[cerveza_fiesta]

Do we already have a thread for this show? If so delete the hell out of this thing.

THe wire is one of the coolest shows I've seen in awhile. HBO of course, based in Baltimore in early-mid 2000's. I'm only about 2/3 of the way through season 1, but so far the wire kicks more ass than pretty much anything I've seen lately. The major plot so far is this unit of reviled but generally well-meaning cops get put in a special unit that is going to set up a wiretap on a major baltimore drug dealer to try and bust his ass.

The characters are convincing, the acting is darn good, hilarious/awesome dialogue all the time by all characters, solid plots, good development and a whole pile of unexpected stuff in almost every episode.

It's like they took all the awesome parts of other crime series and rolled them into one show, leaving out all the shitty stuff. It's got

• the action of a CSI show without the mental retardation inducing one-liner dialogue
  
• The dialogue of a Law and Order episode without the geriatric pacing
  
• The win of an NYPD blue episode without Jimmy Smits' ass hanging out all over the place.

And a bunch of other stuff like:

• The main character is the biggest douche ever, but in a cool way.
  
• Lesbians. That. Make. Out.
  
• titties, fairly often
  
• An asshole superior officer that you just know is going to go down in the awesomest way ever
  
• A gay gangster named Omar that is takin' names and kickin' ass like nobody's business with a huge gun
  
• A cool super smart cop that got sidetracked into a shithole department 13 years ago for being honest and going against a superior. Nobody expects him to know anything, but he's the one that figures everything out in the first place.
  
• The black dude from LOST, who has a pretty badass character and is in charge of the special unit
  
• Comic relief by a couple of idiotic cops that are on the team.
  
• Good fights and realistic gunplay.
  
• Drug addict side-stories that are actually real looking and not just some useless minor character trying to "act stoned"
  
• "fuck" is said more than "the" in a few scenes.

Anyways, Check er out. It's worth a download at least for the first season.

[Binder of Demons]

It's a great show. You're in for a treat. 5 seasons of top quality crime drama.

Each season has a different focus, to try and shine a light on several different aspects of the drug related crime in Baltimore, from the street to the seats of power.

There are some brilliant characters in it, and it does have a very gritty feel. It's well worth checking out. I managed to find it in my local library, and watched an entire season in 3 days (there's only 12 or 3 episodes per season).

[Christopher]

cerveza_fiesta;337829 said:

THe wire is one of the coolest shows I've seen in awhile. HBO of course, based in Baltimore in early-mid 2000's. I'm only about 2/3 of the way through season 1, but so far the wire kicks more ass than pretty much anything I've seen lately.

Anyways, Check er out. It's worth a download at least for the first season.

Ooh, you're lucky. I almost wish I'd never seen the show so I could discover it for the first time all over again. One of the few that stayed strong throughout its whole run. I think it helped that it was popular but not quite mainstream. It had enough legs for HBO to let it run its course but didn't have to have plot lines that appealed to the lowest common denominator audience.

[amphibian]

Christopher;339642 said:

Ooh, you're lucky. I almost wish I'd never seen the show so I could discover it for the first time all over again. One of the few that stayed strong throughout its whole run. I think it helped that it was popular but not quite mainstream. It had enough legs for HBO to let it run its course but didn't have to have plot lines that appealed to the lowest common denominator audience.

HBO did pull out all the promotional stops for the last season. There was publicity everywhere.

I don't think HBO pulls the lowest common denominator in the first place, but The Wire wasn't pulling as many viewers as say The Sopranos. I think part of that was thematic: despite being one of the most ethnically balanced shows ever, the plot lines never got classically dramatic that often and it didn't exactly appeal to the older, whiter audience that The Sopranos had.

Almost every single Wire fan I know is, like me, under 40 and consumes a wide range of media. I'm trying to be somewhat vague because it does not seem to be about education or race, but that seems like a good way to describe the Wire's audience.

[cerveza_fiesta]

yeah, my buddy's been chugging seasons here lately, he's on about season 4. I'm watching it with the GF, so finding an hour where we both are able to sit for an episode without needing to do other things has been hard. Still not done Season 1.

He's been giving me some minor spoilers about it and I'm damn stoked to see the later seasons. My other buddy (friend A from the Inn thread "what a beeyotch") told me it was the best show ever ever. Which says a lot coming from him cause hes an overcritical emo personality couldn't bring himself low enough to enjoy Indiana Jones 4.

[vaiski]

Here's a heads-up for folks with HBO (or if, like me, you download stuff from the internets).

The duo behind the Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, have made a 7-part miniseries called Generation Kill that starts on July 13th. It's based on a book by a reporter who was with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in 2003.

The Wire is the best tv-series that I've seen so I've got pretty high expectations for this as well.

[Christopher]

vaiski;345761 said:

Here's a heads-up for folks with HBO (or if, like me, you download stuff from the internets).

The duo behind the Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, have made a 7-part miniseries called Generation Kill that starts on July 13th. It's based on a book by a reporter who was with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in 2003.

The Wire is the best tv-series that I've seen so I've got pretty high expectations for this as well.

I'm looking forward to this show as well. With this creative team it seems can't miss. War movies or shows haven't done too well lately, but hell, I even like Over There while it was on. Hopefully the show will get a chance to prove itself.

[relentless]

I've seen season one and two. Hands down my favorite drama series.

Favorite bit so far was Omar testifying in court. Too cool for school. :cool:

And Bubbles is just all around awesome.

[Greymane]

Best show in the history of TV, though I haven't seen season 5 yet. Season 4 was my favourite.

[Binder of Demons]

Season 5 isn't it's strongest season in my opinion. A couple of the storylines aren't as strong as in previous seasons, but it's still top quality.
One aspect of the 5th season looks at how these kinds of problems are dealt with by the media, and the reciprocal effects. The problem is the David Simon is kinda bitter about his time as a journalist and it spills over into his writing here.

But overall, the season is good and it does finish things off in a coherent and satisfying manner (satisfying in the sense that it didn't feel like a cop out ending, or a gimmicky ending).

I'll probably go back and watch the thing from start to finish again soon, to see what i missed the first time around. Good times.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Somebody on the radio the other day (the Q program on CBC) was talking about how the wire is a super white show...as in white people (in particular) like the show and the audience demographic is decidedly caucasian. Then I heard the same thing from a comedian on TV a couple weeks back.

I was having trouble figuring out why that might be...any thoughts?

[amphibian]

cerveza_fiesta;349560 said:

Somebody on the radio the other day (the Q program on CBC) was talking about how the wire is a super white show...as in white people (in particular) like the show and the audience demographic is decidedly caucasian. Then I heard the same thing from a comedian on TV a couple weeks back.

I was having trouble figuring out why that might be...any thoughts?

Not true in the least. Enough black people liked the show that BET ran edited versions, like A&E's Sopranos, and they were still somewhat popular.

There was a series on Freakonomics about an Indian guy hanging out with real gang members as they watched Season 5 of The Wire. It was really cool. It's also nearly universally liked among the NBA - although I'm not sure about baseball or the NFL.

I think a reason for that perception is that the huge media blitz HBO was doing to promote Season 5 was primarily targeted towards whites. New Yorker pieces, Time magazine, talk show interviews etc. The people most vocal about it in the media were white, but I have actually heard more word of mouth about the show from black people I know.

[cerveza_fiesta]

amphibian, on Jul 11 2008, 01:14 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta;349560 said:

Somebody on the radio the other day (the Q program on CBC) was talking about how the wire is a super white show...as in white people (in particular) like the show and the audience demographic is decidedly caucasian. Then I heard the same thing from a comedian on TV a couple weeks back.

I was having trouble figuring out why that might be...any thoughts?

Not true in the least. Enough black people liked the show that BET ran edited versions, like A&E's Sopranos, and they were still somewhat popular.

There was a series on Freakonomics about an Indian guy hanging out with real gang members as they watched Season 5 of The Wire. It was really cool. It's also nearly universally liked among the NBA - although I'm not sure about baseball or the NFL.

I think a reason for that perception is that the huge media blitz HBO was doing to promote Season 5 was primarily targeted towards whites. New Yorker pieces, Time magazine, talk show interviews etc. The people most vocal about it in the media were white, but I have actually heard more word of mouth about the show from black people I know.

Interesting Amphibian. I know this is a near dead thread but I never read your response.

Thanks


Anyway, resurrecting this cause I finished the wire finally last week

Spoiler

HOLY FRACKING SHITBALLS

the ending was hilariously awesome. McNulty turned into the most incredible character ever with his crazy plot to get money flowing into the police department. Omar pwned in the most perfect and random way. Cheese blasted in the fucking head for being an asshole. Marlow out of his depth in "high society". McNulty's and Freeman's whole plan going to shit the second the higher-ups found out it was all a lie.

oh man...such a great show. I'd almost watch the whole series again just for the dialogue. and boobs. Definitely for the boobs.

This post has been edited by RodeoRanch: 26 March 2009 - 03:13 AM

[stone monkey]

Okay, this needs to be bumped as BBC2 are going to start showing The Wire from the beginning from 30th March. Anyone in the UK who doesn't watch this is an idiot, even (especially) if you've seen them before.

Now this is yet another reason why the licence fee is money well spent.

[masan's saddle]

I will be watching (again), i managed to watch the first 2 seasons on FX a while back and was mightily impressed. Fair play, America has been having a bit of a golden age with dramas/sit-coms of late. Far better that anything in the UK ( barring the odd gems like Murphy's Law, Spooks and Coupling, which are quite old now !!!)

It frustrates me that the beeb can't find the talent to create a series to compete with the likes of the Sopranos, The Wire, 6 Feet Under etc.

However, I to have no probs with my licence fee going towards importing quality shows from across the pond.

[stone monkey]

I'm midway through season 3 on DVD; which I really should get around to watching, rather than faffing about on here. But I will be very happy to watch seasons 1 and 2 again. The only dramas the Beeb (and ITV for that matter) seem interested in at the moment are of the costumed sort. Which is nice for those people who like those things, however I'm not one of them.

Channel 4 dramatised the Red Riding Trilogy recently, (It was odd to see Sean Bean actually playing a Yorkshireman) which was wonderfully dark and very well done in places. British tv needs more serious, relevant dramas to be made; when it's done right it's the best in the world, we just don't seem to want to do it any more. One of the things I like about the British attitude to drama is that we're not scared to go to those really unpleasant places that US tv shows (certainly the ones on their main, non-cable channels, I can't imagine The Wire being shown on one of those) don't like to go, for fear of offending their mainstream family audiences. We British, in the main, seem to have darker souls than our friends across the Pond.

[amphibian]

stone monkey, on Mar 23 2009, 07:09 PM, said:

British tv needs more serious, relevant dramas to be made; when it's done right it's the best in the world, we just don't seem to want to do it any more. One of the things I like about the British attitude to drama is that we're not scared to go to those really unpleasant places that US tv shows (certainly the ones on their main, non-cable channels, I can't imagine The Wire being shown on one of those) don't like to go, for fear of offending their mainstream family audiences. We British, in the main, seem to have darker souls than our friends across the Pond.

I believe this same attitude is why you gave us Monty Python, the Hitchhiker's Guide and The Mighty Boosh. Somehow, the flip side of that darker attitude is better satire/deranged stuff.

Loooove The Wire still.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Love hearing praise for this show. Everybody. I mean everybody I talk to about this show absolutely adores it.

My only complaint was that the opening theme music "Walk in the garden" or whatever its called gets progressively worse from season 1 to 5.

Seasons 1 and 2 are quite likeable actually, with a nice bluesy feel....then they do this semi reggae thing....then some weird hip-hop shit....and season 5 is just some douche singing 1 note through the whole theme.

They should have kept season 1's theme imo.

[Sir Thursday]

I'm trying not to read the thread, because I don't want to be spoiled, but I just saw that they're going to be broadcasting The Wire on the BBC starting on Monday. Yay!


Sir Thursday

[amphibian]

Sir Thursday, on Mar 25 2009, 07:39 PM, said:

I'm trying not to read the thread, because I don't want to be spoiled, but I just saw that they're going to be broadcasting The Wire on the BBC starting on Monday. Yay!


Sir Thursday

There's one post here that has spoilers - from cerveza fiesta. They're not that bad, but I'll ask a mod to spoiler tag it.

In the mean time, put up your thoughts as you go through it.