The Wire - the Best TV Show of All Time

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Is anyone else here a fan of this great show? I'm in the middle of my rewatch of all five seasons so I thought I'd start up a discussion thread for it, just in case anyone else here has watched it. I've just finished with season 4 which is in my opinion, the crowning achievement of the show and television in general. One thing I love about this show is that it's dark and realistic, but it doesn't go and do things just for the sake of being sensational and shocking viewers, like most other dark shows do.

Now my favorite character is definitely Omar, but I gotta say that during the course of the show, Bubbles has one of the most compelling and interesting character journeys I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

Now for you who hasn't watched the show, yes. I truly believe that this is the best show ever made.

Here's a short rundown of what the show is all about:
The Wire was created by David Simon (Homicide: Life on the Streets, The Corner), a former reporter working for the Baltimore Sun and Ed Burns (The Corner, Generation Kill), a former detective at the Baltimore Police Dept. and public school teacher. Anyway, the show is about Baltimore police doing police-y things, usually involving wiretaps, but at the same time that just doesn't cover it all. The show is much more than that, and about much more than just the police, but it's hard to just describe all of it. It is a very serialized show, with each season being like a novel, with every episode being chapters, however the show doesn't have big storyline stretched out over the course of five seasons, but instead a main storyline for every season, with threads being carried over to the next. In the end it's just a brilliant show, something you can talk about with someone for hours, and definitely something that you have to pay attention because the show is just not something that can be half watched.

Here's an awesome quote from series creator David Simon that gives you a little feel of what the show is like.

“My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: **** the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my newspaper life. The average reader, as they meant it, was some suburban white subscriber with two-point-whatever kids and three-point-whatever cars and a dog and a cat and lawn furniture. He knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story-killing burden. **** him.”

Fan trailer for season 1:
[video=youtube;srIYAbjqT-g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srIYAbjqT-g

 

[Gatefan1976]

I don't know if it's available out here ESA, but I loved H:LotS, so I'd probably like it as well. Will have to check it out when I get a chance.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

You should definitely give it a shot if it's available. Maybe you already know this, but David Simon is the guy who wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the book that H:LotS is based on, after he shadowed the Baltimore PD homicide unit for a year.

 

[Gatefan1976]

You should definitely give it a shot if it's available. Maybe you already know this, but David Simon is the guy who wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the book that H:LotS is based on, after he shadowed the Baltimore PD homicide unit for a year.

I did not know that mate, more for me to read

 

[Rac80]

a bit young.....

ESA- you're not even 18 yet....give it time I guarantee there were better shows and will be better shows in future. Tell me again in 10 or 20 years. Kids!

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

ESA- you're not even 18 yet....give it time I guarantee there were better shows and will be better shows in future. Tell me again in 10 or 20 years. Kids!

Maybe, maybe not.

 

[Rac80]

Maybe, maybe not.

at your age I found the six million dollar man to be the best show evah but then Lee Majors was HOT!!!! my daughter loved Lois & Clark. You will grow up, learn more, see more and then your opinion will change- if it doesn't then you will have learned nothing.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

at your age I found the six million dollar man to be the best show evah but then Lee Majors was HOT!!!! my daughter loved Lois & Clark. You will grow up, learn more, see more and then your opinion will change- if it doesn't then you will have learned nothing.

Yes, I probably will, but right now The Wire is the best written and acted show I've ever watched.

 

[Rac80]

Yes, I probably will, but right now The Wire is the best written and acted show I've ever watched.

and considering your age that really isn't saying much is it? ahhh the follies of youth!

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

and considering your age that really isn't saying much is it? ahhh the follies of youth!

Hey, I'm a movie & tv junkie/amateur moviemaker. I watch a lot more tv and movies than most people. And just because I'm younger than you it doesn't mean that my taste in movies and tv is any worse - just different. Hell, my taste in tv is different from pretty much everyone I know, which can get boring at times.

Anyway, let's get back to The Wire with this awesome scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZyTRiHT8IA

 

[Rac80]

there is no competition for Cary grant!

i'm a movie/tv junkie myself. honestly most of the movies I like best were made in the 30's,40's, and 50's.

 

[mzzz]

fun show

I liked it for a while, the first two seasons, then it got harder to watch. Only thing that sort of kept me going was Omar, the best gay character on tv. I like to pretend season 5 didn't happen, especially with the conclusion of Omar.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I liked it for a while, the first two seasons, then it got harder to watch. Only thing that sort of kept me going was Omar, the best gay character on tv. I like to pretend season 5 didn't happen, especially with the conclusion of Omar.

I enjoyed it all the way through, season 4 being the very best in my opinion. While season 5 did some cool things and upheld the same level of quality in the writing, it did sort of feel unecessary after the genius that was season 4. It would have been so fitting to just end the show after the fourth season.

Spoiler: Omar

I was intially angry about Omar as well, but now I think it was kind of fitting since the kid who killed him was the same one who was "playing Omar" on the street back in season 3, thus prompting Bunk to give Omar shit about that.

 

[mzzz]

I enjoyed it all the way through, season 4 being the very best in my opinion. While season 5 did some cool things and upheld the same level of quality in the writing, it did sort of feel unecessary after the genius that was season 4. It would have been so fitting to just end the show after the fourth season.

Spoiler: Omar

I was intially angry about Omar as well, but now I think it was kind of fitting since the kid who killed him was the same one who was "playing Omar" on the street back in season 3, and prompted Bunk to give Omar shit about that.

Spoiler: season5

I think he deserved a more epic ending than that. I mean, I guess they were going for shock value, but it just left a foul taste in my mouth. And Omar was one of the good guys. They ruined all of the good guys in season 5, in my opinion. McNulty and what he did, even though he got results, Lester and McNulty both fired. Daniels also fired. Senator Davis got away with his crap. Marlo got away. That lesbian chick ratted the two good cops that got things done out. I don't know, I just didn't like season 5. Only some parts.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Spoiler: season5

I think he deserved a more epic ending than that. I mean, I guess they were going for shock value, but it just left a foul taste in my mouth. And Omar was one of the good guys. They ruined all of the good guys in season 5, in my opinion. McNulty and what he did, even though he got results, Lester and McNulty both fired. Daniels also fired. Senator Davis got away with his crap. Marlo got away. That lesbian chick ratted the two good cops that got things done out. I don't know, I just didn't like season 5. Only some parts.

Spoiler: season 5

I don't think they did it for shock value, it just fit his character in a way. Omar's actions just caught up to him in the end, so in that way it was fitting. I do agree that they ruined McNulty. He was in a good place in season 4, living with Beadie and back in his radio car, but they just ruined that. I actually still liked him in season 4, but after what he did to Beadie I just didn't like him anymore.
I think the ending followed what had been previously established in the show; that the good guys don't always win, and that you get nothing but trouble if you start following the money.

However season 5 was probably the weakest of the five.

If I had to rank the seasons, it would look something like this.

Season 4 - The crowning achievement of the show and television. I could go on and on about it, but from the game of dice in the alley, to the election, to Bodie standing up to Marlo, the crossroads at the end of it, every minute, every second was a masterpiece.
Season 1 - Where it all began. One of the best first seasons I've ever watched, and looking back it feels weird seeing who the characters were then and knowing the journey they would go through during the following seasons.
Season 2 - This is a vastly underappreciated year and a lot of people name this as their least favorite, however I really enjoyed the port workers/union angle.
Season 3 - Another good year that added a lot to the series. Hamsterdam is a very interesting experiment and watching the show I can't help but think about it in real life.
Season 5 - After the fourth season this year just felt unecessary, but that's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable to watch.