"The Wire" on HBO

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.

i just finished season 2. last episode was good but not as good as ep. 11 - i feel like they wrapped up almost everything w/ the greeks & sobotka family tragedy in ep. 11, and 12 seemed like it was mostly setting up for season 3

in any case most of the arcs seemed to peak emotionally/thematically in ep. 11. frank sobotka approaching the greeks under the bridge, when u just knew his fate, was.....intense

all in all tho i thought season 2 was pretty incredible. it did take the whole first 4 episodes to really get the ball rolling and the reuniting of the detail was a bit contrived (as others mentioned upthread) but yea, the each of the sobotkas' arcs was really well done

Just finished the series. watched final episode tonight. DAMN. I love the way they wrote McNulty over the series...by the last season each time he showed up I wanted to punch his grinning face in. and that last season...weird ride. I ended up feeling kind of sheepish for thinking someone, somewhere would get some kind of comeuppance. Nuh UH. Not McNulty, not that weasel reporter, not Marlo, not anyone. As Clay Davis would say....SHEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIT.

Season 2's definitely my favorite overall. And I'm still in therapy over Season 4. All that shit going down with those kids just KILLED me. Especially Randy & Carver. Wow.

just started homicide. MUCH better than I hoped based on the first episode!

First couple of Homicide seasons are really good, but be very wary of anything after that.

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Wire-Illustrations/252777

http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles3/111050/projects/252777/1110501246162986.jpg

http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles3/111050/projects/252777/1110501249152745.jpg

Those are spectacular.
I'm gonna finish breaking bad and get through the first four seasons of homicide and i think i'm ready to watch this bad boy from start to finish one more time.

on Season 4. I laughed at loud when State Senator Clay busted out with like a 30-second long sheeeeeeeeeit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDIi0dzmvpE

I know we've talked before about how the head-shaking "this fucking guy" sentiment makes up a whole lot of Wire viewing, but Clay Davis is just the ultimate in it -- you can spend whole seasons thinking the guy's a slimeball and wishing him ill, and then as soon as things start coming down and he's grandstanding and claiming persecution and spewing bullshit in every direction, he becomes 100% captivating, totally charming, almost lovable, like ... this fucking guy.

Actually, Herc is definitely up there with a long "this fucking guy" head-shaking arc.

x-post yeah otm....I love the scene in the courtroom where he talks about leaving one street with his pockets full and ending up 5 blocks down the road with his pockets empty. or when he's in the radio station and he starts some point with "but the people....I'M TALKIN BOUT THE PEOPLE NOW!"....it's like he's this sort of shallow heel and then all of a sudden when the chips are down he becomes this heroic bullshit merchant.

simple idea but I lolled heartily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrfCixsd2N8

I mean this is a whole other issue, but it's interesting how the show's whole presentation of calcified institutions (etc. etc., all the things we usually talk about) doesn't really prompt any kind of righteous desire to correct anything; in some ways it might even train you to feel good about being cynical. You don't sit hoping for Davis to get a comeuppance as much as you sit there totally entertained by his weaseling and maybe even somewhat interested in his weaseling out successfully. But I don't know that that's really a criticism, because it has the opposite effect on a personal level, as far as how it might make you behave in the real world: it does sort of sensitize a person to the idea that there's a hell of a lot of weight in how we make decisions about carrying out our roles, and that there are good and bad ways of treating that, and that you'd much rather be on the good side than the bad one, just for your own peace of mind. Nobody -- xpost, yes -- nobody wants to be a Davis or a Herc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30YW3wgRvyI

see I watched the courtroom scene with Clay Davis annoyed that the strongest case was for self-dealing, piercing the corporate veil and various violations of IRS regulations re: non-profits.

deep into season 4 now, for the past half hour i hear carcetti's voice whenever i read ilx posts

uggh even nabisco's posts (which are really interesting, btw) on this thread

go away tommy

and i see his goofy ass walk too

btw i think those wire illustrations are fucking terrible

clay davis looks like he has reverse vitiligo

lol

finished s. 4 last week...wow, i don't know even know what to say about it. last ep had me in tears for like a half hour, i can't even remember the last time i cried at tv/movie or whatever. the kids were incredible

also, season 5 isn't bad! am about halfway through. serial killer shit is definitely the worst part of it and not very well done imo, but everything else is really good. the city hall stuff in s. 5 is great and excellently transitioned from s. 4 - how it looks like it's gonna be a 'new day in baltimore' w/ carcetti coming in and all the bodies being found, then right away the budget crisis kills everything