In the Presence of Greatness

McSweeney's also agrees that The Wire is amazing. In other words: Pretty much total across-the-board consensus.

It's actually kind of weird, and I think people are kind of noticing how weird it is, that the critical/journalist community has actually noticed that we're in the presence of a True Classic while it's still current. Usually it takes years, even decades, to build this sort of unified consensus. How often does this happen? Ever? The only thing I can think of that comes close, at least in the film/TV world, is Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was recognized, even by those who didn't adore it, to be a pretty amazing achievement. Maybe you could put out an argument for The Sopranos, but there's a lot of debate about whether the show is really as great as its boosters proclaim and at what point it went into decline (for the record, I think it stayed strong until the sixth season).