I admit it: I’ve been slacking on the job. And that’s a painful thing to acknowledge when your job consists largely of watching TV. But I’ll say it: I haven’t been watching The Wire. I know, lots of TV critics, including EW’s, routinely call it the best show on TV. But as with many serial dramas, I felt like, because I didn’t get on the boat at the beginning, it’s too late to hop on now.
I suspect that many of you have also found excuses not to watch The Wire. New Jersey Star-Ledger critic Alan Sepinwall notes that there are a number of reasons the show hasn’t been more popular. Besides its daunting complexity and massive cast of characters to keep track of, there’s also the fact that The Wire features a cast of relatively unknown actors (including Dominic West and Sonja Sohn, pictured), most of them African-American. Then there’s the show’s generally bleak outlook and its refusal to settle for simple moral judgments, though these are also hallmarks of other HBO dramas like The Sopranos and Deadwood.
Whatever your reason, there’s really no excuse anymore. Season 3 is out on DVD today; Season 4 starts on Sept. 10. So let’s make a pledge to each other that we’ll catch up with The Wire and watch Season 4. Because if it really is that good, you’ll want HBO to make a fifth season and not fumble it like Deadwood. Let’s keep each other on the path, folks; if you need a sponsor to watch your back, you can arrange for one via the Comments section below.
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Doesn’t being English preclude Dominic West from being African-American?
Dominic West is African-American! That’s funny. See the fun you can have when a parenthetical notation is put in the wrong place of a sentence. Oh, fun with English.
Anyway, the reason I don’t watch “The Wire” is simple. It’s often boring. Like put to sleep boring. I understand it’s deep but since most of the action is at night, the overall lack of music and the generally quiet way people speak (since they’re listening to the titular wire they can’t really “The Sopranos”-shout a lot), I am often drawn away by another show, shiny objects or overcome with slumber. I’m sure there’s some episode of the show that features all these things I said the show doesn’t but I have yet to see that episode. And with the sleeping, I doubt I will see it.
D’oh! You guys are right — my bad. Fixing now…
Besides its daunting complexity and massive cast of characters to keep track of, there’s also the fact that The Wire features a cast of relatively unknown actors (including Dominic West and Sonja Sohn, pictured), most of them African-American.
what is wrong with the above?????
Now I’m gonna pretend Mr. Susman is not going all Mel Gibson with what seems to be him saying “Oh i don’t watch it ’cause there’s a bunch of unknown African American actors on the show” and give him the benefit of a doubt before I personally go over to the EW office and kick his M****ing A**!!
Oh you can’t get me now EW! After years of reading your mag and feeling shame for not watching and not having premium channels…I finally took the big step and netflixed the first season. I was a little worried after the first episode, seeing as how it was overwhelming, but I stuck with it and now I’m hooked.
I LOVE KIMA!
I’m so there.
Jimmy McNulty forever.
In many ways, I think the Wire is the anti-TV, un-cop show. It really takes wild chances with an audience generally trained to think in 10-minute bursts at the most.
I like the lack of music cues and montages – which are out of control on nearly all TV shows, and treat the viewer as if he or she cannot figure out what to think or feel unless the music telegraphs it all over the room.
I’m Netflixing the first season, and after the pilot, I was all HUH? How is this a cop show? Then I figured out – OH YEAH – cop shows and procedurals are completely fake and the characters are manipulated around to fit the story. Or they’re given some sort of tic-filled backstory during sweeps. Or some crap like that. I HATE cop shows, even though I watch them like a slack-jawed lemming.
Creator David Simon did the commentary for the pilot, and it’s cool to hear him explain the novelesque tone, and his background as a journalist in Baltimore. He’s really doing something very different here.
And I’m getting very hooked on it. How cool that Netflix has the first three seasons on DVD!
Excellent actors, superb writing and not enough dead bodies each week. That’s the real reason people watch & rave about The Sopranos more than The Wire. It is the best show on tv. I’ll take McNulty and Griggs over Tony & Carmela any day.
best.show.ever! i’ve never been so excited for anything as i am for september 10th.
Hands down “The Wire” is the best drama on TV!!!! I highly suggest Netflixin seasons 1-3 but if u cant, dont worry, seaon 4 starts a brand new storyline. So there is absolutely no excuse to not watch. Trust me! I am a big fan of The Sopranos, Deadwood, 24, and Lost but I’ll say it again “The Wire” is hands down the best show on TV!!
I agree with all of the above. The Wire is indeed the best show on television. I started watching it after the second season because my landlord told me it was the most addictive thing he’s ever seen. Now I’ve hooked 6 other friends. Continued word of mouth is going to make the audience grow and save the show.
I’m so excited to see how they’re going to take on the education system. Everyone knows that public schools are in a crisis. Maybe this open people’s eyes as to how our schools fail students and how easy it is for them to turn to a life of crime.
i’ll be there. hoping Season 4 is more like my favorite, Season 2. i thought they slipped just
a tad last season. a very small tad. still the
best police drama ever…
HBO on Demand has a recap of the first two seasons and all of last season, I think. As a warning though, once you start watching last season, you’re going to be glued to your TV for at least several hours – it’s impossible to be satisfied with only a single episode at a time – not when there’s more to be had with a push of a button….
There are numerous acclaimed shows I didn’t get into because of not having cable (and now not having premium), too much competition in the timeslot, or even briefly not having the WB: Dawson’s Creek (acclaimed at the beginning), Everwood, Rescue Me, Sopranos, Deadwood, Weed, etc. Eventually when I have time and money, I’d love to catch up.
But the one show I ended up renting thanks to strong reviews was “The Wire” — and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t wait to see how it all turns out, the acting and writing are phenomenal, and this truly is the best series on television — better than Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, et al. THE BEST.
I gave up on HBO and it’s shows ever since they let go of the Comeback. I’m afraid to get into a show only to have it yanked – Deadwood.
The good thing about the Wire is that the seasons feel contained, so you don’t have to worry about it being cancelled. If it does, the story will still feel resolved. And besides, this is season FOUR — not two like “Deadwood” or one like “Comeback”. Invest in it, you’ll be glad you did!
I’ve been a fan of the Wire since Season 1, and I’ve turned a number of people on to the show. For anyone seeking actual novelistic complexity in television, the Wire has it. Characters and events that seem irrelevant reveal their meaning as weeks go by. Storylines refuse to play out like you think. And a group of gifted, eclectic actors are given multi-dimensional characters to play.
As for the argument that the Wire is “too Black:” White folks, give it a chance. If you don’t find at least a couple characters to identify with, I’d be surprised. And anyway, I’ve watched hundreds of TV shows with little or no actors that look like me (Black). Is it too big a sacrifice for you to do the same?
My fondest hope is that HBO, embarassed by their Deadwood debacle, signs the Wire up for Season 5 with no delay out of shame. But if we can get more people to watch, all the better.
“The Wire” is the first show to really keep it real. If this show were on network TV, it wouldn’t have made it thru the 2nd commercial break.
you know, until I read this I never noticed the lack of musical cues probably because the story was too damn engrossing.