"The Wire" on HBO

The real Barksdale comes off as kind of a creepy dude in that article.

Not that it should be all that surprising for an ex-kingpin to be that way.

We just watching the last season. I'm a total fangirl, I know, but fuuuuuuuck is this show great.

As a johnny come lately, I've just finished watching season one. It's thoroughly engrossing, but trashier than I expected. The acting can be really OTT, and some of the dialogue and characters are kind of cliched, at least more so than in The Sopranos or Mad Men (though it's more plot-driven than either of those shows).

Having said that, I've compulsively watched the whole season in a week, so it's definitely very good TV. I'm just not yet convinced it deserves the 'best ever' tag.

I'm out, need to get me a re-up.

I find as I watch it more I see more of the cliches and 'predictable' aspects, and at the same time, the less I care about them.

Which is to say, I've shedded off the mindset of watching it for realism and more just as a TV show that is realistic.

My sons won't watch it because I'm into it. I can relate, but, duh.

the dialogue & characters seem wayyyy less cliche'd than 'mad men' & way more realistic -- & much of the dialogue was taken from real life / simon's book

Oh for sure, I think it's top tier, except I think, because of the attention given to its realism, a lot of people get the idea it's supposed to be a sort of snapshot of reality, and when you have stuff like Hamsterdam and the Serial Killer, that it is betrayed. Granted the grittiness is so much of what makes it what it is, but I don't think of the Wire as being confined to it as much as when I watched it the first time.

the dialogue & characters seem wayyyy less cliche'd than 'mad men'

I have to disagree with you there - I recognise quite a lot of the tropes from other cop screen fiction, which I don't get from Mad Men at all (maybe because there's a bit of dearth of 60s ad agency screen fiction). As for the realism thing, Mad Men doesn't purport to be as realistic as The Wire.

But I'm being a bit harsh on it, it's definitely very good, and there are a number of characters I'm already very invested in (notably D'Angelo and Bubs). I don't yet regard it as the plateau of television drama, though.

t's thoroughly engrossing, but trashier than I expected. The acting can be really OTT, and some of the dialogue and characters are kind of cliched, at least more so than in The Sopranos or Mad Men (though it's more plot-driven than either of those shows).

it makes so much more sense a few seasons in; the first season's so tight, whether it's in daniel being a smooth hardass or mcnulty being a renegade cop. the best-tv-ever thing comes with the development. i just finished season four and there are character arcs like something out of east of eden. it isn't cinematic or grandiose like the sopranos but it's genuinely complex tv without easy answers or lazy solutions, and it's pretty daring in being so morally ambiguous.

So how does this compare to the other things written/recorded: Homicide, the books,... I'm totally a The Wire fangirl, can't but say it's the awesomest thing evah (yes, that includes you Sopranos)

I can wholeheartedly endorse David Simon's original non-fiction book that all this sprung from Homicide: Life on the Killing Streets. I've read it twice. Thoroughly engrossing. A large number of characters and situtations in The Wire were pretty much directly lifted from it.

xp the Homicide book is really good ... the photocopier lie detector bit came from there as did the anal sex initiation jokes. It's mostly about the day to day workings of the Homicide department. Some of the supporting characters from The Wire appear: Landsman (of course), Holley, Crutchfield ...you can guess at which real people a lot of the major cop characters were drawn from, but there isn't a real one to one correspondence that I could tell.

Rick Requer = Bunk

Great. I'll order them when I get back from Japan. Woohoo.

xp ears: Yeah, but he plays a very very minor role in the book.

Yeah true, but still that is apparently that is who they based Bunk on. Just go read it if you haven't - it is well worth it.

the book is great.

not many direct wire correspondences, character-wise. one guy is a bit like pembleton tho.

last night's episode on bbc2 (3.03): dead bloke on pool table, pub full of fellow policemen, pogues on the bar stereo, them all singing along (badly)...

that happens a few times. It's always good.

Landsman making a bit of a cringy speech?

Bunk vomiting in the street?

JIMMY!!!!!

He was good po-lease.

THE FUC DID I DO?!

Is The Corner book recommended? I've seen the miniseries, and it was a little too soul-destroying for me.

that's the "on a stairmaster?" episode!

dead guy was actually the character played by executive producer, Robert Colesberry - who died during that season.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31887660

kind of a jovial tone given a 17 year old kid was killed, y'know

yeah, wtf.

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/img/castcrew/character_season04/marlo.jpg

anyway i bought the book. husband is reading it and says it's pretty good. we also started watching homicide S1. very good but very heavy.

fav Homicide S1 episode is "black and blue" -- u gotten to that one yet? bragher's acting in that is incred

Braugher is incredible through the whole series, not sure why he isn't in more stuff.

he was a general in the silver surfer movie lol

He turns up in stuff, I mean he was in THE MIST too, but I'd like to see him in better movies/parts.

Braugher was such a beast on that show and it always seemed like he was on the cusp of winning a bunch of Emmys and being a huge star, and I remember he kinda dipped out of the show early supposedly to do features, but it never quite happened, which is such a shame.

Except that he left at the end of season 6 (the show had 7 seasons). You're right about the other things, though.

I've yet to see season 7 - C4 wouldn't stump up for it - and I'm contemplating rewatching all seven seasons post-Wire. Really disappointed to hear Braugher isn't in for the last round.

Does Homicide get better after season 1? It was kinda disappointing to watch post-Wire, because the television clichés were really apparent: the santa thing, the baby thing, the medical examiner relationship, etc ... these things also weren't in the book.

Haven't seen it since it was first broadcast, but as I remember it got stronger and darker as it went along, with some amazing set-pieces.

It wasn't The Wire, but it was a couple of steps up from anything before it.

I just found out an ex of mine got a new kitten and named him Detective Pembleton.

Does Homicide get better after season 1?
― faucet that ass (sarahel), Tuesday, July 14, 2009 5:42 PM

first 3 seasons are classic imo. after that the cast starts changing and it takes a slight dive but is still watchable, tho i've still never seen the last 2 seasons

have to agree on the disappointment that Braugher never broke out, he really seemed close to it for a while

also, I liked Homicide a lot but you do have to remember its context, this was before even NYPD Blue was around, Law and Order was just starting - tv, not just cop shows, were much thinner back then in general, they couldn't get away with a tiny fraction of what shows get away with today in terms of character development and complexity

o wait you're saying season 1 sucked? ok never mind, don't bother watching

it's kinda weird that the actor from homicide who has gone on to the most success, in some ways, is melissa leo.

tbh i was thinking braugher would be bigtime. maybe he still will, one of these days. kyle secor was great on this show, but he vanished.

So, has anyone watched it with commentary? I know it's not on every episode, but it's still going to be a lot of time to commit to, though.