We can't stop fighting like schoolgirls....

So we're gonna start with #1 and #2 on the list, mostly because I have a feeling Mike is going to agree with me as to #1. I hate to disappoint Anonymous but I can't hate on their rankings here. In fact, had they put anything other than the Wire as #1, I would've spewed enough venom to make even Mike blush. Anyone who disagrees that this is the best show of the decade either has terrible taste, or hates democracy. With the possible exception of the beginning of Season 5, the show never had a weak moment. The casting, top drawer, the characters, compelling. Each season tackled something that is going to shit in this country viewed through the lens of our futile war on drugs. I'm half-surprised Republicans didn't boycott the show as being unpatriotic. Everyone I know that discovered this show late immediately got addicted to it like it was that new W.M.D. from the Towers. For some, their life mission is to convert people to the way of the Lord; I have a higher calling, converting people into Wire watchers. The show is just one of the many reasons Mike should be thankful he knows me.



As for the Soporanos, there isn't going to be a whole lot of debate, at least here, because Mike has a fleshy patch where most guys' have balls and still hasn't seen it. I'll say this; it is a distant second in my book to the Wire. It was way more inconsistent and to me, the show felt bloated at times. That said, the first couple seasons were unreal. Like the Wire, the show forced you to empathize with characters that are traditionally viewed as "evil", and at its best, the combination of violence, crime, gratuitous sex with attractive women, and exploration of the human psyche made it the most entertaining show on TV. I think eventually Mad Men could take this spot, but it hasn't been good for long enough. I know Mike sweats West Wing almost as hard as he sweats dating girls fucked three ways towards the weekend, but the show went down hill after Sorkin left, was a little repetitive with its story lines, and was centered around politics. Unless you're boring or live/work in D.C., the drug trade and mob life mash on politics when it comes to choosing a show's focus or one's career. I'm interested to see how Mike finds a way to disagree with me here.

Still wondering where Wallace at,
Deangelo

First of all, I love that you stole my line as a sign off. I do love the West Wing. And I love the Wire. So my problem isn't so much that the Wire is #1 - it's great, but that the West Wing isn't even in the top three. Debating the relative place of these two shows is sort of pointless - they are both great. My real interest when looking at these two shows (and ultimately what may lead to a decision about which is more important for the decade) is thinking about which one was more important in getting Obama elected, which along with 9-11, is probably the decade's defining moment. It sounds absurd but these two shows are clearly tied to the Obama regime.

First, the Wire. Obama stated during his campaign that the wire was his favorite TV show. It showed that he was cool, but it also showed that he had an understanding of the hopelessness that faced so many people in this country that the previous administration failed to recognize. Obviously I'm sure that Obama wasn't learning about these problems for the first time from Brody and Omar, but the Wire brought these stories into homes every week and seeing the struggles of a dying city became a shared experience or the country. Now, decisions about welfare, inner city education and public health were not abstract ideas, but issues that we could analyze from the perspective of the characters on a TV show and how those issues would affect them. It was fascinating to know that there was a potential that the President of the United States might also be running these similar comparisons.

Second, the West Wing. Anyone that watched the West Wing has dreamed that the level of intellectual curiosity, wit and sense of fairness that dominated the Bartlett Administration would be replicated on 1600 Pennsylvania. When Obama ran, there was a sense that his administration could be the one who would carry out Sorkin's vision of a functional White House where discourse was encouraged and policies were analyzed not by their political impact but their personal one. In fact, during the campaign Maureen Dowd called Aaron Sorkin to have him write a fake dialogue between Bartlett and Obama where the fictional President gives the real candidate advice on how to become a stronger candidate. During the campaign there was a sense that the White House that many of us watched every week and grew to love was actually coming into being and the Hope of the Obama campaign for many was the hope of a real Bartlett Administration.

Now maybe I'm over-blowing the importance of the shows on the campaign, but the fact that an argument can be made that they had a bearing on the most important election of the campaign shows that these two are clearly 1a and 1b. I don't disagree with you Josh - I'm fine with the Wire being number one. But the West Wing has to be 2 then. I haven't seen the Sopranos, so I don't know - I'm sure its great, but I do not think its belongs in the same echelon as these two shows.

What's next?