I'll see your "The Wire" and raise you "The Shield". To me, "The Wire" was an exercise in boredom. Entire shows go by where nothing happens except people talking. Virtually every main character in the first season is a complete asshole, and those who aren't either wind up dead or being complete assholes by the time season 2 rolls around. There's literally no one to root for, no one to identify with, and nobody whose death or injury affected me. I get that it's reality, that this is what real police work looks and feels like, but if I wanted to see real police work, I'd join the academy. Television is supposed to be entertainment, and "The Wire" failed in every sense of the word to be 'entertaining' to me. I gave up around four episodes into Season 2 when I realized nothing was going to change.
"The Shield" on the other hand is everything "The Wire" wishes it could have been: a strong police drama set in a real-world location with three-dimensional main characters, some of whom are assholes, some of whom are good people, and all of them trying to do an impossible and thankless job.
The biggest contrast, for me, is in the main character. "The Wire" gives us Jimmy McNulty, a womanizing Alpha-male jerk of a detective who doesn't give a shit about his family. It tells the audience, "He's an asshole. You're going to hate him." And so we do. "The Shield" on the other hand gives us Vic Mackey, a womanizing Alpha-male jerk of a detective who would give up everything and do anything to protect his family. It tells the audience, "He's an asshole. You're going to love him." And so we do. When McNulty is an asshole (which happens frequently), we groan. That's ordinary writing. When Mackey is an asshole (which happens frequently), we cheer. That's extraordinary writing. That's "The Shield" in a nutshell: seven seasons of extraordinary writing culminating in one of the best final seasons and show-ending finales of all time. I'd give anything to be able to experience it all over again.
*huggles*
Areala