I tried to watch “The Commish” last night on Amazon.

I just couldn’t get past seeing Vic Mackey acting goofy and with long hair. After about 15 minutes, I shut it off and fired up Season 1 of The Shield. It was the character that Michael Chiklis was made to play.

First time I saw Michael Chiklis was on an episode of Miami Vice, "The Lost Madona." Also featured was Eric Clapton's "She's Waiting"... liked that episode a lot.

I'd consider the shield in the top 3 of my favorite tv series of the last 2 decades, perhaps of all time.

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
I'd consider the shield in the top 3 of my favorite tv series of the last 2 decades, perhaps of all time.

Agreed.

I started watching The Shield in the middle of
season 1. I was like "cool...they're not crooked, just a little bent".

Then I got caught up and saw what happened to Crowley. It was like a train wreck, I could not NOT watch.

I know jljones has seen it, but for those who haven't...

If you like The Shield, be sure to also check out Justified. Not the same storyline, but similar pace and a similar style of longform police drama. And similarly excellent.

Also The Wire. A slower pace than either Shield or Justified, and a bit more serious/realistic, but arguably better than either once it hits its stride.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I know jljones has seen it, but for those who haven't...

If you like The Shield, be sure to also check out Justified. Not the same storyline, but similar pace and a similar style of longform police drama. And similarly excellent.

Also The Wire. A slower pace than either Shield or Justified, and a bit more serious/realistic, but arguably better than either once it hits its stride.

Absolutely better, no comparison imho. I recently finished up watching through the entire series again. Added benefit is The Wire has aged much better than The Shield, imho. The Shield seems goofy now to me, though I loved it at the time.

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
Added benefit is The Wire has aged much better than The Shield, imho.

The Wire is one of my all time favorites. So many great characters. Omar Little, Bunk, Bubbles, McNulty, Stringer Bell.

“You come at the king, you best not miss”

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
Added benefit is The Wire has aged much better than The Shield, imho.

The Wire is one of my all time favorites. So many great characters. Omar Little, Bunk, Bubbles, McNulty, Stringer Bell.

“You come at the king, you best not miss”

This 100%
1. Wire
2.Shield
3.Justified
4. Everything else

I watched season 1 of The Wire last year, it was more of a slow burn than I expected. I got an episode or two in to season 2 and wasnt hooked.

I'm guessing it gets better?

^^^ Yes, you need to hang in there a bit, to at least 3/4 of the season. It will pay off.

The Shield was good. I really liked The Wire. You may think I’m wrong, but I thought Southland was a great cop series.

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
The Shield was good. I really liked The Wire. You may think I’m wrong, but I thought Southland was a great cop series.

I also like Southland, own the series. I hated the way they ended it. Felt rushed, and killing off Cooper was the wrong move, imho.

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
The Shield was good. I really liked The Wire. You may think I’m wrong, but I thought Southland was a great cop series.

I also like Southland, own the series. I hated the way they ended it. Felt rushed, and killing off Cooper was the wrong move, imho.

Agree.

Fans of The Shield should keep an eye out for the French series Braquo. It's quite well done with really good casting.

Another good French series is Spiral which portrays the various aspects of the French legal system as they handle cases. Rather like Law and Order without the agenda.

The number one on my list.

Member 18DAI was also a fan, as he was of those Smiths. He had a pic of Vic Mackey as his profile pic.

The thing I loved about The Shield was that every episode had an "Oh sh--!" ending. The writing and acting were brilliant. We couldn't wait until the next episode the following week, or season for that matter.

The ending was exactly how it had to end.

There have been some really good dramas during my lifetime - Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Killing, Line of Duty. But none of them were quite like The Shield.

There was a member here years ago who was local to me… his signature was “Vic Mackey is my hero.” I always was bit bothered by that, but whatev, right? We weren’t friends, just acquaintances.

It bothered me more when he decided to be a cop… Hmmmmmm. He never made it past any department’s psych testing. Probably a good call.

Excellent tv show, though. One of my favorites.

quote:

Originally posted by AUTiger89:
Member 18DAI was also a fan, as he was of those Smiths.

Seems like every dirty LAPD cop on screen uses a 4506 -- Chiklis in The Shield, Denzel in Training Day, Keanu Reeves in Street Kings, Kurt Russell in Dark Blue to name a few. Its big size definitely gave it a screen presence.

Now if only I can find another one, so I can dual wield like Alonzo.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rawny,

I thoroughly enjoyed The Shield when it was on and have watched it all the way through since. I should probably do it again to see how it has held up.

I agree that Justified was good as well, but I never made it to the end.

I also highly recommend Rescue Me. I think in some ways it was better than The Shield for mostly being a little less over the top.

FX did really good work in the early-mid 2000s.

This is an OLD thread

Never watched The Shield before as I didn't have access to FX. Was familiar with Chiklis from the Commish.

I'm watching the last season now. Strange series indeed with numerous interesting characters.

Haven't watched The Wire either but from this thread I'll look for it. NYPD Blue and Blue Bloods I really enjoyed. Be interesting see how Wahlberg's new cop series "Boston Blue" turns out. Justified still remains at the top of my police related series favorites.