0ojakeo0 wrote:I like the wire but got nothing on seinfeld
Nark my apols. But here goes, finally...
Look, I love Seinfeld. LOVE it. It's in my top five comedies. But there is no comparison here.
The Wire has nothing on Seinfeld? That's insane. You either haven't watched the Wire or you watched one episode from series 3 and didn't have a clue what was going on. It doesn't bother wasting time with exposition - if you don't know what's going on - and there's always about 12 storylines twisting and weaving around each other at once - then too bad. Cops and drug dealers - in Law and Order, say, the good guys get the bad. it's simple. In the Wire nothing is that simple, which makes it all the more human. The writing is unparalleled, the characterisation is in a class of its own, and the story.... The thing is you need to watch it from the beginning.
Seinfeld is played for laughs. As sitcoms go, it;s up there with CYE and fawlty towers, for example. But drama is a greater art form than comedy. Shakespeare wrote both, but it his tragedies that are placed above his comedies. A piece of work like The Wire can pack more emotional power, conflict and thoughtfulness into an hour than arrested development - another brilliant show - managed in two and a half series.
Basically: The Wire, the Sopranos and Twin peaks are the top tier.
Then below that are shows like 6 feet under, mad men and prime suspect.
Then on the next shelf are the good shows with cheesiness that you forgive in the name of entertainment: Heroes, Lost.
Sitcoms are a different thread.
Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:04 am
