Post: #1

If the Sopranos can have their own thread, The Wire deserves one, too. Especially, now that HBO will finally release a 16:9 version in HD: http://www.techhive.com/article/2854439/...think.html

I'm certainly not the only one here who thinks that The Wire (2002-2008) is the greatest TV show of all time. If you read this thread and haven't watched it yet, I strongly advise to give it a shot and open your minds for an educational experience that goes far beyond the run-of-the-mill entertainment you usually see on TV. It is red pill in the truest sense of the word and after finishing all the seasons, I definitely began to see many things differently.

I guess, there are tons of aspects of this show we can discuss here:

- The failed war on drugs
- The demise of black communities in the inner cities
- The failure of dysfunctional public institutions, e.g. police, schools, ...
- The effects of de-industrialization and the end of the American working class (as exemplified in the great second season with the stevedores union plot line)
- Why didn't McNulty continue banging the girls from the raided whorehouse instead of going after all these old and mediocre women?

What I liked the most about this show is the way it portrays essentially fallible but good people who want to change things for the better, yet finally get crushed by the institutions they are embedded in. Think of Stringer Bell who wants to professionalize the Barksdale organization by establishing a more profitable and diversified business. Or Frank Sobotka with his corrupt union who does everything for his dockworkers and their relatives but who can't succeed over the higher powers of organized crime and big business. etc.

Post: #2

Watched the entire series last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a bit dated now, but great great series.

Post: #3

The Wire is a masterpiece, though has its slow parts. It's the greatest show I've seen and it annoys me that so few people have actually seen it and can comment on the show.

Post: #4

Eww at the HD remaster.

Post: #5

One of the top two cops shows ever.

Post: #6

Great idea for a thread, I love The Wire. It's just under The Sopranos, but the two are definitely the top-2 shows of all-time.

I think The Wire had some weak moments where they went to far out of what was plausible. Mainly with Hamsterdam and the serial killer. I liked the contrast of Colvin's Hamsterdam to Stringer's co-op, but that kinda thing wouldn't last a week.

The Wire was great for mixing humor into the show, I like the ending to this scene.





"do the chair know we gonna look like some punk-ass bitches out there?"

Stringer wanted so badly to be something he couldn't. Ended up getting fucked over it too.





I also really like Steve Earle's part on the show. Great musician, and I know he really did have some drug problems.

(01-03-2015 12:38 AM)vinman Wrote:  One of the top two cops shows ever.

What's the other? "The Shield"?

Post: #7

^ I always felt Steve Earle was shoehorned in by director Simon. For cred, drugs, middle-age groupie ass?
The guy couldn't act for shit, and his talent fit the dive bar contexts in which his music was featured. He was even worse on Treme.

Post: #8

Surely the funniest scene in any of the series:

Post: #9

(01-03-2015 03:03 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:  ^ I always felt Steve Earle was shoehorned in by director Simon. For cred, drugs, middle-age groupie ass?
The guy couldn't act for shit, and his talent fit the dive bar contexts in which his music was featured. He was even worse on Treme.

Yeah he definitely wasn't a good actor or anything, but he had a collective 8 minutes or so of screentime, half of which was the speech I just posted.

The show was normally better with casting though, not too many questionable choices. Although I wish the two redheads McNulty fucked were hotter, he should've stuck with that blonde he fucked on the hood of his car.

Speaking of great acting/casting though, apparently one-time during filming in Baltimore someone walked up to Andre Royo (Bubbles) and handed him some dope, said it looked like he needed it more than him.

Post: #10

Speaking of casting, I noticed how all the major actors tended to have New York accents. If I remember right only Snoop and Prop Joe sounded like they were from Baltimore, and Slim Charles I know is from DC. Also there are a couple scenes were you can tell who's an extra and someone they pulled off the street by how they are dressed.

Post: #11

(01-03-2015 07:55 AM)aSimpNamedBrokeback Wrote:  Speaking of casting, I noticed how all the major actors tended to have New York accents. If I remember right only Snoop and Prop Joe sounded like they were from Baltimore, and Slim Charles I know is from DC. Also there are a couple scenes were you can tell who's an extra and someone they pulled off the street by how they are dressed.

True. I guess they had trouble finding locals who could play the roles. I don't know too many Baltimore actors.

A lot of the actors for minor characters were the real-life inspiration for major characters. Like the real Sargent Landsman plays Colvin's assistant, the real Omar plays Omar's friend Donnie in season 5. Which is cool a nice way to get locals involved.

And as far as accents go West and Elba did amazing jobs, I can only think of a few times you ever heard their real accents. Aidan Gillen had weird stuff going on though, I wouldn't have guessed he was Irish, but he didn't sound like a local.

Post: #12

It be difficult to match Omar's hardcore, fearless, and overall gangster persona, the man is a true definition of an OG, and without him The Wire wouldn't have been as successful

Post: #13

@Hedonistic Traveler

(01-03-2015 12:38 AM)vinman Wrote:  One of the top two cops shows ever.

Quote:What's the other? "The Shield"?

An old sitcom called Barney Miller. I had an uncle and some cousins that were cops and detectives, and they talked about how realistic and well acted it was.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072472/

Post: #14

I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Very balanced.

Post: #15

(01-03-2015 10:01 AM)Hedonistic Traveler Wrote:  A lot of the actors for minor characters were the real-life inspiration for major characters. Like the real Sargent Landsman plays Colvin's assistant, the real Omar plays Omar's friend Donnie in season 5. Which is cool a nice way to get locals involved.

Also the Deacon was a real life Baltimore King Pin, know as Little Melvin.

Post: #16

I loved The Wire. Watched all seasons over two months. Just about beats out The Shield, although that has a more defined ending.

Post: #17

Outstanding writing, acting and directing. Baltimore proved to be the perfect setting for this series for it's gritty character portrayals

3 tier style storytelling: Downtown with the politicians, the police force and the street guys

All jockeying for position in their respective fields, ironically many of the politicians could be even more cutthroat than the criminals.

Post: #18

Great show. My only gripe was the ridiculous Brother Mouzone character. Came out of nowhere and just seemed like a contrived persona.

Post: #19

Love this show. I watched the whole series some years ago when I was probably too young to appreciate all of the nuance in the storytelling; I'll definitely watch it through another time. I know everybody loves Omar, but my favorite character (besides McNulty) is D'Angelo Barskdale. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite stories because of the way it contrasts new money and old; how there is a feeling of wealth that runs deeper than money alone.

There was an interesting scene where he's in a fancy restaurant with his chick and he's looking around feeling out of place, wondering if he really belongs. He is acutely aware of the people around him and how at ease they look with the customs of eating in a fine restaurant. He tries to verbalize this to his girl:

“Come on, you know, it’s like we get all dressed up, right? Come all the way across town. Fancy place like this. After we finished, we gonna go down to the harbor, walk around a little bit, you know? Acting like we belong down here, know what I’m saying?”

She responds “So? Your money good, right?” She brushes off his insecurities by saying they're not the only black people in the restaurant, but race is not what D'Angelo is referring to. He's self-conscious about his class.

D'Angelo feels extremely aware of his roots and whether he belongs in a restaurant full of what he thinks are "legit" upper class people compared to his own humble roots and his criminal source of income.

“I mean, what I’m talking about is about where we…Well, you know. I’m just saying, you know, I feel like some shit just stay with you, you know what I’m saying, like, hard as you try, you still can’t go nowhere, you know what I’m saying?”

You can't shake the feeling of where you come from. If you start out poor, you'll always feel out of place among the wealthy.





So there's this scene in prison where they actually read The Great Gatsby and D'Angelo breaks it down which is fascinating to watch because of the way his story runs parallel to the book.

“Where we come from, what we go through, how we go through it — all that shit matters. [ … ] Like, at the end of the book? Boats and tides and all? It’s like, you can change up. You can say you somebody new. You can give yourself a whole new story. But what came first is who you really are, and what happened before is what really happened. It doesn’t matter that some fool say he different, ’cause the only thing that make you different is what you really do, or what you really go through. Like all them books in his library. Now, he frontin’ with all them books. But if we pull one down off the shelf, ain’t none of the pages ever been opened. He got all them books, and he ain’t read one of ‘em. Gatsby, he was who he was, and he did what he did, and ’cause he wasn’t ready to get real with the story, that shit caught up to him.”

Post: #20

This is my favorite scene of the entire Wire series.
I love the line "I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase"

Post: #21

(01-03-2015 04:26 PM)aSimpNamedBrokeback Wrote:  

(01-03-2015 10:01 AM)Hedonistic Traveler Wrote:  A lot of the actors for minor characters were the real-life inspiration for major characters. Like the real Sargent Landsman plays Colvin's assistant, the real Omar plays Omar's friend Donnie in season 5. Which is cool a nice way to get locals involved.

Also the Deacon was a real life Baltimore King Pin, know as Little Melvin.

Weirdest thing about Little Melvin, is that he's probably responsible for a whole bunch of murders and definitely a whole heap of misery.

Yet he's been honored by being made a part of tv show.

Doesn't sit right with me.

WIA

Post: #22

100 best Wire quotes in Ten Minutes:

Post: #23

Omar comin

Post: #24

Here's a compilation of my favorite The Wire quotes:

Post: #25

Amazing show. In the year 2450 The Wire should be studied in universities.

"The world goin' one way, people another yo"