Folks can get pretty competitive on social media when it comes to defending things that they enjoy, whether it’s albums, artists, but especially shows. Over the last few weeks, there has been an ongoing debate regarding which crime drama series reigns supreme: the competitors are between HBO’s iconic early 2000s Baltimore set “The Wire” and FX’s relatively new “Snowfall.”
Recently fans have added a third challenger, Starz’s award-winning drug series “Power,” starring actor Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, and rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. During a recent appearance on “The Ringer” podcast, Hardwick was asked by co-hosts Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay about his opinion on where he ranked the three series—his response later sent social media into a whirlwind.
“If you were going to rank, one to three, ‘Snowfall,’ ‘Power,’ and ‘The Wire,’ what is your ranking,” Lathan asked the actor. “I can’t say that on the list would be ‘Snowfall’ at this point because it’s still running, and it’s still balling. It’s still trying to figure out the cross-over and the fade-away. They ain’t proving all that yet,” he explained.
The “American Skin” star later went on to shout out several cast members of “The Wire,” including Wood Harris, Dominic West, Idris Elba, and Michael K. Williams. “They consistently showed up, and the writers room included and the acting and the crew, and the way it was shot and to me, they edge us out by a season,” he continued. “Because I think we were dominant for four seasons on a very beautiful, handsome, stunning way. I think ‘The Wire’ went five years. It was five seasons, and we talk about it like it was 10.”
Ultimately, Hardwick said based on a technicality, he would place the HBO series at No. 1, “Power” at No. 2, and the Damson Idris led show “Snowfall” at No. 3, stating that it should be seen as a compliment because “that’s good company to be in.”
Social media, on the other hand, felt differently about Hardwick’s list. Many disapproved of the actor’s ranking order, including one Twitter user who wrote, “This is laughable. The subpar acting on Power should disqualify it from breathing the same air as The Wire.” They added, “Y’all not in the same league honey 💅🏾.”
Another person chimed in, stating, “Not to mention that the writing sucked. Whoever wrote tariqs arc should be black balled from hollywood.” They added, “So Tariq was mad at his father because he found out he was a gangster but wants to be a gangster in the show? what?”
“That boy Ghost done lost his damn mind!!! Lmfaoooo!!!” a third wrote.
A fourth wrote, “Anything but The Wire in first place is straight nonsense. He needs to stop. 😂 😂 😂.”
While everyone may not agree on which order the shows should go in, the discussion alone proves that they’ve all done something right to have everyone in an uproar over them.
You can catch Hardwick’s hot take around the 47-minute mark.
