Trying to breakdown what is the best show (Breaking Bad is not number 1)

My thoughts on where Breaking Bad places all-time (or at least my lifetime), in anticipation of the fourth season premiere on Sunday, after I admit to myself that I may have a problem with television.

There is hardily any debate about what have been the best television shows over the past decade-plus. In some order it is Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Sopranos, and The Wire. But the agreements stop there. Everyone has their own opinions on what the order is and their reasons.

*Writer's note: I didn't include Breaking Bad in my list of favorite shows in my first post (Here) because at the time I had not seen every episode*

The Sopranos was the first and had the most encompassing. The Wire had the best writing. Mad Men has the most fascinating characters. Breaking Bad has the most interesting story. All four excel at something, but once someone says that one is better than the other, a war breaks out.

Of course, it is hard to compare the four, because two (Mad Men and Breaking Bad are still on the air), but in our world there still needs to a best, second best, third best, and fourth best. Don't forget it's still incredible to be the fourth best show of the past decade-plus. I would love to be the fourth best anything.

With that, my personal list is:

1. The Wire
2. Mad Men
3. The Sopranos
4. Breaking Bad

And now by using 9 categories, I will explain why I believe the list is that way. I will rank the shows in each category and give them points (1 through 4) based on those rankings. The highest possible score is 36. The 9 categories are Personal Interests, Writing, Acting, Characters, Compelling Storylines/Plots, Way it Looks/Shot, Consistency, Importance, and Cultural Impact.

Personal Interests is the most important category. Obviously, if you don't like the topic or idea of a show, then you most likely will not like the show. For me, I am most interested in drug culture, organized crime, inner city, stories most. That of course means that The Wire is my personal interest favorite, followed by The Sopranos. Next would be Mad Men because I am more interested in that time period (the 1960s) than chemistry, making drugs, and family and personal struggles which make up Breaking Bad. Personal Interest ranking:

1. The Wire (4 points)
2. The Sopranos (3 points)
3. Mad Men (2 points)
4. Breaking Bad (1 point)

The writing is the heart of any show. It is what makes the show. If the writing isn't good, chances are the show won't be good. The Wire has the best writing. Every script used real Baltimore language, from the police calling people "mopes," to the way that they talked about drugs. It just feels the most real. Also, like Lester Freamon says, "All the pieces matter," every little thing was important. Something small in Season 3 was important in Season 5. Next is Mad Men. Again the writing greatly helps create the 1960s world, with the way the characters speak and the direction of the characters. That leaves The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. I would say that Breaking Bad's writing is slightly better than The Sopranos, particularly with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), the two main characters. Writing Ranking:

1. The Wire
2. Mad Men
3. Breaking Bad
4. The Sopranos

The acting not only enhances the writing but catapults a good show to a great show. Anybody can read the words of a great script, but you also have to be able to act out the "little things" and the "unwritten" parts of the script to make a show great. All four of these shows have great acting, but Breaking Bad, led by Cranston and Paul, as well as Dean Norris (who plays DEA agent Hank Schrader), has the best acting. Cranston has one the Best Actor Emmy for all three seasons that the show has been on so far, and Paul just one the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for season three. The Wire is next, particuarly because of Michael K. Williams (who plays Omar, the stick up man), Idris Elba (who plays Stringer Bell, a drug kingpin), Clark Peters (who plays Lester Freamon, a cop in the Major Case Unit), and Larry Gillard, Jr. and J.D. Williams (who play D'Angelo Barksdale and "Bodie" Broadus, respectively, two drug dealers). Mad Men and The Sopranos also have great acting for the most part, but both are hurt by secondary characters who aren't the best actors (particularly January Jones as Betty Draper in Mad Men and Robert Iler as AJ Soprano and Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano). The Sopranos gets the edge because of the strong performances of Edie Falco, as Carmela Soprano, Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano and of course, James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. Acting Ranking:

1. Breaking Bad
2. The Wire
3. The Sopranos
4. Mad Men

The characters that the actors portray are also incredibly important because that it was the show needs. The characters are the story, make the story, move the story along. They are what give the story life. Mad Men has the best overall characters, led by Don Draper (Jon Hamm). But there are also standout characters like Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Sal Romano (Bryan Batt), Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks), Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) and Pete Campbell (played by Vincent Kartheiser). The Sopranos is next because the characters create the Simpsons-like world of The Sopranos. Standouts (other than the three listed in the Acting section) include Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Paulie Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) and Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). I put The Wire next, mostly because I don't like many of the characters in Breaking Bad. Other than the three mentioned in the Acting section, the only characters I like are Gus Fring (Giancarlo Espositio), who was only in the third season, and Mike (Jonathan Banks), who was in the end of the second and third seasons. Character Ranking:

1. Mad Men
2. The Sopranos
3. The Wire
4. Breaking Bad

The storylines and plots of a television series are what keep viewers interested. With this category, it was easier to go backwards because each series had great storylines, so it was simpler to eliminate each one. The lowest was Breaking Bad. The overall story is good, but there are many sub-plots that just didn't work (pretty much all of the beginning of Season 3). Next lowest is The Sopranos, because there was just too many storylines and sub-plots, and most of them were just little story arcs that didn't add anything to whole series plot. I put The Wire above Mad Men because every single one of its sub-plots contributed to the overall story. All the pieces mattered in The Wire. Storyline Ranking:

1. The Wire
2. Mad Men
3. The Sopranos
4. Breaking Bad

The way a show looks and is shot is also important. A show needs to "look good" to be great. The best looking show is Breaking Bad. The scenes in the desert are beautiful and the various colors that are always on the screen just pop. Next is Mad Men. The show just looks 1960s. The Sopranos gets the edge of The Wire simply because The Wire doesn't do anything special to look different. It's as if cameras were just put on corners and in apartments on Baltimore. Look of the Show Ranking:

1. Breaking Bad
2. Mad Men
3. The Sopranos
4. The Wire

The consistency of a show is important in keeping viewers watching and interesting. If a show isn't consistently good or interesting then it will lose viewers. The Wire is the most consistent of the four shows. Every episode was good and important to the overall show. Next is Mad Men. Most of the episodes are good (some more so than others), but not all of them are as important to the overall show equally. The Sopranos beats Breaking Bad because the end of Season 2 and beginning of Season 3 of Breaking Bad just weren't very good. They could have been cut out, and the show would still be the same. The Sopranos had bad episodes and ones that definitely could have been cut, but those episodes were more fun than Breaking Bad's bad episodes. Consistency Ranking:

1. The Wire
2. Mad Men
3. The Sopranos
4. Breaking Bad

The importance and the messages of the show itself is integral in making a show great and memorable. The Wire gets the number one ranking here because it is the one show that has a true message. The show is taught at different universities. The Sopranos is next. It was the first of these great dramas, and it practically put HBO onto the map. Mad Men beats out Breaking Bad because more people watch it and it has a larger demographic. Importance Ranking:

1. The Wire
2. The Sopranos
3. Mad Men
4. Breaking Bad

Finally, the cultural impact of a show can take it from a great show to one of the greatest shows. The Sopranos is number one here because it became a part of our culture. Everyone knows about Tony Soprano and the rest of the Sopranos. Many people now know about the adventures of Don Draper and Mad Men, putting it at number two. The Wire beats out Breaking Bad, because Breaking Bad is still the "new kid on the block" and The Wire is making a comeback because of the continued talk of it being the greatest show of all time by critics and fans. Cultural Impact Ranking:

1. The Sopranos
2. Mad Men
3. The Wire
4. Breaking Bad

With all of that being established and broken down, it is easy to see which of the greatest shows is the greatest. Final Ranking and scores:  

1. The Wire (28 points)
2. Mad Men (24 points)
3. The Sopranos (22 points)
4. Breaking Bad (16 points)

According to my breakdown, The Wire is the best show of the past decade-plus. Of course, Mad Men and Breaking Bad are still on television and have a chance to move up in the rankings, but I think it will be very hard to beat out The Wire. Breaking Bad starts its fourth season this Sunday night on AMC at 10:00, and I will be reviewing the episodes with posts up (hopefully) by Monday afternoons.