How many episodes have you watched? I've heard reports that some people didn't really get hooked until 4 or 5 episodes into the first season.

However, I was hooked from the start.

This is how it broke down for me, scody:
Season 1: Interesting, but kind of hard to follow. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Season 2: Gripping, excellent, I finally began to figure out what all the fuss was about.
Season 3: Hated it. Watched the beginning of the season and the end, skipped the middle entirely. Have never felt like I missed much.
Season 4: My favorite season. I grew so attached to those kids.
Season 5: Another gripping, excellent season.

So you may want to start with season two, then go back and watch one to fill in the back story on some of the characters.

For me, it was seasons 3 & 4 that really blew me away. The first two seasons were merely the best cop show I'd ever seen, but nothing truly special. Nothing on par with the first couple seasons of the Sopranos. But I think seasons 3 and 4 were better than anything else I've ever seen on TV.

Yeah, the first season didn't rope me in until after I'd seen 2 & 3. Then I went back to watch the first. I think now I'm going to have to watch them all again, because I'm feeling a little myopic about how they all tie together (other than through the cops who worked the cases).

I hate to recommend this, but...if you truly couldn't stand to watch season 1 (or season 2) you could skip to season 2 (or 3) and use the Wikipedia articles to fill in the back story. There are incredibly thorough Wiki entries for each season and each episode (here's season 1; each episode synopsis links to a longer article for that episode).

How many episodes have you watched?

Just the first three. Well, actually, the first two and part of the third; we got distracted and turned it off, and haven't had the heart to finish it again. So the disc has just been sitting on top of the TV for weeks, taunting me: "You want to send me back to Netflix unwatched? Really? Just to unclog your queue? But what if I get REALLY GOOD at the very end? A-hahahaha." (Note to the concerned: the disc does not really talk to me.)

Anyhow, I'm glad to hear that others have had a similar response. I think I'm going to skip ahead to season 2 and give it a try that way.

You won't get into it until the episode "The Wire". That's when it transcends regular crime drama and becomes the best show ever.

Oh, and by the end of the season, you'll love it so much, you'll look back at this post and shake your head at yourself :)

If it's any consolation, I found the Sopranos horribly boring right out of the gate.

I don't think it's for everyone, and people saying "it's the best television show ever" just put the expectations to high.

When I first started watching, I didn't fall in love with it until I realized that, unlike almost every other television show, an entire episode or two can merely be setup for action later, ie. it's all slow build up.

Each season is like a novel, and they really hit their stride mid-season (around episodes 4-6). So the earlier episodes lay the groundwork for things that happen later.

Not just later that season, either; there were references in season 5 to things that happened in season 1, for example.

My reactions:

Season 1: watched if after a friend nagged me about it for a solid year. The first episode was enough to make me watch the second, but that's it--by the end, I was blown away. Season 1 is still my favorite season.

Season 2: my least favorite--I'm in the minority here.

Season 3: I enjoyed it, even though I was pretty much spoiled for an element of the ending.

Season 4: a hair behind season 1 for me. I found it extremely depressing, though.

I haven't watched season 5 yet (though I, um, have it available), and I'm trying to avoid getting spoiled for it before I can sit down and spend time with it. Wire-related posts in completely unrelated threads online aren't helping, though.

I am glad to see you posted this scody as I've just decided to take the leap and put The Wire into my Lovefilm queue tonight.

I first watched the first episode when it came out, thought it was a good cop show but didn't watch it again (can't remember why now). Then a few months ago I heard it was ending, and having read all the praise in the meantime I decided to watch it like I'd read a novel, all at once leading up to the final episode. So for three weeks we only watched The Wire, and I'm really glad I watched it that way (although perhaps I did get a little too emotionally invested, just a tad).

To answer your question though, I knew I couldn't watch anything else until it was all done after the second episode (and Herc, Carver and Prez at the tower block). Seasons two and four are my favourites, Frank Sobotka and the kids fucking broke my heart, but the entire show is a fascinating sociological study of a fucked-up, beautiful world and just gob-smackingly awesome.