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There was a time that I would have claimed you were both wrong.
The abusive great-granddaddy of them all, "OZ", is arguably better as it was the first to treat its viewers like adults and give us the burning realism and *blood* television so desperately needed. The Greek Chorus narrations of Augustus Hill combined with some of the most flawed "good" guys and vile, yet eerily charming "bad" guys drew the viewer into a world unmatched until "Deadwood" and "The Wire" (which I will get to in a moment). Unfortunately, the plotlines collapsed under their own convoluted weight by Season 5 and the final episodes (which still had a few flashes of brilliance) were painful to watch, and not in a good way.
"Oz, that's the name on the street for the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary. Oz is retro, Oz is retribution. You wanna punish a man? Separate him from his family, separate him from himself, cage him up with his own kind."
While The Sopranos was very, very good (a word that doesn't do any of these shows justice), I think "Deadwood" far outshines it as a cohesive entity. One small, illegal town on the boundaries of civilization asserting itself and reacting to outside forces. An attempt at balancing the anarchic wild with the corruption that is inherent to human organization while maximizing one's personal profit. And Albert Swearengen, the greatest character on any HBO series, ever. Anyone who disagrees sucks cock by choice.
Watching the last 4 seasons of "The Wire" in two months (thanks, Bittorrent!) has changed my mind about all of this. I don't think I can improve on Laura Miller's case except to emphasize the necessity of taking in the show as a whole. Each volume brings its focused part of Baltimore to life, but the show taken in its entirety cannot be matched by any television out there. Even the term "television" does not seem to do any of these shows justice.
