I respectfully disagree. The writing on the Shield was good but kind of amateur compared to the Wire. I really want to like Kurt Sutter, and often I do, but he doesn't hold a candle to Simon and the rest of the writers on the Wire. The Shield had some really good socially aware arcs (the asset forfeiture season comes to mind) but even those pale compared to the whole Wire philosophy of institutions as Greek gods in a Greek tragedy. Also the pray-the-gay-away subplot in the Shield has not aged well.

I watched the Wire after The Shield and it was hard not to fall asleep. It was so slow in comparison. I understand art imitating reality but they really kill the pace with some of these stake out scenes.