The Wire

When I tell people about The Wire, I begin with a moment of silence, which helps me keep my composure - somewhat - once I start to explain it. I tell them that The Wire is the BEST THING EVER. Not just the best TV show. The BEST THING EVER TO EXIST EVER. The care put into the series is visible from the dialog. Creator David Simon writes the lines so they flow naturally and show the idiosyncrasies of Baltimore dialects and jargon used by police or criminals. And the dialect coaching! Two of the main characters are actually British, but they sure had me fooled for a while. Even the American actors have been trained in Baltimore dialect so that the life-long Baltimore resident might even believe them to be natives. Check out the writers' credentials:

David Simon, who penned two books of narrative nonfiction, 'Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,' which inspired the hit series 'Homicide: Life on the Street,' and 'The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood,' which inspired the Emmy(R)-winning HBO miniseries 'The Corner'; Ed Burns, a former Baltimore police detective and Baltimore city public school teacher, who coauthored the book 'The Corner' with Simon; William F. Zorzi, a former political writer and editor for the Baltimore Sun; and Chris Collins, an up-and-coming talent who served as staff writer last season and also wrote the award-winning documentary 'Disarm.' Also writing for the series this season are novelists Dennis Lehane ('Gone Baby Gone,' 'Mystic River'), George Pelecanos ('Hard Revolution,' 'Right as Rain') and Richard Price ('Lush Life,' 'Clockers'), as well as TV veteran David Mills, who was one of the writers and executive producers on 'The Corner,' and a writer for 'NYPD Blue' and 'Homicide: Life on the Street.' - http://www.hbo.com/thewire

A lot of the material in this show comes from Simon and Burns's real-life experiences. The series starts out following McNulty, a maverick (and alcoholic) cop who does whatever he can, no matter how sneaky or ethically ambiguous, to get funding for a special task force to investigate an inner-city drug ring and its leader, Avon. Unlike most cop shows, this one often highlights the red tape and bureaucracy that prevent law enforcement from taking on organized crime. 2nd season's foray into the lives of Polish-American shipyard workers is somewhat unfortunate. Be ready for Ziggy - not the boring but lovable comic strip character - who is the most annoying character since Jar Jar Binks. Season 3 returns to Avon's crew, thankfully. 4 brings us new characters, some 8th-grade boys, and shows how No Child Left Behind and the general danger of their environment affects them. We're also introduced to a new drug kingpin, the young criminal prodigy Marlo. Season 5 focuses largely on chasing Marlo and trying to get a warrant to do so. It goes into the newspaper business, focusing on the overstepping of ethical guidelines and sensationalizing of stories.

I realize now that a synopsis of every season may be a bit much, but I'll go ahead and leave it, and here's why. If any of this information piques a single person's interest, that's enough for me. Described as "like Homicide, but grittier," or "like NYPD Blue, only grittier," such descriptions only scratch the surface. Give it a few episodes. I watched the entire series 3 times before I completely understood the 1st episode. The complexities make multiple viewings so worth it. And look out for Omar, the awesomest dude eva!

The Wire- The Complete Series 1- 5

For the most realistic depiction of drug addiction in America´s inner cities and its devastating effects on one West Baltimore family, one should catch the HBO Emmy-winning miniseries, "The Corner". For the most realistic depiction of life on the streets of Baltimore from both sides of the fence (the cops on one side and the drug dealers on the other), look no further than the new HBO crime series, "The Wire". It is therefore not a big surprise to me when I found out that the same screenwriter, David Simon, created both programs. In 1988, Simon, then a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun, spent that year accompanying Baltimore´s homicide squads as they investigated various murders around the city. From his experiences, Simon wrote an Edgar Award-winning book, "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets" which went on to inspire the critically acclaimed 1993 television series "Homicide: Life on the Street", another Baltimore-based television police drama.

TV gets no better than this!

I can't say anything positive about "The Wire" that hasn't already been said by critics and viewers alike hundreds of times over, but the series is so good that I don't mind adding mine to the cacophony of voices raised in its praise.

I've seen the series twice on DVD, and bought it because it is worth watching again and again.

While one may prefer certain seasons to others, there can be no doubt that, year in and year out, this is the most carefully written, acted and directed series on TV. It may present cliches now and again, but the vast majority of the characters and plot lines are wholly original in their complexity, realism and - the hallmark of the show - realism.

Sure, there's the stereotypical drunk cop who's also a womanizer, but when he's able to stay sober, he's able to learn from the criminals he is chasing. He becomes almost single-minded in his pursuit of "justice" but is not above making moves in the case to see his own ego stroked, and maybe even his career bettered.

Sure, there's the black drug dealer who works the projects and corners taking advantage of his "neighbors" by selling them one ultimately lethal product line after another, but he is savvy in his handling of his lieutenants at all levels, and in manipulating the police. So much so that the viewer finds him almost likable. Or at least infinitely watchable.

The white teacher who goes into a predominantly black school doesn't end up "saving" every child from themselves, their families or the streets. An upstanding police commander experiments with bending the law far past the breaking point in an effort to see the greater good will out. The naive politician becomes corrupted by the system, even as he works to end corruption and improve the situation in the city.

Do yourself a favor and watch from the beginning. You can pick the story up in the later seasons if you want, but watching the characters and plot lines develop is a joy.

Finally, I can't wait to watch the scene in which a stone-cold killer goes into a hardware store to inquire about a nail gun, receives a very informative explanation from an employee and then offers him the cash for the nail gun and a $100 tip, waving aside his protestations with a matter-of-fact, "Nah. You sold the sh^* out of that motherfu#%er."

Enjoy!

The Wire

Television history is now pretty long, so it's no small thing to declare "The Wire" as probably one of the top five shows ever in the history of this medium. Describing the plot as absorbing gives new meaning to the word understatement. The ensemble acting is impeccable. Every single actor humanizes a character that many of us would easily dismiss if we read his story in the newspaper. David Simon puts a face on the blight of poverty, racism and drug trafficking. He also exposes the hypocrisy of politicians and why the shrinking of legitimate news sources is a crime itself. The only thing wrong with "The Wire" is it ended.

The best way to own The Wire, for now...

The Wire is a beautifully realized epic about crime, politics and how they feed off of each other in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the best series I've seen produced for television. Don't bother testing the waters with Season 1, this one's worth diving right in with the whole set.

The box set itself is handsome and more compact than the individual seasons. The casing appears to be made completely from cardboard, a decision I would guess was made on behalf of the environment. The discs slide into cardboard sleeves, and I worry they will scratch over time, so I'm being careful with them.

Extra features are about on par with most other HBO shows, which is to say there could probably have been more for the price of the set. There's 3-4 commentaries per season and a few interviews. The only new feature for the complete series set are the promotional mini-episodes they produced right before the 5th season aired.

At 2-3 episodes per disc, the picture quality is pretty good for SD. I don't have a HD television yet, but I can imagine it would've been preferable to have these on Blu-Ray for those who have the capability. I can't imagine upgrading unless there is some serious incentive when the inevitable new set comes out.