The Wire

By acidsquid Now young rich whites can learn the ins-and-outs of how to truly run a proper business with proper direction from the boys on the block.  It’s only a matter of time before the narcos start to find “bodies” in those vacant dorms.  Word on the street is that Mr. Omar will be running the school’s fin...

By dataduchess A new course being developed by a sociology professor at Harvard will use the HBO show “The Wire” as “a case study for poverty in America.” via OpenCulture) A new course being developed by a sociology professor at Harvard will use the HBO show “The Wi

By jenlipman Outcry across the web because Harvard students are to study the TV show ‘The Wire’ http://m.nymag.com/vulture/2009/11/harvard_students_to_study_the.html Well, apart from the fact that as I have previously commented, watching The Wire is more like work than play, I can’t see what all...

By Buck Davidson Shelden Williams, Boston Celtics: Those same deep league owners should keep an eye on Williams; the Celts figure to be on the good end of a lot of blowouts this season, and Williams looks to be in line to rack up plenty of garbage time minutes. It may not be quality time, but Fantasy owners won’...

By mdmorn Estimated economic impact on Maryland of the filming of The Wire: $196 million From Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and the Maryland Film Office Number of seasons The Wire actually had: 5 http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/

By Chris Wassel Right Wing Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings: Say it with m: When is the injury going to come? That is perpetually the question with Mr. Williams. Nine points in nine games is great, but let us have a little fun with the following list of injuries. Yes, we go next level here. Thank you TSN.

By Myles What makes this episode work, in the end, is that it’s more about Michael Scott’s quest for happiness than it is about Pam’s reaction to the news of Michael and her mother dating, but what keeps it from really working is that we’re really only given Pam’s side of the story. Ultimately, I felt f...

By jeffnearlife Sadly, Jasper Howard will never get that chance but maybe this tragedy, no matter what the circumstances, will help us all to pause and remember that while shows like The Wire are not real, there are literally millions of kids trying to make the best of themselves and their families.  The re...

By jcont If Rawls could just stop being so jealous of McNulty, because that’s what it is, pure jealousy, then maybe the citizens of Baltimore can get their justice. Rawls knows he’ll ruin the case for McNulty if he gets his way. That’s why Daniels better step in. Good, Daniels is stepping in. It’s so diff...

By Guest Contributor The spirit of Newark is rough but Brick City wins because it doesn’t romanticize or demonize Newark and its people. Comparisons to The Wire are inevitable but I think Brick City will appeal to the people who thought The Wire was too raw. The irony of that is laughable since The Wire was a drama a...

By Iain Steve If you’re that desperate to write about Burns and Simon, why not start previewing Generation Kill – equally as good as The Wire, arguably as relevant and, crucially, due to be aired in the UK soon. Now, let’s get one thing straight before we start. I don’t actually hate The Wire, despi

By Lincoln In one of the best scenes in The Wire, from the middle of season three, Bunk confronts Omar, reminding him that they grew up together: “Rough as that neighborhood could be, we had us a community. Wasn’t nobody, no victim, who didn’t matter.” It hits home to Omar, too: just watch the last shot an...

Tosha's death, catching a stray one smack in the head from Dante after Omar orders his crew to "bang out" yet another Barksdale stash-house, is the second ...

As well as viewers, cast members of the show have previously said they found it difficult to understand the dialogue used in the HBO series. ... Using subtitles to watch The Wire? The writer says that's criminalBelfast Telegraph all 5 news articles »

The Star-Ledger - NJ.com The Wire, Season 2, Episode 10: "Storm Warnings" (Veterans edition) The Star-Ledger - NJ.com But as with most seasons of the show, you get the sense that David Simon and Ed Burns are more interested in setting up the plot than in actually showing ... and more »

Not having ever seen The Wire, in which Peters plays Lester Freamon(the detective who makes doll's house furniture on the side), Van Outen has some good ... Denise Van Outen's “hidden shallows” belie her depthsEdinburgh Festivals all 10 news articles »

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) I've been accused in past "Wire" reviews of being too hard on McNulty, so I should say upfront that I don't dislike the guy. As impeccably played by Dominic West -- one of those actors with a gift for becoming more appealing, not less, the worse his behavior gets -- how could you not find Jimmy l...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) • Dominic West has a lot of fun in the scene where McNulty is undressing the mannequin to distract Elena. • The ceremonial eyef--k that McNulty and Omar give Bird is a detail from David Simon's "Homicide" book, and was mentioned once on the "Homicide" series, though there it was referred to a...

By Tim Weaver Nay, this is about the book that served as the inspiration for The Wire; which affords it an immediate hollowed status in contemporary literature. Clockers by Richard Price is quite frankly one of the best books I have ever read in my life.

By Paul Levinson(levinson.paul@gmail.com) First, though, let me offer the ever-relevant apples and oranges proviso - television series, like all works of fiction, are never completely comparable. The Wire is in a superb now classic class of its own, not as police drama, but in its vivid, scalding, anthropologically rich presentation of life in the drug drenched hood. The Shield, in contrast, is more about police. And neither show has much in common with Lost, which inhabits a unique position in story telling that transcends even the science fiction of which it partakes. But television series can nonetheless be compared on some levels. See also ... The Sopranos Anti-Ending and The Sopranos Conference at Fordham University May 2008   [read the full post]

 UK Freamon's xenophobic outburst after the montage of clueless, non-Anglophonic ship workers chief among them. "English, motherfuckers!" Also loved Landsman's description of Freamon as displaying "tweedy impertinence". Definitely missed that one first ...

By astrosandy This tough show, created by David Simon and mostly written by him and former policeman Ed Burns, first aired in June 2002. I depended on Netflix for my "Wire fix". It took 15 months or so for a season to get to DVD, so I was always behind. Now its 5 seasons available - 23 disks.

By noreply@blogger.com (Adam Whitehead) The fourth and penultimate season of The Wire sees the show moving into new territory. At the end of Season 3 the Barksdale organisation was finally destroyed for good, McNulty found himself some happiness and Daniels got a promotion. The goals set out in Season 1 had been achieved. So, where...

By Alan Sepinwall(noreply@blogger.com) Spoilers for episode 9, "Game Day," coming up just as soon as I put on my sun visor... I just don't wanna play. Don't wanna play no more." -Wallace Coming up next Friday: "The Cost," in which the detail tries to find the stash, Stringer reaches out to Omar and Kima has a night out.

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) There's an episode coming up called "The Cost," but in some ways, that title applies better to this one, as the murder of Brandon illustrates the emotional cost of living in this police/drug world. The episode opens and closes with the image of Brandon, no longer beautiful after being tort...

By Alan Sepinwall(noreply@blogger.com) David Simon likes to say that the first scene of each season of "The Wire" encapsulates the themes of that season. In the case of Detective Jimmy McNulty investigating the murder of one Omar Isiah Betts, known to friends and family as Snot Boogie, Simon gets to explain what the entire series...

By marcsteinerblog External Links David Simon: The Wire Exit Interview from Baltimore City Paper Bittersweet Work of Wrapping 'Wire' from The New York Times What Does a Producer Do?by Marshall Persinger Nina Noble from Internet Movie Database Nina Noble and friends accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Mi...

By jason@kottke.org Yanksfan vs. Soxfan views The Wire through the lens of Baltimore sports. Assorted other articles that I'll leave unexcerpted: AV Club interview with Simon, final episode recap from Thoughts on Stuff, and a letter on HBO's site from David Simon to the fans of the show.

By rbalko@reason.com (Radley Balko) reason: This season of The Wire focuses pretty heavily on the media. What do you think the media does well when it comes to covering criminal justice issues, and what do you think it does poorly? reason: Slate’s media critic Jack Shafer has said that the media is at its absolute worst when cov...

By marcsteinerblog This is a selection of images taken at Viva House in West Baltimore.  Move your cursor over the pictures for captions. Baltimore's Viva House from America, The National Catholic Weekly Mildred and Me , from Laura Lippman.com-Laura writes about her experience volunteering at Viva House. Di...

By marcsteinerblog We're back again today with another fantastic interview for you.  Last week Marc sat down with Robert Chew, the Baltimore native who has portrayed the east Baltimore drug lord Proposition Joe for the past several years on the hit HBO series The Wire.  Prop Joe, as he came to be known, was an ic...

By marcsteinerblog Here are just a few of the thousands of interviews with and articles about David Simon. Stealing Life: The Crusader behind The Wire in the New Yorker, October 22nd, 2008.Interview: Talking With the Creator of One of T.V.'s Best and Smartest Shows in Rolling Stone, September 25th, 2005.Under t...

By marcsteinerblog HBO: The Wire: Interview: Ed Burns Ed Burns on Fresh Air in November 2006 The Ethical Scumbag (blog) interviews Ed Burns Edutopia: Edward Burns: Bringing Education Reality to TV The Wire Links (blog) Links to articles and info on THE WIRE   Ed Burns on the set of The Wire As we promised last w...

By Mark Freamon and Leander crack Marlo's code. Marlo is going down, and so is Chris, thanks to Bunk. Now, we know Micheal didn't sell out Chris but he's sure to be blamed - probably not by Chris, though. Marlo may go down due to the cell phone number that Herc stole from Levy's office. Levy is sure to figur...

— Kenard, on seeing Omar: “Gimpy-ass motherfucker.” Clay Davis: “I don’t know how they do it out in Roland Park? Maybe Prosecutor Obonda can enlighten me on that. But my world is strictly cash and carry, and I am Clay Davis. My people need something, they know where to find me.”

By mcnulty Bunk seem to be about to crack soon, don’t think he’ll rat on McNulty or Freamon, but he’s pretty pissed off. Also liked the scene when he’s interrogating Michael. Hope he gets to Chris and Snoop soon. btw, did you notice that Dominic West (playing McNulty) directed this episode? How cool is th...

By Nick Denton Devotees of The Wire, myself among them, should be delighted by this hint given by one of the HBO drama's actors. Dominic West, who plays the increasingly manic police detective, Jimmy McNulty, tells the Los Angeles Times some of his colleagues are lobbying David Simon for a movie spinoff...

By jason@kottke.org How are they going to wrap this up? I don't care what happens to Carcetti or McNulty or Freamon or Daniels and we're obviously going to get some sort of closure on either Omar or Marlo, but if they leave the Dukie, Bubs, and Michael threads significantly hanging, I'm gonna be pissed. (Predict...

By Rick Monaco In a mildly radical departure from traditional political values, I've decided to endorse Omar Little from "The Wire" as my choice for presidential candidate. Let me be clear about this: I'm not endorsing Michael Kenneth Williams, the actor who portrays Omar on the show, but rather the ch...

The Wire’s ‘Snoop’ is a witness in Baltimore City murder trial  - Felicia Pearson, who stars as 'Snoop' on HBO's The Wire, is a witness is a murder trial in Baltimore. BALTIMORE (Map, News) - On HBO’s The Wire, ...

By Paul Levinson McNulty has picked up the pro-active make-things-happen and damn-the-consequences approach he played so well in the very first season of The Wire. It's good to see McNulty really on top of his game again. This time, he's trying to make his colleagues and bosses think there's a serial killer loose in Baltimore - the only way McNulty can think of to keep the cops focused on Marlo and the drug business. The only person wise to what McNulty is doing - because he was there when McNulty started hatching this plan - is Bunk, who is none too happy about it. See also The Wire's Back! Review of Season 5 Episode 1 and Episode 2: The Great, Dangling Conversation challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News   [read the full post]

By Tempo Sen. Barack Obama has previously said that HBO’s "The Wire" is his favorite show. But now Obama's revealed another tidbit. In a story from Monday's Las Vegas Sun, the presidential candidate said that the bold thief Omar is his favorite character on "The Wire."

By Tempo Here is a feature/review of Season 5 of "The Wire," as well an interview with the HBO show's creator and executive producer, David Simon. The full interview, which is below the story, does not contain Season 5 spoilers.There's also a transcript of my talk with John Carroll, Simon's former e...

By mcnulty Another bright point was the journo crew at the Baltimore Sun which seem to be just as much of a  motley crew as the gangsters and police. It was great to see so many familiar faces in one single episode - McNulty, Bunk, Kima, Herc, Marlo, Prop Joe, Bubs, Carter, Carcetti, Chris, Snoop, Michae...

Arts, Briefly New York Times, United States - “The Wire,” HBO’s urban drama, has won critical acclaim and honors including the prestigious Peabody Award. But one of its stars, Wendell Pierce, said, ...

With strike, it comes down to 'The Wire' By Chuck Barney "The Wire," one of television's best shows -- if not the very best -- returns to HBO for its fifth and final season on Jan. ... The Wire' loses spark in newsroom storyline Baltimore Sun Inside 'The Wire' Wall Street Journal

comments from the cast and creator David Simon, but it ought to be enough to get the small but passionate Wire cult pumped for the premiere of the Greatest Show in the History of Television's final season in January. ...

By Tempo The innovative, addictive, Emmy Award-winning television series 24 resets the clock for “Day 7” with a special two-night premiere event beginning Sunday, Jan. 13 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and continuing in the series’ regular time period Monday, Jan. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The sea...

By paula@writingshow.com With David Simon, creator of "The Wire," featuring host Bob Andelman