"The Wire" on HBO

Do I need to get hold of the Homicide: Life on the Streets and The Corner DVDs as a huge Wire fan? As much as I loved watching multiple times in 2009, I do feel like I'm kind of *over* it though, and ready to explore other things.

― Davek (davek_00), Monday, April 12, 2010 9:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

'corner' is kind of depressing/worthy... didn't like it

'homicide' -- early seasons are aight but imo its rep is overinflated. the ensemble is great, and it has some indelible characters, but most of the crimes are standard-ish tv show stuff. very little of it is about the drug wars etc.

d simon's book is dope tho

yeah, I'm currently going through homicide (the show) and have to agree with this. just got through what I'm hoping is the last of a couple eps in a row of "killer of the week" type scenarios. I'm enjoying it but the wire is in a totally different league.

still, I imagine it was pretty unique for its time and the cast is great.

as an aside, man, it is so 90s. the music montages (candlebox! counting crows!), the shaky cam, the editing in general, gritty serial killer plots.

the book is v. much worth a read.

A lot of hype about Homicide is that you have to place it in its context, when the show was on there weren't that many shows on the air that actually was doing these procedurals with ongoing character development. Like what did you have, Hill Street Blues and the various Star Trek series? It was great for the time but it doesn't hold up that well. Lotta good TV actors popped up in it, though.

The Corner is depressing, but what do you expect, it's actually based on real people and events. It's kind of like a beta version of The Wire that focuses only on one family, I'd say it's worth it.

homicide worth it for the performances alone, it's pretty cheap these days too

Ah thank you for the recommendations folks. Was curious to ask because at my university a professor did this fantastic talk on The Wire, mostly focusing on the way each group of characters uses media and technology. She said she adored Homicide too, this was the issue. What can I say, I am impressionable. I think I'm going to give Battlestar a spin next though.

I got the Corner from the library but ooooooh I hate it when writers transcript/write in slang.

― fuck in rainbows, ☔ (dyao), Monday, April 12, 2010 7:55 PM

do u mean the way in which they transcribe slang or just all writing in slang in general

just in general I guess

i don't see how it can be avoided

yeah, maybe I would like these books better if they were audiobooks voiced by actors from the wire

the fakeness of it is usually distracting to me

sort of inherent fakeness though

damn totally disappointed to find out the mcnulty actor was british :(

why

don't tell him about the stringer actor

i think i was disappointed too iirc just cause the dude seemed like this archetypical american badass and to find out he was the creation of a brit makes him seem even more fictional and further removed from the reality you'd hope a real mcnulty-on-his-good-days style dude might inhabit

aw i don't really see why that would make you like the character less, it's acting

mcnulty was always one of the cornier/more obviously written characters for me anyway so :-/

oh, here, i knew i read this somewhere - from the new york times..
"Wherever I go the real hard-core dudes come up to me and confide in me," said Mr. Elba, who over the years has been approached by dozens of drug dealers identifying with Stringer. "I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: 'Hello, mate. My name's Idris and I'm from London.'" Mr. Elba burst into an exaggerated version of his cockney accent. "I don't want to break the illusion."

― dar1a g (daria g), Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:05 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

lol

fuck, stringer too?

carcetti's Irish, right?
Bunk is from Japan iirc.

"idris elba" ;__________;

what do you have against brits

rewatching it recently, mcnulty stood out as a brit ... but Stringer, even though I knew he was British, I didn't really think about it too much.

yeah once you know mcnulty is welsh(right?) it's impossible to ignore, his accent slips. idris less so

think he's from sheffield... but he went to eton!

like the dude in band of brothers

david schwimmer

and to find out he was the creation of a brit

pretty sure an american writer created mcnutty

brits > americans so it's not even a big deal

Some of these characters are played by actors! Totally ruinz the show for me. (FYI Lester Freamon is almost a Brit.)

newsflash Omar is not really gay

Marlo is white.

Herc is a chick

Daniels is a praying mantis

SAWYER IS A MOTHERFUCKING HORSE

lmao @ "brits > americans"

how did you find out mcnulty was british? listening to his accent in season 1, episode 1?

no, i was watching the special features of the season 4 dvd. i lent season 1 to a friend, i'll have to see if i can pick up on it when i rewatch (or in season 5, which i haven't seen)

you're saying it slips in the pilot?

once you know he's a brit it becomes pretty obvious. not so with idris elba -- well, i say that, but im a brit, so there are all sorts of non-americans i buy as americans.

mind you i think hugh laurie's american accent is terrible.

yeah mcnulty is really obvious but stringer sounds almost like a real black american. not one from baltimore though.

yeah now that i think of it mcnutty's gruffy vioce kinda reminds me of house's, which is kinda obvious. string was definitely more surprising

thought joseph fiennes was so effing bad in flashforward i didn't watch past episode one

oh House is much better at his accent than McNulty

they all have so much trouble with "R"s even stringer

Something I've often wondered - when you get plummy English characters in US shows, normally butlers and suchlike - are they Americans doing the worst English accents of all time, or are they English journeymen actors hamming it up? And do they sound authentic to US ears? (not the guy from Fresh Prince, he's good)

I think usually the latter, with unusual exceptions (Wesley and Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who were convincing). Feels like we've been getting more British and Australian actors posing as Americans in lead roles every year, so I don't think there's a shortage of foreign actors here.

House's accent is terrible though, really.

spike?!

this is the worst, but it's not that much of an outlier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg_3ZSeHL4g

according to wiki, lester freamon is currently in (unbelievably shit uk hospital soap) 'holby city'!?!

yes, i've seen it with my own eyes.