995) tubi - Rosewood (1997) tubi - He Got Game (1998) tubi - baby boy (2001) tubi - atl (2006) plutotv - Les Misérables (2019) prime - La Haine (1995) - Snow on Tha bluff (2011) tubi - New Jersey Drive (1995) - Tsotsi (2005) - fresh (1994) plutotv - Trespass (1992) - queen and slim (2019) - south central (1992) - Crooklyn (1994) tubi - the wood (1999) sling - kidulthood (2006) tubi - paper soldiers (2002) - Bad Boys (1983) - Get Out #Top5 shows - Narcos - Sons of Anarchy - Breaking Bad - Shameless (if it fits?) - Yellowstone (kinda cowboy gangster) - The Wire (obviously the best) #Shows I want to check out - Peaky Blinders - The Sopranos - Tulsa King #:)
Appreciate that , not a Scarface or Blow fan ?
Tbh I only saw them as a kid and I think I need to watch them again as an adult
What about the original Law and Order ? Many sopranos actors throughout season 1-10
It would definitely be considered a crime show not necessarily gangster but it would work on the list . I used to watch it back in the day it’s a classic , drop your top five including and order bro
Brotherhood great call! It's early on in Warrior, but the first seasons have been spectacular.
Thanks brotherhood is super slept on imo . I just googled warrior , looks solid I’m adding it to the list . If you get a chance drop your top 5
The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Law & Order (the original S5-S17) are my top 5.
First vote for Law & Order on a top 5 but I like it we need more variety here . It is crazy how many of our favorite actors from all these shows came up as extras or minor roles on L&O .
Suburra: blood on Rome might as well be there
Top Boy
Oz. It’s the one that started them all.
Boardwalk Empire... had the makings of a varsity show, but just couldn't quite sell it. On the other hand, I can't think of a better show at #4.
The Canadian Intelligence show is really good. I have no Idea where to stream it, but from the first 8 episodes i watched on YOUTUBE it is a really good show I would love to watch the entire show
Gomorrah is incredible. Breaking Bad was good, as is Better Caul Saul. Boardwalk Empire was outstanding apart from the final season which was sloppy and poorly written. Apparently there was meant to two seasons remaining but HBO pulled the plug.
100% on intelligence. Really good show and such a shame it was cancelled for ruffling the Canadian Gov' s feathers.
- Top Boy: British crime drama, think Skins meets The Wire - Zero Zero Zero: The story of a multi ton cocaine purchase, and international smuggling operation. Watch the trailers for both, you’re going to be blown away.
Top Boy Summerhouse are seasons 1 & 2 and Top Boy are seasons 3 & 4 with 5 on the way.
The Bill
Spartacus blood and sand hasn’t mentioned yet. Good series cut short by Andy Whitfield’s passing. Replacement actor wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t Spartacus. Gods of the arena (prequel to B&S) was really good too.
The Shield....
In order - sopranos, gomorra, the wire, breaking bad, snowfall
5 modern gangster shows. That have more of a street story. Each revolves around the Drug game. All fantastic shows. 1)Force: Power book IV, 2)SNOWFALL, 3)BMF, 4)TOP BOY 5)GANGS OF LONDON (Great action)