Just Watched THE WIRE (Season 1)...
For the last few years, I've been hearing about how this show is the "best thing that's ever been on TV in the history of the universe." I don't have HBO, and even though I got a copy of the season 1 DVD for Christmas, I never watched it until this weekend.
Verdict?
A very solid, very entertaining procedural that looked at a lot of issues (drugs, violence, etc.) from multiple angles. It would never have worked on regular TV, and I probably wouldn't have kept with it if I didn't have the entire season to watch (the first episode is about as boring and bland as cop shows get). I enjoyed how the show was written more like a "novel" or miniseries instead of a typical TV show... lots of small details that built and built over the course of the season, and while it took a few episodes to get into, the payoff was definitely worth it.
Looking forward to checking out the next few seasons.
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Took me about five episodes to get completely hooked when I watched it on HBO. I completely agree with you about the level of detail and complexity. Two and a Half Men spoon feeding it ain't.
You're in for an awesome ride, Just last semester I watched the entire show, managing to catch up to the final season's last episodes to catch them as they aired.
With regards to not keeping up had you not had the entire season at hand, I agree wholeheartedly. Actually I find that to hold true to every show I've ever taken interest in: I'm bad enough at time management as it is, who knows what trouble I'd be in if I had to schedule in times to sit down in front of the television.
Mr.Green wrote:
I am looking forward to this show so much. My seasons are in the mail through Amazon I can't wait to check this out. I love HBO....Sopranos and Deadwood were amazing. Also liked 6 feet under so I'm hoping the wire really pulls me in as much as those other shows did
Watch a couple more seasons and you'll see why most fans swear it is far more than a procedural. It is a story of a city, and I've never seen that done so well.
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I'll be getting to seasons 2 & 3 as soon as I can borrow them from my brother.
I will say that while I Really enjoyed season 1, there WERE several cases of... maybe "pretension" is the word I'm looking for. They started out doing several random shots an episode using security cameras (the scene where the two policemen ride in the elevator in silence was the worst offender), but they stopped doing it after a while... I get that they were going for a "surveillance" vibe, but they just didn't work for me. I'm sure many people will completely disagree with me, but I also found that scene in episode #3 where they just say "f*ck" for 10 minutes to be completely forced and ridiculous. ANYway... the show seemed to find its rhythm as it went along and definitely delivered.
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I *love* the "f*ck" scene. It's written by a former detective, if I remember the commentary track correctly, so I doubt it's as forced as you think.
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
I knew people were going to say that they loved it.
Whether it happened in "real life" or not, it still came across as lame to me. YMMV.
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I nicknamed my kid Bubbles.
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Season 3 is truly where its at. Like any new show, the first season, actors are really trying to feel out their characters and the writers are looking to move them from their typical archetypes into something more realistic. Season 2 of the Wire was certainly interesting, especially with its different focus, but Season 3 and 4 really rocked. There is still one character I wish they wouldn't have done away with in Season 4, but everything else was brilliant. Still waiting for 5 to come out so I can finish the ride.
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I love the show. I am in the process of watching it entirely again. I am on Season 3, Episode 3. Great show.
The f*ck scene is one of the best. Sure they take advantage of being on HBO, but it is extremely entertaining nonetheless. Better yet is the courtroom scene with Omar's testimony in Season 2 (my personal fave).
SommerMatt - Seeing how tough you are on all the games you play and write about, I would take your comments to mean this is one of the few things I have ever seen you like.
I'm glad you will keep watching and you won't be disappointed.
Let's hope he doesn't take Bubble's career choices.
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I'm not going to keep harping on this, because I don't want to blow it out of proportion... I just thought it seemed silly... that they were trying too hard.
You're not reading enough of my threads
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That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
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I just cower in fear when I see that you've posted Matt.
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in all seriousness... I enjoyed the show after the initial build-up. I really cared for the characers, esp. the "criminals" at times... "Bubs" was played for laughs, mostly, but I felt deeply sad about how he ended up. Same thing with...
I thought it was very cool how we saw a progression of these characters from the begining to the ending... "Pres" actually being useful, "Batman & Robin" going into more leadership roles, etc. It all just came together like a nice, solid novel.
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That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
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I started watching The Wire during the writer's strike. I generally have no interest in cop shows, but I'd heard it was good and I had little else to watch. I'm glad I did.
It gets even better as the show progresses. Season 4 is absolutely fantastic.
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David Simon -- the co-creator of the show -- was a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, who spent time with the City's homicide department. His comment on that scene, if memory serves, has everything to do with what he observed with the detectives' collective ability to raise "cursing to an artform." He either joked, or they joked, that they could run an entire crime scene without using any other word.
So, in that sense, Matt, you've got a point -- it was a deliberate conceit on the writer's part and, for you as a viewer, the conceit didn't work.
That said, I'll chime in with everyone else and say barrel through it. They give all the characters an amazing amount of depth and humanity -- Bubs, for one, gets an incredible arc throughout the run of the show -- and they definitely do what they can to have characters serve more roles than to simply be comic relief.
So, so well worth more investment.
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