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The Wire - The best TV show ever?


Paranoid Android

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In my opinion, it definitely is. After being aware of it for some time and always hearing how good it was I finally got round to watching it last week. With the help of having this week off work I've now managed to get through all of seasons 1-4. Season 5 isn't out on dvd here until the 22nd of september, I really don't know how I can wait until then.

All other tv shows now seem poor in comparison, the writing, the characters, the acting and the realism of the show are all utterly fantastic.

So any other fans on here? If so, what are your favourite characters?

If you want a second opinion listen to Charlie Brooker YouTube - Tapping The Wire Pt. 1

:up:

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You're a bit of an outcast in my office if you don't love The Wire. I haven't watched it yet but the bird has it all on DVD so I'll watch it sometime. This is the most pointless post I've ever made but I've started now so I'll finish. I should really be watching The Wire I suppose.

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I think season 2 is my favourite. I liked 3 almost as much, it is possibly a little weaker in some aspects than 1 and 2 but it is also more exciting at times and the concluding episodes are awesome. The way it wraps up some story arcs which began in season 1 and also introduces the characters and stories which it will pick up with in season 4 is great.

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Good thread.

Just away to get started on the season 4 box set this evening. Great show.

:up:

Series 4 is fantastic, but also quite depressing at times.

i think i posted this before, if you like the wire it's worth another look though -

great show, like half the cast are from britain or ireland though!

o_O that video's bizarre!

I was suprised to hear that the guy who plays Stringer is from brixton, he gets his accent perfect. Dominic West who plays McNulty has such an annoying accent in real life that he should just speak as McNulty all the time.

I think a lot of people who appear in the show in more minor roles are local baltimore people.

The man who plays the deacon in series 3 and 4 is a man called Melvin Williams who is known as 'the man who introduced heroin to Baltimore' and pretty much ruled the city's west side from the sixties through to the eighties. He was arrested by co-creator Ed Burns and spent 26 years in prison.

And Snoop went to prison when she was 14 for shooting and killing someone (in self defence). Up until then her life was apparently just like the young kids on the corners shown in the wire.

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shhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttt

the wire is brilliant. I'm gutted there's no more episodes planned. Since finishing the fifth series I've been getting my baltimore fix with these gems from the same writers.

Amazon.com: The Corner (HBO Miniseries): T.K. Carter, Khandi Alexander, Sean Nelson, Clarke Peters, Larry Hull, Antonio D. Charity, Tyra Ferrell, Toy Connor, Tasha Smith, Glenn Plummer, Corey Parker Robinson, Neko Parham, Delon Browne, John Epps, Dua

'the corner' is a a bit more bleak than the wire and slightly over acted at times but just about every wire character pops up at some point in different guises. It definitely has its moments and is worth a watch.

Amazon.com: Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Seasons 1 & 2: Homicide-Life on the Street, n/a: Movies & TV

remembered this being on when i was a kid around about bed time. It's basically the wire lite. its a cop soap opera set in early nineties baltimore. The characters and dialogue are endearing and funny and it beats any of that ncscisicsi bruckheimer bollocks any day.

these are my suggestions for those who have finished the wire. there are also a few little wire prequels knocking about on yootoob which are pointless yet quite good with the exception of the prop joe one which is just a huge slice of fromage.

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I was suprised to hear that the guy who plays Stringer is from brixton, he gets his accent perfect.

i was surprised to hear that the guy who played "tim" in family affairs had gone on to be in a tv show lauded by many as one of the "greatest of all time".

also, i never realised snoop was a girl til i'd watched most of season 5.

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I would love to go to that, but as it is before the release of Season 5 on DVD I will probably be too fearful of spoilers to go. I've already heard one big spoiler and I'm desperate to avoid any more.

I'm re-watching the first 4 series at the moment, amazingly this show is even better on the second viewing.

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  • 1 month later...

I got the season 5 dvd's last week, a great ending to a wonderful show. As a conclusion to the show as a whole season 5 was perfect, although in itself it probably wasn't as strong as the show at it's best (which at the moment I believe to be season 4). Any other show I can think of that was really great either got cancelled early or went on too long and suffered dramatic falls in quality levels (the simpsons being the most obvious example of this). The Wire managed to always be of the highest quality right from the very start to the end.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm pretty sure that it's written by proper novel writers (as opposed to TV writers), hence why the episodes are more like chapters, and the seasons like volumes of one massive story. This is probably the biggest reason why the characters are all so detailed, believable and flawed - and as mentioned already, a lot of normal people and real convicts / cops are involved as actors or the writing process.

I've watched the first three seasons so far and have been totally blown away by it, although feel that the first part of season two was pretty weak, until they brought back the dealers story.

My favourite thing about watching the wire is that you really want everyone to win: the cops, the dealers, the dockers and the junkies... who'd have thought you'd be shouting "Nooooooo" at your telly when a dealer gets shot!?!?

All the box sets are down to the 20 mark in HMV / Zavvi at the moment... anyone missing out on this is a FOOL!

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I'm pretty sure that it's written by proper novel writers (as opposed to TV writers), hence why the episodes are more like chapters, and the seasons like volumes of one massive story. This is probably the biggest reason why the characters are all so detailed, believable and flawed - and as mentioned already, a lot of normal people and real convicts / cops are involved as actors or the writing process.

I've watched the first three seasons so far and have been totally blown away by it, although feel that the first part of season two was pretty weak, until they brought back the dealers story.

My favourite thing about watching the wire is that you really want everyone to win: the cops, the dealers, the dockers and the junkies... who'd have thought you'd be shouting "Nooooooo" at your telly when a dealer gets shot!?!?

All the box sets are down to the 20 mark in HMV / Zavvi at the moment... anyone missing out on this is a FOOL!

David Simon was actually a journalist rahter than a novelist. He had written a couple of non-fiction books before he got involved in tv. He has spoke about how he wanted it to be paced like a novel however and the approach really works as with a little patience at the beginning each season builds up brilliantly and always reaches a great conclusion.

David Simon is currently making a pilot for a new show based in New Orleans post-hurricane katrina. The actors who play Lester and Bunk will be in it. Hopefully it gets the go ahead and we might get another show of this quality.

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