The Wire

2005-10-11

I can probably only count a few times where I’ve found great television to be as emotionally expressive and gripping as great literature. Film achieves this parity more often, but only for short periods of time. We have all read fantastic books that we can’t put down. Books where we’re so immersed in the story, the characters, the depth of detail that we say to ourselves, “just one more chapter before I go to bed” – which often turns into two, or three.

Television, with it’s commercial interruptions, and it’s short form construct, forces writers, directors, actors, and producers to hurry things along in most cases to the detriment of the end result. But that’s broadcast television, or the land of mediocrity as it were, where getting it right is mostly just dumb luck.

Then there’s HBO, the Hope diamond of the TV world, and consistently the medium’s producer of the best programming. It’s no wonder they win more Emmys than any other network year after year.

I’ve been a huge fan of HBO shows for many years: The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, docu-dramas like Band Of Brothers, among others prove that television doesn’t have to be the idiot box.

But, every once in a while I miss something on HBO, as I did with The Wire. I vaguely remember hearing good things about it when it first aired in 2002, but for some reason, I just didn’t tune in.

A few months ago, while having lunch with a former Rhino employee named Gary Stewart, he raved about how great the show was, that it was his favorite show of all time. He must have meant it because when we finished eating he had me accompany him to his car where he produced a copy of both Season One and Season Two on DVD, which he gifted to me.

Normally, when someone, especially someone who’s opinion I trust, jumps up and down about a movie, album, TV show, or book, I make it my business to find the time to check it out. But that was not to be the case with The Wire. I gently placed both boxed sets on a small pile of “things to get to” in my CD/DVD closet at home, and then I forgot about them.

Last weekend I contracted one of the most unpleasant colds I’ve experienced in a long time. The kind of cold that forces you to stay in bed, to avoid all others, and to generally be as unpleasant as the malady itself.

Knowing full well early Friday afternoon that I would be house bound for the remainder of the weekend, I rummaged through my ever-growing stack of DVDs to find something to take my mind off the crushing sinus pain with which I was dealing. It was then that I came across Season One of The Wire and decided to give it a shot.

I was hooked instantly. As I stated at the top of this writing, it’s rare I find myself engaged in a TV show like a great piece of literature, but The Wire is so superbly written, directed, and acted, that like a classic novel, I found it impossible to put the show down. I watched six straight hours until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

The Wire is everything shows like Law & Order or CSI wish they could be, but due to broadcast standards, and the American public’s desire for a new storyline every week, will never be. The Wire unfolds a deep and complex tale over 13 episodes allowing the viewer to get to know all of the characters intimately, while capturing life on the streets of East and West Baltimore with writing so gritty and honest that you feel more like you’re watching a documentary than a work of fiction.

The cops are both good and bad, the bad guys have heart and conscience. The Wire shows us that life is not black and white, that things are not always as they seem, and that the world can often be a very rough place to live.

The next morning I awoke early and sat glued to the TV as I finished Season One, and would have felt that gut-wrenching despair of finishing the last chapter of a page turner if it were not for the fact that I knew I had Season Two sitting on the table ready to pop into the DVD player.

Suffice to say I experienced the gut wrenching blow the following evening, when, after 25 hours of viewing, I finished the second season, which I found to be even better than Season One.

So, like any junkie, I immediately went to the Internet, the source of all information, to find out if there was a Season Three. To my joy, I found out that while I had missed it’s airing in 2004, it was being prepped for DVD release. Gut wrench relieved, for now.

I can honestly count this outstanding program as one of my favorite television experiences ever. If you haven’t seen this show, you must. I already know that the when I receive Season Three on DVD I will carve out a Saturday and watch the entire season from morning until night in one sitting.

Why can’t all entertainment be this good?