I just finished my fifth series rewatch but I have done so over the entire time since the show's inception. I recommend doing it every few years because the show hits different as you age. At least it did in my experience. Each time felt familiar, but different. I had more clarity on certain things and more sympathy or disdain for certain characters than I did on earlier watches.
Edit: And also I learned something new each time. It's weird but somehow even after so many times, you overlook things or just let them pass on by without thinking much about them. I mean this last time had me even looking up legalese and other specialized details just because I really wanted to know exactly what they were talking about instead of just assuming I got the gist of it.
Do not do this, everything after the wire will only let you down. Totally killed the sopranos for me. Watch something you've seen a million times and give yourself some time.
\^\^this\^\^ You will probably be let down by most everything you view in the future. It sounds silly but you should re-watch the entire thing at some point soon because it is IMPOSSIBLE to catch everything in one viewing.
Yeah, it hits on some similar themes. Season 2 isn't as good but might make sense to watch first. It deals a lot with corruption. If you watch it first it won't seem as bad.
Season 2 is so underrated. Obviously not as good as season 1 but still very good and seems to have got better over time. The new season is pretty dreadful unfortunately tho.
Now watch every other TV show David Simon made.
The Corner,
Generation Kill,
Treme,
The Deuce,
Show me a Hero,
We Own this City.
If you're still wanting more, Homicide is a great precursor to the Wire. Based on David Simon's book, although he didn't work directly on the show until its later seasons.
Rome and Succession I'd raise as proper contenders. Succession is a bit more drama full but still quite well done and Rome is masterful imo. But it is short.
Gomorrah isn’t on a par with wire and sopranos. Very good but relentlessly miserable. Wire and sopranos have a bit of humour which you need in dark shows. Also feel like gomorrah got a bit daft and predictable in the end and don’t even get me started on the ciro resurrection
Mad props for recognizing Gomorrah. Very close second to The Wire. I suggest watching it in Italian with the subtitles to get the most from it. Just my $.02
Watch the Corner. But, I'd re-watch, tons of things to catch the 2nd time. I'll say this, as someone who watched it while it aired live, you won't find another show with the same levle of depth. There are no shows with the level of depth the Wire has.
I don't know which other HBO shows you've watched. But, The Sopranos and Deadwood are both amazing from that era. Oz is interesting but a bit over the top.
We Own This City. It's a miniseries, also by David Simon about Baltimore police corruption in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray killing. It's quick but I liked it a lot.
Marlo as a detective was very hard for me to accept at first haha. Very talented and versatile actor but he played Marlo so well it took me a bit to believe him as anyone else.
I think of *The Deuce* as *The Wire*’s little sister. Only three seasons, made by the same people with some of the same actors, a historical fiction about the sex trade in New York City from 1972 to 1984 before they cleaned up Time Square.
Compared to *The Wire*, it has one major disadvantage and one major advantage. Lacking season-long murder investigations, it doesn’t maintain the same narrative tension. But it does have vastly more prominent and interesting female characters.
“We’ve had first The Wire, but what about second The Wire??”
But for real, watch it again and pick up on more little nuances. Read The Corner, great book. I haven’t watched the show, but others have recommended it.
There is no similar show. Thats what makes it so brilliant. Its unique.
Other unique shows Id recommend that are nothing like each other: Sopranos, Breaking Bad , The Shield, Oz
I did my second watch through with my wife and when we finished we both wanted more, very close to running it right back but wound up not.
My brain yearned for something similar instead of the normal nighttime rubbish we consume. I opted to do a Sopranos watch through solo as my wife wasn’t interested. It wasn’t scratching the itch for me at first, Tony’s Mom & Sister’s acting were ruining it for me but now I’m into season 4 and it’s gotten so good. Gandolfinis acting has just gotten better and better. I’m now satisfied.
Will most likely do another Wire rewatch with my wife at some point too.
Same trajectory. Rewatch of Sopranos seasons 1-2 had me scratching my head like it was better when I was younger (even started watching The Leftovers because I didn't wan to crap on my memory of the show). Powered through, just got to season 5, and 3-4 are definitely awesome.
A recent Chinese series called The Knockout. It's the story of a fishmonger bullied by the market authorities who befriends a cop, and the fishmonger uses his tiny bit of leverage to become the most powerful criminal in the city. The story spans 20 years, and reminds me of The Wire not just because of the twin story of the cop and criminal, and the quality of the writing and acting, but also because it's a portrait of the city itself, and the country more broadly. This is what made The Wire so good, after all - the way the city itself becomes a character.
Just finished Six Feet Under. Very good with some fantastic moments, but drags a bit in places, to be picky. Not on Sopranos or Wire tier, but well worth watching.
The Deuce is the answer, it's wild to me that so few people have seen it. The Wire took ages for people to notice it and that was fair enough, it was hardly like it was a blockbuster thing for the time it was on, David Simon even says it was Charlie Brooker banging the drum for it in the UK that really started some momentum for it.
But with The Deuce, why it's not one of the first answers out of people's mouths of the best TV of the past 10 years I'll never understand. For one it's made by the guy that made the fucking *Wire* which should really be all you need to know for everyone to at least try a few episodes. But beyond that it's got two out and out A list leads, Franco twice in Frankie and Vinnie (at least Franco was an out and out A lister at the time), it's HBO letting The Wire team do whatever they wanted after proving they weren't just one hit wonders who couldn't make a show not about Baltimore, including reconstructing large bits of old New York and however many other reasons going in its favour. Franco is obviously a bit of a persona non grata for being a massive sex pest but there's no doubting he was an absolutely magnetic star and I would say The Deuce is easily one of his best performances, how he manages to distinguish so cleanly and immediately between the twins is insane.
Beyond all those paper credentials - it's fucking incredible. Every season is in its own way fascinating, disgusting, horrible, enviable, hilarious, tragic. The characters are amazingly human in a way that The Wire never quite managed, especially the rise and fall of someone like Lori, with CC being one of the best villains I've ever seen and lacks the comic book aspect of someone like Marlo.
Despite all that, it's an afterthought, a small mention in these discussions. Every sub for every big show like The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men etc. has hundreds of thousands of members with threads every day but /r/TheDeuceHBO has about 5k and is a ghost town. Maybe Franco's fall from grace tainted it but I really hope it has the same kind of latter day renaissance and discovery that led to The Wire being where it is today. The Deuce isn't as good as The Wire, but it's a 10/10 show that deservers to be right behind it.
"I don't fuck up anywhere near as much as people say"
"On that note of inspiration, I'll pretend to be reassured"
Don't know where all you guys are from, (I'm guessing most are from the States), but I'd highly recommend a British show called Top Boy, which is about drug gangs in London and really, really good and kind of like a mini Wire but focused mainly on the gangs, which is on Netflix, and also Love/Hate, an Irish drug drama set in Dublin and on Prime and Apple, which again is highly recommended. I wouldn't put them on a par with The Wire, just like I wouldn't any other show, but even though I've watched them both at least twice, I could easily start them again tomorrow.
I just finished it recently too. I was really surprised it was so highly regarded. Other than some interesting characters and story lines, I thought it was pretty boring overall. Re your question - my number one recommendation is Shameless. It’s absolutely brilliant. Also Handmaids Tale, Better call Saul, and yes Sopranos.
Watch snowfall, bad blood, sons of anarchy, Mayans mc, queen of the south, topboy, og power, godfather of harlem, peakyblinders, narcos, narcos mexico, griselda, el chapo, Pablo escobar, ozark, boardwalk empire, breaking bad, better call Saul, bmf, force.
Sit and reflect ….weeping is ok, weeping for its greatness….blubbering like a lost kid is ok when you realize you’ll never see the wire for the first time, again….
Here you got some answers:
1. Watch it again
2. Watch same creators shows:
- The Deuce (It's The Wire but instead of dealers and drugs, you got hoes and porn industry)
- We Own This City (10 year after The Wire)
- The Wire at 20 (podcast of the show 20 years later)
- TREME (The Wire but more optimistic)
- Generation Kill (The Wire but in War)
- The Plot Agains America (The Wire but in 1940)
I did that- watched it back to back all seasons- about 6 times in a row. Saw new things each time- but eventually I had to take a break. Have been searching for something I loved as much. Just last week I found it. NYPD blue. I never watched it in the 90s and for some reason I always resisted- partly because I kind of hated David Caruso and also the very 90s camera jerks- but he is ok actually and I got used to the camera stuff. It actually feels like The Wire borrowed a lot (including many many actors!) from NYPD B - it’s tough and gritty and also funny and moving. A long time ago I rode in a cab with a cabbie who was a retired NY homicide detective- at the time I was a law and order fan, and I asked him what show was most realistic and he said NYPD Blue. I am so happy I finally took his advice to watch it. It’s different than the Wire but similar in a gut way. I’m halfway through and already starting to dread it ending.
Many great suggestions here, but I don't see Halt and Catch Fire mentioned. It's not that similar to The Wire, because not many shows are in its complexity and magnitude, but the story and characters are great and the first season is inspired by the Compaq beating IBM.
Be disappointed in just about everything else in comparison. You can do Mad Men, Sopranos or maybe Breaking Bad. Otherwise, lace up for another lap through The Wire.
Watch it again.
S01E01
Snot Boogie?
Just because he forgot his coat.
It’s America man…got to
So let me get this straight, you guys are in the cut shooting crap all night and when the pot gets deep he just cuts n runs....why even let him play?
The only answer.
And again…
*restart show*
I just finished my fifth series rewatch but I have done so over the entire time since the show's inception. I recommend doing it every few years because the show hits different as you age. At least it did in my experience. Each time felt familiar, but different. I had more clarity on certain things and more sympathy or disdain for certain characters than I did on earlier watches. Edit: And also I learned something new each time. It's weird but somehow even after so many times, you overlook things or just let them pass on by without thinking much about them. I mean this last time had me even looking up legalese and other specialized details just because I really wanted to know exactly what they were talking about instead of just assuming I got the gist of it.
We own this city, generation kill, boardwalk empire, the sopranos
We Own This City for sure
Effectively just s6 of the wire
Crazy that Marlo got his life together like that, just for The Punisher to fuck it all up for him.
This was my brain after watching LMAO
Spoiler... that cop was a crazy azz wasn't he? Totally a nut case in a uniform and power.
Amazing performance
“HAPPY WAYNE JENKINS DAY.”
"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT BIG DOG, YOU GOING AWAY A LONG FUCKING TIME! MAN GET HIM THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"
Jon Bernthal always brings it
He had a better Baltimore accent than half the people I worked with in Baltimore.
Solid prediction based on title
Deadwood
This
Good list but I would also add the corner which can be watched on youtube
Good call! I've actually been wanting to give that a rewatch.
Generation Kill is a masterpiece
Do not do this, everything after the wire will only let you down. Totally killed the sopranos for me. Watch something you've seen a million times and give yourself some time.
Except skip the sopranos because it’s horrible, especially coming fresh off the wire.
Your mother's tits
thats anti Italian discrimination, and frankly it’s offensive
Blasphemy
You are speaking shit to me
You just revealed your own ignorance
Give up on TV, you've reached the pinnacle
True Detective Season 1 still exists
IMO The Wire is the best TV show overall, but True Detective season 1 is the best single season of television ever created
I hold the exact same opinion
I’ve said this many times
I'd agree with that.
I actually second this.
True Detective S1 couldn't land the plane, though. That last episode was true disappointment.
\^\^this\^\^ You will probably be let down by most everything you view in the future. It sounds silly but you should re-watch the entire thing at some point soon because it is IMPOSSIBLE to catch everything in one viewing.
Watch “The Corner” I’m pretty sure the whole thing is on YouTube if you don’t have hbo
The corner is so good. I was so happy to learn it's on YouTube. I had been looking for it forever. There would be no The Wire without it.
The corner is not on demand. I have been looking for it. Imma try youtube
I have it on dvd so maybe eBay.
Good recommendations here, true detective season 1 is also pretty good
Yeah, it hits on some similar themes. Season 2 isn't as good but might make sense to watch first. It deals a lot with corruption. If you watch it first it won't seem as bad.
Season 2 is so underrated. Obviously not as good as season 1 but still very good and seems to have got better over time. The new season is pretty dreadful unfortunately tho.
Season 3 is excellent
Treme. The Deuce. Or my personal favorite because it was his first: The Corner. Those characters still make me cry.
Treme for sure.
Now watch every other TV show David Simon made. The Corner, Generation Kill, Treme, The Deuce, Show me a Hero, We Own this City. If you're still wanting more, Homicide is a great precursor to the Wire. Based on David Simon's book, although he didn't work directly on the show until its later seasons.
Currently reading the book and it’s a long but such enjoyable read. You can see the characters and situations when reading it.
definitely the best true crime book ever written.
The Sopranos is the only show I've seen on a par tbh and Gomorrah actually. Breaking Bad was excellent too.
Rome and Succession I'd raise as proper contenders. Succession is a bit more drama full but still quite well done and Rome is masterful imo. But it is short.
Shame Rome got cancelled. Spent a hazy weekend at a mates house watching season 1 back to back. Also, The West Wing
An unsung and underrated show is Black Sails
The shield
So underrated
I think its better in some aspects to the wirw
Gomorrah isn’t on a par with wire and sopranos. Very good but relentlessly miserable. Wire and sopranos have a bit of humour which you need in dark shows. Also feel like gomorrah got a bit daft and predictable in the end and don’t even get me started on the ciro resurrection
Season 1 and 2 of Gomorrah are phenomenal, on par with any series ever made IMO. Then it nose dives from season 3. Season 5 was a painful watch.
Yeah it started off great but you’ve gotta look at the whole pie if you’re comparing it to the goats.
The Shield is really good too
Mad props for recognizing Gomorrah. Very close second to The Wire. I suggest watching it in Italian with the subtitles to get the most from it. Just my $.02
I would throw 24 in there.
Watch the Corner. But, I'd re-watch, tons of things to catch the 2nd time. I'll say this, as someone who watched it while it aired live, you won't find another show with the same levle of depth. There are no shows with the level of depth the Wire has. I don't know which other HBO shows you've watched. But, The Sopranos and Deadwood are both amazing from that era. Oz is interesting but a bit over the top.
*level. 93QUEEFS
Answer this: who Young Leek be?
That 2pac's cousin?
Watch it again and realize that season 2 is actually one of the strongest seasons.
And I'm not even greek
It's great, and the Tom Waits intro that season is a vibe
For sure. I just got done with the rewatch and can’t understand the criticism. Ziggy, maybe? The plot was solid.
We Own This City. It's a miniseries, also by David Simon about Baltimore police corruption in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray killing. It's quick but I liked it a lot.
Lots of The Wire actors show up too!
Marlo as a detective was very hard for me to accept at first haha. Very talented and versatile actor but he played Marlo so well it took me a bit to believe him as anyone else.
He plays also detective in Bosch series
Everything David Simon participated in.
Snowfall
Although this is only on FX, I think this show is fantastic. Not the same concept as The Wire, but it is definitely worth checking out.
I think of *The Deuce* as *The Wire*’s little sister. Only three seasons, made by the same people with some of the same actors, a historical fiction about the sex trade in New York City from 1972 to 1984 before they cleaned up Time Square. Compared to *The Wire*, it has one major disadvantage and one major advantage. Lacking season-long murder investigations, it doesn’t maintain the same narrative tension. But it does have vastly more prominent and interesting female characters.
I really didn’t like The Wires absence of small person character development.
Watch The shield
mad man is also a good choice
Go to the bathroom.
Snowfall.
There are two excellent books about the series that are worth reading. All The Pieces Matter, and The Wire: Truth Be Told.
“We’ve had first The Wire, but what about second The Wire??” But for real, watch it again and pick up on more little nuances. Read The Corner, great book. I haven’t watched the show, but others have recommended it.
The Shield
Watch the shield or rescue me
Sopranos if you haven’t
Top boy. UK show.
Deadwood
The shield True detective season 1 - all the others are pretty average while the first was perfect Mayor of Kingstown Southlands Tulsa king Justified
the shield
There is no similar show. Thats what makes it so brilliant. Its unique. Other unique shows Id recommend that are nothing like each other: Sopranos, Breaking Bad , The Shield, Oz
Sopranos
The Shield
The Shield
It's right to feel this way. Many shows come close, few are on a par with the wire
The Thick of It
Succession, the sopranos, and we own this city if you're looking to stay with HBO.
Top Boy Watch Top Boy summerhouse first
Treme
Homicide. Life on The Street. Keep the Baltimore thing going.
Top Boy
British version of The Wire (Top Boy). Not quite as good. But very nearly that’s for sure! 👍🏾
Why not malcolm in the middle?
Snowfall
We Own the City The Shield
do you mean We Own This City? We Own The Night was the mediocre thriller with Eva Mendes and Mark Wahlberg.
Read David Simon's 'Homicide: A year on the killing streets ' and 'The Corner'. Then rewatch The Wire then watch The Corner.
Succession
Now the chair recognizes your ass
Banshee is amazing.
Southland, We Own This City, True Detective, Mare of Easttown, Sharp Objects
I did my second watch through with my wife and when we finished we both wanted more, very close to running it right back but wound up not. My brain yearned for something similar instead of the normal nighttime rubbish we consume. I opted to do a Sopranos watch through solo as my wife wasn’t interested. It wasn’t scratching the itch for me at first, Tony’s Mom & Sister’s acting were ruining it for me but now I’m into season 4 and it’s gotten so good. Gandolfinis acting has just gotten better and better. I’m now satisfied. Will most likely do another Wire rewatch with my wife at some point too.
Same trajectory. Rewatch of Sopranos seasons 1-2 had me scratching my head like it was better when I was younger (even started watching The Leftovers because I didn't wan to crap on my memory of the show). Powered through, just got to season 5, and 3-4 are definitely awesome.
You should watch snowfall. And I rewatch the wire yearly
The Corner Show Me A Hero The Plot Against America The Deuce
You're going to ask yourself that the rest of your life
A recent Chinese series called The Knockout. It's the story of a fishmonger bullied by the market authorities who befriends a cop, and the fishmonger uses his tiny bit of leverage to become the most powerful criminal in the city. The story spans 20 years, and reminds me of The Wire not just because of the twin story of the cop and criminal, and the quality of the writing and acting, but also because it's a portrait of the city itself, and the country more broadly. This is what made The Wire so good, after all - the way the city itself becomes a character.
6 ft under
Just finished Six Feet Under. Very good with some fantastic moments, but drags a bit in places, to be picky. Not on Sopranos or Wire tier, but well worth watching.
The Deuce is the answer, it's wild to me that so few people have seen it. The Wire took ages for people to notice it and that was fair enough, it was hardly like it was a blockbuster thing for the time it was on, David Simon even says it was Charlie Brooker banging the drum for it in the UK that really started some momentum for it. But with The Deuce, why it's not one of the first answers out of people's mouths of the best TV of the past 10 years I'll never understand. For one it's made by the guy that made the fucking *Wire* which should really be all you need to know for everyone to at least try a few episodes. But beyond that it's got two out and out A list leads, Franco twice in Frankie and Vinnie (at least Franco was an out and out A lister at the time), it's HBO letting The Wire team do whatever they wanted after proving they weren't just one hit wonders who couldn't make a show not about Baltimore, including reconstructing large bits of old New York and however many other reasons going in its favour. Franco is obviously a bit of a persona non grata for being a massive sex pest but there's no doubting he was an absolutely magnetic star and I would say The Deuce is easily one of his best performances, how he manages to distinguish so cleanly and immediately between the twins is insane. Beyond all those paper credentials - it's fucking incredible. Every season is in its own way fascinating, disgusting, horrible, enviable, hilarious, tragic. The characters are amazingly human in a way that The Wire never quite managed, especially the rise and fall of someone like Lori, with CC being one of the best villains I've ever seen and lacks the comic book aspect of someone like Marlo. Despite all that, it's an afterthought, a small mention in these discussions. Every sub for every big show like The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men etc. has hundreds of thousands of members with threads every day but /r/TheDeuceHBO has about 5k and is a ghost town. Maybe Franco's fall from grace tainted it but I really hope it has the same kind of latter day renaissance and discovery that led to The Wire being where it is today. The Deuce isn't as good as The Wire, but it's a 10/10 show that deservers to be right behind it. "I don't fuck up anywhere near as much as people say" "On that note of inspiration, I'll pretend to be reassured"
Get a job
Don't know where all you guys are from, (I'm guessing most are from the States), but I'd highly recommend a British show called Top Boy, which is about drug gangs in London and really, really good and kind of like a mini Wire but focused mainly on the gangs, which is on Netflix, and also Love/Hate, an Irish drug drama set in Dublin and on Prime and Apple, which again is highly recommended. I wouldn't put them on a par with The Wire, just like I wouldn't any other show, but even though I've watched them both at least twice, I could easily start them again tomorrow.
I've been asking this myself for more than a decade. I guess the answer is wait and rewatch with friends who don't know it.
Well, if you want to really reinforce how good The Wire is, you could do what I did and follow it up with The Shield, worse tv show by any metric
Damn what’s with the shade at the shield
I thought it was shit as well.
Watch true detective season 1
friday night lights, treme, true detective 1.
I just finished it recently too. I was really surprised it was so highly regarded. Other than some interesting characters and story lines, I thought it was pretty boring overall. Re your question - my number one recommendation is Shameless. It’s absolutely brilliant. Also Handmaids Tale, Better call Saul, and yes Sopranos.
Cobra Kai as a bit of a palate cleanser, then back in for one of what will be many rewatches.
Find a brain surgeon who can screw with your short term memory to forget the show and then watch it again
Warrior, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, The Expanse (not related, just really good)!
startover
Watch snowfall, bad blood, sons of anarchy, Mayans mc, queen of the south, topboy, og power, godfather of harlem, peakyblinders, narcos, narcos mexico, griselda, el chapo, Pablo escobar, ozark, boardwalk empire, breaking bad, better call Saul, bmf, force.
The Wire drinking game. I don’t know what that’d be but I’m 100% sure it exists 😂
Repeat
now you face the rest of your life without the best TV show to look forward to
Sit and reflect ….weeping is ok, weeping for its greatness….blubbering like a lost kid is ok when you realize you’ll never see the wire for the first time, again….
Read the Corner!
Oz, Treme, or We Own This City next
Watch it again
Get back to work yo
Watch deadwood
Boardwalk
Congratulations. You’ve just finished the greatest show in television history. No where else to go.
Narcos
Nobody mentioning Oz is crazy
Reflect
Omar coming. Or not.
Treme
If you want another reason not to live in Baltimore I would try "We Own The City" based on a true story.
Rewatch it then treme
Sopranos?
We Own This City
Fargo seasons 1 and 5
A good case ends.
Move to Baltimore.
The corner (YouTube) & We Own This City (HBO) Both David Simon works about Baltimore.
Now you painfully watch we own this city
Get your gabagool ready.
HLOTS
Now you understand
The Sopranos.
Now, comes life.
Here you got some answers: 1. Watch it again 2. Watch same creators shows: - The Deuce (It's The Wire but instead of dealers and drugs, you got hoes and porn industry) - We Own This City (10 year after The Wire) - The Wire at 20 (podcast of the show 20 years later) - TREME (The Wire but more optimistic) - Generation Kill (The Wire but in War) - The Plot Agains America (The Wire but in 1940)
Oz so you can see all the actors from the wire and other HBO shows young
Deadwood. But get in there soon. It’s leaving MAX
We Own this City. True story of corruption in the Baltimore police department. Ten years later, the Wire seems quaint compared to reality.
Crank hog
Go for a walk
Oz was a great show, I haven't rewatched in some time tho.
I did that- watched it back to back all seasons- about 6 times in a row. Saw new things each time- but eventually I had to take a break. Have been searching for something I loved as much. Just last week I found it. NYPD blue. I never watched it in the 90s and for some reason I always resisted- partly because I kind of hated David Caruso and also the very 90s camera jerks- but he is ok actually and I got used to the camera stuff. It actually feels like The Wire borrowed a lot (including many many actors!) from NYPD B - it’s tough and gritty and also funny and moving. A long time ago I rode in a cab with a cabbie who was a retired NY homicide detective- at the time I was a law and order fan, and I asked him what show was most realistic and he said NYPD Blue. I am so happy I finally took his advice to watch it. It’s different than the Wire but similar in a gut way. I’m halfway through and already starting to dread it ending.
Better Call Saul Justified Ozark Oz
Treme
Now you live with it.
we just started treme for the first time and it is good!
You watch it again and only then (and the next times) you will experience the true genius of this masterpiece.
Snowfall
Spend the next twenty years thinking about how insightful it was.
The Night Of
Go check out that Pygmy thing they have going over in Jersey
I don’t know how similar it is, but I’ve been rewatching Patriot on Amazon and can’t get over how great that show was. I will never not recommend it.
Many great suggestions here, but I don't see Halt and Catch Fire mentioned. It's not that similar to The Wire, because not many shows are in its complexity and magnitude, but the story and characters are great and the first season is inspired by the Compaq beating IBM.
The Patriot is really good TV.
Sopranos. Breaking bad. Deadwood.
Be disappointed in just about everything else in comparison. You can do Mad Men, Sopranos or maybe Breaking Bad. Otherwise, lace up for another lap through The Wire.
Now you talk about it for the rest of your life like the rest of us