HBO's The Wire

[Brian]

I have never heard of this show before this thread. I just googled it and read the first line.. This show is about criminals? Why do you guys want to watch a show about dirtbags? Help me to understand why moral, law abiding people would want to watch a show about scumbags. I finally gave in and watched 1 episode of the Biker show that everyone recommends. I would never watch another episode. Violence, drugs, etc. nothing wholesome there to want to watch.

So, why?

You never watched Smokey and the Bandit, did you? Criminals are more interesting...

Kidding aside, I do get your point though. There is a line somewhere and it keeps moving deeper into someplace dark... blame HBO.

[KestrelBike]

Actually, the biggest criminals are the politicians, not the street thugs.

They have House of Cards for this. And perhaps even worse, from a comedy standpoint, is Veep.

[Jer]

They have House of Cards for this. And perhaps even worse, from a comedy standpoint, is Veep.

We've been watching House of Cards too. Season 3 is coming up soon and I can't wait. It's scratching the itch that The Wire left as far as quality production top to bottom.

[Justin]

I have never heard of this show before this thread. I just googled it and read the first line.. This show is about criminals? Why do you guys want to watch a show about dirtbags? Help me to understand why moral, law abiding people would want to watch a show about scumbags.

The setup of the show revolves around inner-city criminal drug gangs, the cops who are trying to bust them, and the cat and mouse tactics that ensue.

However, it's way, way, way bigger than that. The thing that really makes the show fascinating (beyond the characters) is how it fleshes out the various systems these people inhabit, and how, in many cases, even when someone is trying to do the right thing, the outcome may be doomed simply because the particular system simply isn't designed to be able to allow for creative or, in many cases, even moral solutions.

The show manages to weave a story through the trials and travails of the people in these various systems, and shows what happens at the edges where, say, the cops are trying to track down and bust low-level street dealers, but end up finding connections that run into the city council.

Furthermore, each season can be more or less broken down into a fairly detailed examination of a number of systems. Season 1 covers the aforementioned systems of law enforcement and drug dealing, season 2 covers the blue collar workers involved with a dying union as well as the high-level guys responsible for importing narcotics into the country, season 3 covers the high-level political shenanigans of the Baltimore city council and mayor's office, and the political race of an upstart mayoral candidate, season 4 is probably one of the most heart-breaking examinations of inner-city public school systems you're ever likely to see, and season 5 wraps it all up with an examination of the place of reporters and big city newspapers during a time of mergers and downsizing.

If you want a show that has clear-cut upstanding heros and bad guys, The Wire isn't going to be your cup of tea. A lot of the characters come across as very real, and in some cases, deeply flawed people.

The writing on the show tends to lean left (as do the real-world politics of a city like Baltimore), but in many cases, it's clear that David Simon and the writers aren't interested in just being a bunch of left-wing cheerleaders.

I finally gave in and watched 1 episode of the Biker show that everyone recommends. I would never watch another episode. Violence, drugs, etc. nothing wholesome there to want to watch.

So, why?

Comparing The Wire to Sons of Anarchy is about like comparing Shakespeare to an Archie comic.

[Justin]

Kidding aside, I do get your point though. There is a line somewhere and it keeps moving deeper into someplace dark... blame HBO.

Anti-heros and flawed protagonists have been popular for way longer than HBO.

That said, I think that as various power structures become more entrenched, and you have statist bureaucracies that make life difficult for the average joe, stories about characters who work outside of, or even against, those power structures inevitably become more compelling to the average person.

[Jer]

In short... it's TV.

[Ranger353]

The setup of the show revolves around inner-city criminal drug gangs, the cops who are trying to bust them, and the cat and mouse tactics that ensue.

However, it's way, way, way bigger than that. The thing that really makes the show fascinating (beyond the characters) is how it fleshes out the various systems these people inhabit, and how, in many cases, even when someone is trying to do the right thing, the outcome may be doomed simply because the particular system simply isn't designed to be able to allow for creative or, in many cases, even moral solutions.

The show manages to weave a story through the trials and travails of the people in these various systems, and shows what happens at the edges where, say, the cops are trying to track down and bust low-level street dealers, but end up finding connections that run into the city council.

Furthermore, each season can be more or less broken down into a fairly detailed examination of a number of systems. Season 1 covers the aforementioned systems of law enforcement and drug dealing, season 2 covers the blue collar workers involved with a dying union as well as the high-level guys responsible for importing narcotics into the country, season 3 covers the high-level political shenanigans of the Baltimore city council and mayor's office, and the political race of an upstart mayoral candidate, season 4 is probably one of the most heart-breaking examinations of inner-city public school systems you're ever likely to see, and season 5 wraps it all up with an examination of the place of reporters and big city newspapers during a time of mergers and downsizing.

If you want a show that has clear-cut upstanding heros and bad guys, The Wire isn't going to be your cup of tea. A lot of the characters come across as very real, and in some cases, deeply flawed people.

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