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Seasons 1-4 of "The Wire" were the best TV drama I've ever seen. Season 5 was not nearly up to the caliber of the previous seasons, and it was obvious the show had run out of ideas, but at it's peak, I think it was the best.

"The Sopranos" ran out of ideas a lot faster than "The Wire". It was also a great show and James Gandolfini was brilliant, but I got tired of the recycling of mob stories or dramatic stories we've seen elsewhere recycled in a mob context by "The Sopranos". Each season we'd get some irritating underling of Tony's who he would eventually need to see removed - Richie Aprile, Ralph Cifaretto, Tony Blundetto. Joe Pantoliano as Ralph was terrific - the show never had a problem casting great actors - but he was pointlessly killed off, so the show could recycle his character with a different name and a different actor (Steve Buscemi).

"The Sopranos" ran out of ideas a lot faster than "The Wire".

I don't think so. The Wire could pretty easily shift story lines each season. One year it's labor unions. Then it's schools. Or newspapers. Or "Hamsterdam." Or the rise and fall of Stringer Bell or Omar Little.

The Sopranos couldn't do that. They were limited to the same basic characters and situations. They couldn't say, "Let's make Tony a Congressman" or let's focus on an Black drug dealer or on the failure of the school system. Given what they had, they did an excellent job. Every one of those killed-off characters had a different personality and trajectory (I think).