I haven't seen The Wire yet, but based on what I've heard, I tend to think it's the only serious competition to Homicide. The Sopranos was brilliant in its way, but IMO got stale after about three seasons, and went on way too long to be plausible.
Other suggestions?
six feet under
cheers
Cagney & Lacey
ER
curb your enthusiasm
law & order
Hill,street blues
Touched by an angel
the golden girls
mad men
murder she wrote
Roseanne
china beach
the office
Columbo
I'd like to add Twin Peaks to that list. Nice touch with China Beach, Bager.
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i believe you forgot st. elsewhere and oz, but thats a damn good list
My Name is Lucifer, Please Take my Hand
The Fugitive (with David Janssen) also belongs.
I take issue with Hill St Blues though. While I was an avid watcher in the early 80s, I saw a few episodes from the first season recently and did not care for it at all.
Sorry I'm so late but what about Taxi!
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?1=10126182
OP you are seriously cheating yourself if you don't watch all 5 seasons of The Wire..
Woodrow...You came here with teeth...Do you wanna leave here with teeth!-Aunt Esther
As far as crime/police shows, it's definitely a lot more realistic than any Law and Order series and that really has something in its favor, it's like Rod Serling with the Twilight Zone, having the freedom to do what nobody else can or would on any other TV show at the time and still doing well with it.
shareI place Homicide as the second best TV show of all time. Easily the best is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, my tastes are eclectic.
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Best of all time is tough: I haven't seen every show ever made. But of everything I have seen, Homicide gets the nod from me. The Prisoner was great for its time; the reimagined Battlestar Galactica was a real achievement, as was Firefly. Law & Order: Criminal Intent was in the hunt. But Homicide easily bested them all for me. BTW, while The Fugitive was mentioned. I preferred the low key Harry O by a mile; the best show of its genre, ever, though some would say it is a genre of one.
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Other than on DVD, where can I watch Homicide: Life on the Street these days? I used to watch it on some cable channel that played mysteries but I can't remember what it was called.
shareTry this....I just watched all of another series here, using mostly Gorilla Vid.....seemed to work pretty well.
http://watchseries.eu/serie/homicide:_life_on_the_street
For me The Prisoner (1968-1969) : always so actual and relevant.
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I Claudius
Game of Thrones
Sherlock
(dramas only)
1. The Sopranos (best seasons 1, 2, 5)
2. Hillstreet Blues (1, 2, 4)
3. Homicide (1,2,4)
4. Friday Night Lights (1, 4, 5)
5. The Shield (4, 5, 7)
6. The Wire (4, 2, 3)
7. Mad Men (1, 2, 5)
8. Twin Peaks (1)
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2, 5, 3)
10. The X Files (4, 5, 3)/Battlestar Galactica (1, 2.0, 4.0)
Da Vinci's Inquest
This ain't no Chinese menu,jagoff! I tell YOU how it's gonna be.This is pricks fix!
I have seen both The Wire and Homicide from start to finish, from season premier to season finale. I would say Homicide is better in a tight race. Homicide was based on the book "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets", many of the characters where based from the book and real life crimes that where not resolved. The acting of Andre Braugher, Kyle Secor, Yaphet Kotto etc was impeccable to say the least. You get to see how good people can do evil things and vice versa. The way it was shot in way more realistic than any other series shot on hand held 16 mm, the bad guys would get away with murder, you would see the overt and just plain racism inside and outside of the Baltimore PD.
For me Homicide had more feeling more reality (even though is was on reg. tv).
Those are my two cents.
Homicide LOTS introduced elements that never made it to telly before, things that no one could imagine a police drama would have.
It still remains very unorthodox and non-formulaic with those elements and its rich characters who have much more to say than any police in any other drama. Well, I suspect The Shield may have something similar in it (character dynamics-wise, not the dialogue though) but it lacks creativity that the HLOTS had, is more fast-paced, tries too much to be "gritty", so I gave it a pass.
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
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Rockford files, wiseguy, two excellent series....
shareAgree with you on 7 but I thought 6 was a really good season. It did suffer for losing Melissa Leo.
Come visit my Homicide subreddit at http://www.reddit.com/r/Homicide_LOTS/