ok, stop what you're doing and go rent the first season of the wire. like, immediately. this is the best show i've ever watched on television. and ok, that might not be saying much coming from me, queen of gossip girl and degrassi and pre-teen stuff like icarly, but seriously. i can appreciate good television, and this is it. something clicked in the middle of the first season and now all i want to do is hunker down and watch seasons 2-5 immediately, forsaking all other human contact and sunlight (sunlight makes this annoying glare on the television). this is just an amazing story. i find myself, in typical weird white guilt fashion (i'm not white yes i understand that) wanting to go to oakland and find some projects and be like "oh, do you pack heat? is the stash in a different place than the money? have you been arrested?" and all sorts of other horrible stuff like that that i probably shouldn't be saying in public. is every police department in the country like this? it's incredible. i love mcnulty, kima, daniels, bunk, omar (he is my FAVORITE), stringer bell, bodie, all of them! and i never, ever, ever want to go to baltimore. this is like the anti-tourist video for baltimore. apparently the mayor had some issues with it as well. every character is an anti-hero, real and raw.
go watch the wire! now!
i love omar too!
ReplyDeletehere's a link to a wikipedia article describing the wire, but note that there are spoilers so read only the beginning.
now.
i would like to say a bit more about the wire. what's amazing about it is that it tries to wrap up hugely complex phenomena in a tv show in a way that few shows have successfully done before.. flawed characters, complicated relationships, corrupt institutions, weird politics, it's all there, and more!
and it's gripping.
as for not going to baltimore.. i kind of want to go now, to be honest.
you're right! i didn't think about it, but it does a nice job of presenting a complicated issue. oh. i love it. i'm going to go watch the next disc of the second season without you now.
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ReplyDeleteYay, you finally got into it! (I think we had a conversation several months ago, when I was engrossed in The Wire, and you said you hadn't been sucked in by the first episode or 2.)
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the fifth season to come out on DVD. In retrospect, the first season was probably my least favorite, but it was still in a different league than almost all other shows. And the fourth season was the Best. Television. Ever.
If you read the crime articles of the Baltimore Sun online, it's scarily realistic.
oh i'm so glad i have something to look forward to -- we just started the third season. i LOVED the first season, and wasn't so crazy about the dock stuff in the 2nd. the 4th is about the schools, right? i don't know what i'm going to do when it's over :(
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone! From the Chicago Tribune: Barack Obama on his favorite TV show
ReplyDeleteSen. 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."
“That’s not an endorsement. He’s not my favorite person, but he’s a fascinating character,” Obama said, who noted in an audio clip on the site that Omar, who is gay, is also “the toughest, baddest guy on the show.”
My Tribune colleague Jeremy Manier, who sent me the link from the Las Vegas Sun, also noted that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s favorite show, according to this Essence magazine piece, is “Grey’s Anatomy.” So where does Clinton come down on the whole George and Izzie relationship? No word on that yet.
Speaking of “The Wire,” there’s an excellent piece in the Columbia Journalism Review that gives more background on creator David Simon’s history at the Sun and how that has informed his worldview and his show, which, in its last season, is spending time on story lines set at a fictional version of the Baltimore Sun. Also, Simon himself writes vividly about his tenure at the Sun in this Esquire piece.
featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/01/barack-obama-on.html
I too came late to the Wire & feel exactly the same way as you! Thanks for posting!
omg anonymous, that's so cool! thanks for the information. see, we should all just put aside our obama-clinton fanaticism and unite in the spirit of diversity and television. i love the wire AND grey's anatomy.
ReplyDeletep.s. i was kind of for the george-izzie thing, though i realize you might have been referencing that in sarcasm and that i'm in the minority.