"The Wire" on HBO

matt dc: see the shield threads. for some qualifiers. or ask cozen, who is watching now! basically the first two seasons u may be a bit ehhhhh... but then it ramps up like a motherfucker and becomes the most intense palpitation-inducing show on television, and gets better as it goes on.

i think it does "say something about america", but without recourse to corny "this america, man" type lines. but it is a cop show with car chases and people getting beat on and shit, and the best things in 'the wire' -- series 2 and series 4, i think, these days, eg the school and the docks -- are not cop show-y.

i think abt the sopranos more and more and how great it was. the amount of time for this kind of ish depends on what else you got cookin'. i don't watch sport or listen to music or have a girlfriend, so really why would i not be watching it over?

o shi, heads-up for uk ilxors, dunno where to put this but:

'law and order' on bbc4 tonight.

it's fkn amazing.

even pinefox may like it.

1978 uber-british proto-wire shit. one case, four eps, one about a robber, one about a cop, one about a lawyer, one about a con.

that sounds rad

gukbe, are you acquainted w/the shield? (I have dvds going spare if not)

(is dope btw)

someone posted a massive spoiler on the shield thread (not surprising since the show's dead now and the spoiler is about 2/3 seasons back) so beware

i just remembered even though i was shaking my head at the pinefox the first time i tried to watch the wire (s1 e1) i got bored 20 min in and didn't watch it again for months
― goaty (harbl)

Ditto, first episode struck me as uninteresting. It was only because I _could_ watch a full season in one sitting that I ended up getting hooked later on.

only saw the first few eps cozwn, but was too engrossed at the wire at the time to care. will give it another shot tho.

xposts

I'd wish five freeview repeated one Shield ep a day. Love to watch, but my library won't buy the DVDs :-(

Or maybe both BBC3 and five could do Wire/Shield weekend marathons, except there is sex and violence and the crazy people who make the regulations don't allow that kind of stuff during daytime.

still really liking these 'wire' repeats. Its great to watch it all again.

"the wire really soured its reputation with season 5"

^ its crazy to say series 5 was THAT bad, btw...maybe it didn't help it was 10 instead of 12/13 eps that were originally planned

I really don't think having 2/3 eps more wd've helped, it really was that rushed... iono but I thought sn5 was PRETTY bad : /

I don't think season 5 was bad, it just wasn't as good as the previous 4.

guess I'm alone in thinking it was pretty awful then, oh well

I've rewatched the first three seasons, and on second viewing, I notice Dominic West's inconsistent accent a lot more.

This is it. End of season 3 + 4 was the peak of that show, and the conclusion was perhaps a bit too 'history is destined to repeat itself' blah blah but I was hooked, watched 8 of the 10 in one day. xp

I am now convinced there needs to be a Snakes on a Plane sequel starring Idris Elba.

don't want to come off as a wire hater here, I've watched seasons 1-4 three times through, I think; I was just too disappointed by 5 tht it's def soured my perception of the show in memory

5 was terrible

xp see i always thought his accent sucked!!

5 had some valleys but some dope peaks. it was a little rushed but s'all good.

xp harbl - sometimes he tried for a Baltimore accent, sometimes it seemed he was trying to do Paul Newman in Fort Apache the Bronx. Idris' on the other hand was flawless. Had no clue he was British until watching special features. I watched some recent Jason Statham movie just to see what Idris' real accent sounded like.

The Michael and Dukie stuff in S5 is genuinely heartbreaking.

Idris was great throughout the series. And yeah, I had no idea he was a Brit until I saw the special features. As for season 5, my biggest problem was the fake serial killer plot. I know Simon was trying to make a point about how sensationalism, staff cutbacks, the bottom line, and the whoring for Pulitzers have compromised daily newspapers, but it would have been more effective if he had used a different plot device.

o shi, heads-up for uk ilxors, dunno where to put this but:

'law and order' on bbc4 tonight.

it's fkn amazing.

even pinefox may like it.

This was really good, thanks for the notice. Sterling police work by Charlie Slater.

it's funny how people remember/forget/remember that the wire isn't realistic.

i don't get bbc4. have they put the repeats of this 'law and order' thing on the iplayer? no. no, they have not.

Bastard, I was hoping to catch up on the first one.

Watching Mark Lawson slobear his way through the interview, this guy is unexpected and glorious.

Watching only an episode or two of the Wire and deciding you don't like it is a little like rendering a verdict on an epic-length novel after 30 pages or so.

http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/52516825/544703

has anyone seen torrents of law and order (1978) kicking around anywhere?

Watching only an episode or two of the Wire and deciding you don't like it is a little like rendering a verdict on an epic-length novel after 30 pages or so.

― Comprehensive Nuclear Suggest-Ban Treaty (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 1 April 2009 00:38 (47 minutes ago)

nah, it's more like reading 30 pages of an epic novel and deciding "I'm never gonna get through this thing" and putting it down

I mean, I like the wire so far but if I ever tell anybody "trust me, it gets really really good, you just gotta make it through the first 5 hours" you have permission to punch me in the throat

it's funny how people remember/forget/remember that the wire isn't realistic.

― thomp, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:22 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

whoah wait is there a paranormal subplot?

prepare to get throatpunched

No, I wouldn't say five hours, but maybe 3? I mean I was curious enough after the first episode but not really impressed until 3.

xp EIII: Jay Landsman isn't really that fat.

starting hyoid kegels now

xp Hurting 2: Episode 4 is when the first season started getting good for me.

ooh, I'm watching that one next

Watching only an episode or two of the Wire and deciding you don't like it is a little like rendering a verdict on an epic-length novel after 30 pages or so.

― Comprehensive Nuclear Suggest-Ban Treaty (Hurting 2), Tuesday, March 31, 2009 8:38 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that sounds like a pretty reasonable approach to reading a novel, to me? I cracked open don quixote a while back, flipped through it for 10 mins, was like 'this is dumb and gay, i cant relate to this olde thymey spanish nigga' and hurled it across the room. if someone doesn't dig the wire after an episode or 2, then maybe it's not the fukkin show for them

otm also i think probably unconsciously the thing i hated about it most is people drooling on me telling me how awesome it is and how i had to find the strength to carry on a few more episodes. i mean i ended up liking it on my own but please

The wire isn't completely realistic, but I think most of it's plausible. I certainly bought into Hamsterdam because the script took nearly two seasons building up to it. By contrast, the serial killer plot seemed like it came out of nowhere.

has anyone seen torrents of law and order (1978) kicking around anywhere?

― caek, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha ok this (1978) makes so much more sense now

has anyone seen torrents of law and order (1978) kicking around anywhere?

― caek, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Actually I think there are sizeable elements of The Wire that would appeal to the Pinefox - particularly all the dockers/unions/changing nature of capitalism stuff in Series 2, but also the political bits of S3. But I seriously doubt he'd make it through the first series to find that out.

not to mention its use of language and the fact its a very intelligent and intelligently written show, give it a go pf

i've been working through this show for the past 2 years or so. i'll basically start a season, become totally engrossed and power my way through the thing in a day or two. then i'll put off the next season for like months because i don't want to feel guilty about sitting in front of my computer or television for a dozen hours straight. anyway, i just started season 4 and it's great and i'm back in the routine again. i live right outside of the city so that fact that i haven't finished it yet has been a minor source of embarrassment.

I notice Dominic West's inconsistent accent a lot more

this has always bothered me. it's kind of a combination of trying to do an American accent and throwing in some Bawmore shit randomly that throws me off. sounds totally inconsistent. also the fact that there are actual Baltimore dudes on the show that have a pretty hard accent mixed with actors who don't playing their peers is a little weird. i'm not really butthurt about it as i think it's cool that they have these guys on the show and i don't expect all the actors to speak that way, but it is a bit jarring.

h8 mcnutty

^^2tru

i love that he's from sheffield really, even though he went to eton.

hung out last night with a high school teacher who has been showing the wire season 1 in his literature class :D (pretty sure he can only get away with that because it's a catholic school)