The Wire

The Wire
File:Season02 posterart.jpg The Wire promotional art.
Created by	David Simon
Starring	Dominic West John Doman Idris Elba Frankie Faison Aidan Gillen Seth Gilliam Wood Harris Domenick Lombardozzi Deidre Lovejoy Corey Parker Robinson Clarke Peters Wendell Pierce Lance Reddick Andre Royo Sonja Sohn Jim True-Frost J. D. Williams Michael K. Williams Robert Wisdom
Opening theme	"Way Down In The Hole" The Blind Boys of Alabama (Season 1) Tom Waits (Season 2) The Neville Brothers (Season 3)
Ending theme	"The Fall" by Blake Leyh
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	37 (Season 4 premieres in Sept. 2006)
Production
Executive producers	Robert F. Colesberry David Simon
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	approx. 0:60 (commercial-free)
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	June 2, 2002 – Present

The Wire is an American police procedural television series set and produced in the mid-Atlantic city of Baltimore, Maryland. Created by writer/producer and former police reporter David Simon, the series is broadcast by the HBO cable network in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2 2002 and has aired 37 episodes in 3 seasons, with a fourth to begin in September 2006.

The plot centers around the ongoing struggles between police units and drug-dealing gangs in the city's west side, and is told from both points of view. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how... whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge, [or] a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."

The Wire has received critical acclaim for its realistic portrayal of urban life and uncommonly deep exploration of sociological themes, and has been called the best show on television by TIME, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, and the Chicago Tribune. However, it has failed to draw an audience commensurate with its press.

Origins

Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of his writing partner, ex-homicide detective Ed Burns, in working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. Burns often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."

Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city. He approached the mayor to get approval to portray it bleakly and was welcomed to work there again. Simon chose to take the show to HBO because of their existing working relationship from the 2000 miniseries The Corner. Anticipating a repeat of the arguments with executives that writing such a pessimistic show generated during the run of his NBC program Homicide: Life on the Street, he avoided other networks. Owing to their reputation for exploring new areas, HBO were initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but they eventually agreed to produce the pilot. Simon hoped that the show could change the opinions of some viewers but said that it was unlikely to have an impact on the issues it portrays.

Themes

Simon draws a sharp line between his program and its influential but thematically very different forebears, such as Dragnet, Hill Street Blues, and Homicide: Life on the Street: "The best crime shows [...] were essentially about good and evil. Justice, revenge, betrayal, redemption. The Wire, by contrast, has ambitions elsewhere. [...] Specifically: We are bored with good and evil. We renounce the theme."

Realism

The writers strive to create a realistic vision of an American city based on their own experiences. Central to this aim is the creation of truthful characters. Simon has admitted that most of them are composites of real-life Baltimore figures.

In distinguishing the police characters from other television detectives, Simon makes the point that even the best police of The Wire are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve, but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminal they are chasing. Many officers portrayed on the show are incompetent, brutal, self-aggrandizing, or hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. The criminals are not always motivated by profit or a desire to harm others; many are trapped in their existence and all have human qualities. Even so, The Wire does not minimize or gloss over the horrific effects of their actions.

The show is also scrupulously realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity. Many of the plot points were based on the experiences of Simon and Burns. There have even been reports of real-life criminals watching the show to learn how to counter police investigation techniques.

Institutional dysfunction

Simon has identified the organizations featured in the show (the Baltimore Police Department, City Hall, the Barksdale drug trafficking operation, and the stevedores' union) as comparable institutions. All of them are dysfunctional in some way, and the characters are typically betrayed by the institutions that they accept in their lives. Simon described the show as "cynical about [its] institutions" while taking a humanistic approach towards its characters.

Surveillance

Central to the structure and plot of the show is the use of electronic surveillance and wiretap technologies by the police—hence the title "The Wire." The title has been described as a metaphor for the viewer's experience—the wiretaps provide the police access to a secret world, just as the show does for the viewer. Simon has discussed the use of camera shots of surveillance equipment, or shots that appear to be taken from the equipment itself, to emphasize the volume of surveillance in modern life and the characters' need to sift through this information.

Visual novel

The plot and style are complex, requiring a good deal of attention from the viewer. Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely in order to figure out what's going on and who's who. The show has been described as novelistic in structure with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows. Each season of The Wire consists of 12 or 13 full-hour episodes, which form a single narrative. Individual episodes might make confusing and unsatisfying viewing if seen in isolation. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in and then result in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews, describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.

Social commentary

"Murderland Alley," like the rest of Baltimore, is both realistically and bleakly portrayed.

The show has been dubbed "TV for the hopeless", relentless in its bleak depiction of urban decline and the War on Drugs and lacking contrived "life-affirming" moments often found in network crime shows (even the Simon-produced Homicide).

Simon described the second season as "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class... [I]t is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many." He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws explicit parallels between the War in Iraq and the national drug prohibition, which in Simon's view has failed in its aims and become a war against America's underclass.

Writer Ed Burns has called education the theme of the fourth season. Rather than solely focusing on the school system, the season will look at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside of their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for. Burns and Simon see the theme as an opportunity to look at how individuals end up like the show's criminal characters, and to dramatize the theory that hard work is not always justly rewarded.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of characters from The Wire

The Wire employs a broad ensemble cast supplemented by many recurring guest stars to populate the institutions featured in the show. Many of the characters defy expectations and stereotypes, and some undergo changes in their worldview as the series progresses.

The show's creators are also willing to kill off major characters, so that viewers cannot assume that a given character will survive simply because of a starring role or popularity among fans. In response to a question on why a certain character had to die, David Simon said, "[W]e are not selling hope, or audience gratification, or cheap victories with this show. The Wire is making an argument about what institutions—bureaucracies, criminal enterprises, the cultures of addiction, raw capitalism even—do to individuals. It is not designed purely as an entertainment. It is, I'm afraid, a somewhat angry show."

Principal cast

File:TheWire32.jpg

The law: Prez, Daniels, McNulty, Freamon (seated), Pearlman, and Greggs.

File:Wire07.jpg

The street: Wee-Bey, Stringer Bell, D'Angelo Barksdale, Poot, and Bodie.

File:TheWire21alt.jpg

The docks: "The Greek," Nick Sobotka, and Frank Sobotka.

Template:Spoiler Major characters for the first season were divided between those on the side of the law and those involved in drug-related crime. The investigating detail was led by Lt. Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick) who faced challenges balancing his career aspirations with his desire to produce a good case. The detail was launched by the actions of Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), whose insubordinate tendencies and personal problems often overshadowed his capabilities. Shakima "Kima" Greggs (Sonja Sohn) was a capable lead detective who faced jealousy from colleagues and worry about the dangers of her job from her partner. Her investigative work was greatly helped by her confidential informant, a drug addict known as "Bubbles" (Andre Royo). Like Greggs, partners Thomas "Herc" Hauk (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam) were reassigned to the detail from the narcotics unit. The duo's initially violent nature was eventually subdued as they proved useful in grunt work, and sometimes served as comic relief for the audience. Rounding out the temporary unit were detectives Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost). Though both initially appeared to have no talent for tough police work, Freamon proved a quietly capable investigator with a knack for noticing tiny but important details, and Prez turned out to be a natural at his desk job.

These investigators were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned with politics and their own careers than the case, Maj. William Rawls (John Doman) and Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell (Frankie Faison). Assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman (Deidre Lovejoy) acted as the legal liaison between the detail and the courthouse and also had a casual relationship with one of the officers. In the homicide division, Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce) was a gifted, dry-witted detective partnered with McNulty under Sgt. Jay Landsman (Delaney Williams), the jovial squad commander. Peter Gerety had a recurring role as Judge Phelan, the official who started the case moving.

On the other side of the investigation was Avon Barksdale's drug empire. The driven, ruthless Barksdale (Wood Harris) was aided by business-minded Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Avon's nephew D'Angelo (Larry Gilliard Jr.) ran some of his uncle's territory, but also possessed a guilty conscience, while loyal Wee-Bey (Hassan Johnson) was responsible for multiple homicides carried out on Avon's orders. Working under D'Angelo were Poot (Tray Chaney) and Wallace (Michael B. Jordan), both street-level drug dealers. Wallace was an intelligent but naïve youth trapped in the drug trade, and Poot a randy young man happy to follow rather than lead. Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), a renowned Baltimore stick-up man robbing drug dealers for a living, was a frequent thorn in the side of the Barksdale clan.

Season 2 introduced a new group of characters working in the Baltimore port area, including Spiros "Vondas" Vondopolous (Paul Ben-Victor), Beatrice "Beadie" Russell (Amy Ryan), and Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). Vondas was the director of a global smuggling operation, Russell an inexperienced Port Authority officer and single mother thrown in at the deep end of a multiple homicide investigation, and Sobotka a union leader who turned to crime in order to raise funds to save his union. Also joining the show in season 2 were Nick Sobotka (Pablo Schreiber), Frank's prodigal nephew; Ziggy Sobotka (James Ransone), Frank's troubled son; and "The Greek" (Bill Raymond), Vondas' mysterious boss. As the second season ended, the focus shifted away from the ports, leaving the new characters behind.

Season 3 saw several previously minor characters assuming larger roles, including Detective Leander Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson), Bodie (J.D. Williams), Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew), and Maj. Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom). Colvin (for whom Herc and Carver were now working) commanded the Western district where the Barksdale organization operated, and nearing retirement, he came up with a radical new method of dealing with the drug problem. Proposition Joe, the East Side's cautious drug kingpin, became more cooperative with Avon's gang. Sydnor, a rising young star in the police department in season 1, returned to the cast as part of the major case unit. Bodie had been seen gradually rising in the Barksdale organization since the first episode; he was born to their trade and showed a fierce aptitude for it.

New additions in season 3 included Thomas "Tommy" Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), an ambitious city councilman; Mayor Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman), the incumbent whom Carcetti planned to unseat; Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), leader of an upstart gang seeking to challenge Avon's dominance; and Dennis "Cutty" Wise (Chad Coleman), a newly released convict uncertain of his future.

Season 4 will see four young actors join the cast: Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems; Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff; Julito McCullum as Namond Brice; and Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee. The four characters will be friends from a West Baltimore middle school.

Plot synopsis and episode list

Main article: List of The Wire episodes

Season 1

The first season, which began airing in 2002, introduced two major groups of characters—the Baltimore police department and a drug dealing organization run by the Barksdale family. The season followed the investigation of the latter over its 13 episodes.

The investigation is triggered when detective Jimmy McNulty meets privately with judge Daniel Phelan following the acquittal of D'Angelo Barksdale for murder after a key witness changes her story. McNulty tells Phelan that she had probably been intimidated by members of a drug trafficking empire run by D'Angelo's uncle, Avon Barksdale, having recognized several faces at the trial, notably Avon's second-in-command, Stringer Bell. He also tells Phelan that nobody is investigating Barksdale's criminal activity, which includes a significant portion of the city's drug trade and several unsolved homicides.

Phelan takes issue with this and complains to senior Police Department figures, embarrassing them into creating a detail dedicated to investigating Barksdale. However, owing to the department's dysfunctionality, the investigation is intended as a façade to appease the judge. An interdepartmental struggle between the more motivated officers on the detail and their superiors spans the whole season, with interference by the higher-ups often threatening to ruin the investigation. The detail's commander, Cedric Daniels, acts as mediator between the two opposing groups of police.

Meanwhile, the organized and cautious Barksdale gang is explored through characters at various levels within it. The organization is antagonized by a stick-up crew led by Omar Little, and the feud leads to several deaths, bringing further police attention. Throughout, D'Angelo struggles with his conscience over his life of crime and the people it affects.

The police have little success with street-level arrests or with securing informants beyond Wallace, a young low-level dealer and friend of D'Angelo. Eventually the investigation takes the direction of electronic surveillance, with wiretaps and pager clones to infiltrate the security measures taken by the Barksdale organization. This leads the investigation to areas the commanding officers had hoped to avoid, including political contributions. However, when an associate of Barksdale's is arrested by another team and offers to cooperate, the commanding officers order a sting operation. One detective is seriously hurt in the operation, triggering an overzealous response from the rest of the department. This causes the detail's targets to suspect that they are under investigation.

Wallace is killed by his childhood friends Bodie and Poot, on orders from Stringer Bell, after leaving his "secure" placement with relatives and returning to Baltimore. D'Angelo Barksdale is eventually arrested with a large quantity of drugs, and learning of Wallace's murder, is ready to turn in his uncle and Stringer. However, D'Angelo's mother convinces him to rescind the deal and take the charges for his family. The detail manages to arrest Avon on a minor charge and gets one of his soldiers to confess to many murders. Stringer escapes prosecution and is left running the Barksdale empire. For the officers, the consequences of antagonizing their superiors are severe, and Daniels and McNulty are both assigned to nightmare jobs as punishment.

Season 2

The second season of the show, along with its ongoing examination of the drug problem and its effect on the urban poor, examined the plight of the blue-collar urban working class as exemplified by stevedores (longshoremen) in the city port, as some of them get caught up in smuggling drugs and other contraband inside the containers that their port ships. In a season-long subplot, the Barksdale organization continues its drug trafficking despite Avon's imprisonment, with Stringer Bell assuming greater power.

McNulty harbors a vendetta against his former commanders for reassigning him to the marine unit. When fourteen young unidentified women are found dead in the port area, he makes a point of proving that they were murdered in his commanders' jurisdiction. Meanwhile, police Major Stan Valchek gets into a feud with stevedore union leader Frank Sobotka over competing donations to their old neighborhood church. Valchek demands a detail to investigate Sobotka. Daniels, having impressed the Major with his work on the Barksdale case, is assigned to lead the detail.

As with the previous season, the targets of the investigations are explored and fully realized as characters. Life for the blue-collar men of the port is increasingly hard and work is scarce. As union leader, Sobotka had taken it on himself to reinvigorate the port by convincing politicians to support much-needed initiatives. Lacking the funds needed for this kind of influence, Sobotka had become involved with a smuggling ring. Around him, his son and nephew also turn to crime, as they have few other opportunities to earn money.

It becomes clear to the Sobotka detail that the dead girls are related to their investigation, as they were in a container that was supposed to be smuggled through the port. They again use wiretaps to infiltrate the crime ring and slowly work their way up the chain towards "The Greek", the mysterious man in charge. But Valchek, upset that their focus has moved beyond Sobotka, gets the FBI involved. The Greek has contacts inside the FBI and starts severing his ties to Baltimore when he learns about the investigation.

After a dispute over stolen goods turns violent, Sobotka's son is charged with the murder of one of the Greek's underlings. Sobtoka himself is arrested for smuggling; he agrees to work with the detail to help his son, finally seeing his actions as a mistake. However, the Greek learns about this through the FBI and scuppers the case against himself by having Sobotka killed. The investigation ends with the fourteen homicides solved but the perpetrator already dead. Several drug dealers and mid-level smuggling figures tied to the Greek are arrested, but he and his second-in-command escape uncharged and unidentified. The Major is pleased that Sobotka was arrested; the case is seen as a success by the commanding officers, but is viewed as a failure by the detail.

Across town, the Barksdale organization continues its business under Stringer while Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale serve prison time. D'Angelo decides to cut ties to his family after his uncle organizes the deaths of several inmates and blames it on a corrupt guard to shave time from his sentence. Fearing D'Angelo working with the police, Stringer covertly orders him killed, faking it as a suicide. Avon is unaware of Stringer's duplicity and mourns the loss of his nephew.

Stringer also struggles with the loss of his drug suppliers and bad quality product. He again goes behind Avon's back, giving up half of Avon's most prized territory to a rival named Proposition Joe in exchange for a share of his supply. Avon, unaware of the arrangement, assumes that Joe and other dealers are moving into his territory simply because the Barksdale organization has too few enforcers. He contracts a feared hitman named Brother Mouzone. Stringer deals with this by tricking his old adversary Omar into believing that Mouzone was responsible for the vicious killing of his partner in their feud in season one. Seeking revenge, Omar shoots Mouzone, but realizes Stringer had lied and calls 911. Mouzone recovers and leaves Baltimore, and Stringer is free to continue his business with Proposition Joe.

Season 3

In the third season, the action focused back on the street and the Barksdale organization but expanded the scope to include the political scene. In addition, a new subplot was introduced to examine the potential positive effects of legalizing the drug trade within the limited boundaries of three uninhabited city blocks — referred to by the malapropism "Hamsterdam." These were continuations of storylines hinted at earlier.

The demolition of the towers that had served as the Barksdale organization's prime territory pushes their dealers back out onto the streets of Baltimore. Avon Barksdale is released from prison early, as promised for his role in unveiling the cause of the inmate deaths. Stringer Bell continues his reform of the organization by cooperating with other drug lords, sharing with one another territory, product, and profits. But Stringer's offer is met with a curt refusal from Marlo Stanfield, leader of a new, growing crew. Against Stringer's advice, Avon decides to take Marlo's territory by force, and the two gangs become embroiled in a bitter turf war with multiple deaths.

Omar continues to rob the Barksdale clan wherever possible. Working with his new boyfriend and two women, he is once more a serious problem for the organization. In a heist gone wrong, one of Omar's crew is accidentally shot and a Barksdale enforcer is killed. The violence related to the drug trade makes it an obvious choice of investigation for Cedric Daniels' now-permanent Major Case Unit.

Councilman Thomas "Tommy" Carcetti begins to prepare himself for a mayoral race. He manipulates a colleague into running against the mayor to split the vote, secures a capable campaign manager, and starts making headlines for himself.

Coming to the end of his career, Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin decides to achieve some real change in the neighborhoods he has long been responsible for. Seeing the spread of drug dealing into previously unaffected areas following the destruction of the towers, he assumes the task of containing the problem. Without the knowledge of central command, he sets up areas where drug trade would go unpunished and cracks down on any traffic elsewhere. His scheme achieves his aims and reduces crime in his district, but is eventually exposed to his superiors and city politicians, including Carcetti, who uses the scandal to make a grandstanding speech. With top brass outraged, Colvin is forced to cease his actions, accept a demotion, and retire from the department on a lower-grade pension.

Dennis "Cutty" Wise, once a drug dealer's enforcer, is released from prison alongside Avon. His struggles to adapt to life as a free man show an attempt at personal reform. Cutty flirts with the world of hard labor and then with returning to his former life, going to work for Avon. Finding he no longer has the heart for murder, he eventually uses funding from Avon to set up a boxing gym for neighborhood youths.

The detail learns that Stringer has been buying real estate and developing it in order to fulfill his dream of being a successful legitimate businessman. However, his lack of experience in the field leads to failure, so he reluctantly refocuses on the drug trade. Believing that the bloody turf war with Marlo is poised to destroy everything the Barksdale crew had worked for, Stringer gives Major Colvin information on Avon's weapons stash. But Stringer is himself being betrayed by Avon: Brother Mouzone had returned to Baltimore and tracked down Omar to join forces. Mouzone tells Avon that his shooting must be avenged. Avon, still furious over D'Angelo's murder (Stringer having finally confessed the truth), and fearing Mouzone's wrath, arranges to have Bell visit his construction site. There, Mouzone and Omar corner him and shoot him to death.

Colvin tells McNulty about Avon's hideout, and armed with the information gleaned from selling the Barksdale crew pre-wiretapped disposable cellphones, the detail stages a raid, arresting Avon and most of his underlings. Barksdale's criminal empire lies in ruins, and Marlo's young crew simply moves into their territory. Thus the drug trade in West Baltimore continues with little change.

Season 4

File:TheWireS4.jpg

Randy, Namond, Michael, and Duquan, some of the new characters in the fourth season.

On September 10, 2006, The Wire will return for a fourth season, which will tackle Baltimore's education system. The season will also continue the examination of politics from season 3, including a mayoral race. There has been speculation that Councilman Carcetti's rise to mayor could parallel Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley's. The Sun confirmed that Roland "Prez" Pryzbyleski would make an unexpected return by starting a new career as a public school teacher. New stars will include four young actors: Maestro Harrell, Tristan Wilds, Julito McCullum and Jermaine Crawford. Describing the new season, the Sun reported storylines including the characters they play each getting a different sort of education. One boy would be "betrayed by the police and social services systems," another would "[learn] how to be a successful enforcer for a drug kingpin," a third "through the concern and care of a teacher." The last child would "[find] his way thanks to a mentor who steps up after the school system [let] the young man down." Finally, a fifth young actor, Rashad Orange, will play Sherrod, a homeless teenager whom Bubbles takes under his wing.

In an interview, Lance Reddick described the direction his character would take in the fourth season. He stated that his promotion would give him the added responsibility of a district to command, less dealings with the day to day running of the Major Case Unit, friction with the unit's replacement lieutenant, and the difficulties of being more open about his relationship with Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman.Template:Endspoiler

Critical response

The first season received rave reviews from critics, some calling it superior to HBO's better-known "flagship" drama series such as The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. One reviewer felt that the show was partially a retread of themes from HBO and David Simon's earlier works but still valuable viewing and described the series as particularly resonant because it parallels the war on terror through the chronicling of the war on drugs. A more measured review postulated that the series might suffer because of its reliance on profanity and slowly drawn-out plot, but was largely positive about the show's characters and intrigue.

Despite the critical acclaim, The Wire has received poor Nielsen Ratings, which Simon attributes to the complexity of the plot, a poor time slot, and heavy use of esoteric slang, particularly among the gangster characters. Critics felt the show was testing the attention span of its audience and felt that it was mistimed in the wake of the launch of the successful crime drama The Shield on FX. Anticipation for a release of the first season on DVD was high at Entertainment Weekly.

The second season was described as even more powerful than the first and praised for deconstructing the show's central foundations with a willingness to explore new areas. The season's characterization was criticized by one reviewer who felt that the subculture of the docks failed to come to life as well as that of the housing projects. However, the review continued to praise the writers for creating a realistic world and the array of interesting characters presented in it.

At the close of the third season, The Wire still struggled to maintain its ratings and the show faced possible cancellation. Creator David Simon blamed the show's low ratings in part on its competition against Desperate Housewives and worried that expectations for HBO dramas had changed following the success of The Sopranos. The critical response to the third season remained positive. Entertainment Weekly named The Wire the best show of 2004, describing it as "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV." They credited the complexity of the show for its poor ratings. The Baltimore City Paper was so concerned that the show might be cancelled that they published a list of ten reasons to keep it on the air, including strong characterization, Omar Little, an unabashedly honest representation of real world problems, and its unique status as "broadcast literature." They also worried that the loss of the show would have a negative impact on Baltimore's economy.

Awards

Status	Year	Award	For
Winner	2002	TIME Magazine's Best/Worst List	Top Television Show
Winner	2003	Peabody Award	N/A
Winner	2003	American Film Institute Award	Television Program of the Year
Nominee	2003	Edgar Award	Best Television Episode
Nominee	2003	Television Critics Association	Program of the Year
Nominee	2003	Television Critics Association	Outstanding New Program
Nominee	2003	Television Critics Association	Outstanding Achievement in Drama
Winner	2004	ASCAP Award	Film & Music TV Award
Nominee	2004	Television Critics Association	Outstanding Achievement in Drama
Voted	2005	Broadcasting & Cable Critics Poll	Best Drama
Nominee	2005	Emmy Award	Outstanding writing for a drama series

Production

Casting

The casting of the show has been praised for avoiding big-name stars and providing actors who appear natural in their roles. The looks of the cast as a whole have been described as defying TV expectations by presenting a true range of humanity on screen.

The initial cast was put together through a process of auditions and readings. Lance Reddick received the role of Cedric Daniels after auditioning for several other parts. Michael K. Williams got the part of Omar Little after only a single audition, although the character was originally slated to appear in just seven episodes before dying.

Several prominent real-life Baltimore figures, including Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Rev. Frank M. Reid III, and former police chief Ed Norris, have appeared in minor roles despite not being professional actors. "Little Melvin" Williams, a Baltimore drug lord arrested in the 1980s by an investigation that Ed Burns had been part of, has a recurring role as a deacon in the third season. Jay Landsman, a longtime police officer who inspired the character of the same name, has played Lt. Dennis Mello in several episodes.

Crew

Besides creator David Simon, much of the creative team behind The Wire are alumni of Homicide as well as HBO's prison drama Oz and Emmy-winning miniseries The Corner. Stories for the show are often co-written by Ed Burns, a former Baltimore homicide detective and public school teacher who has worked with David Simon on other projects including The Corner. Another The Corner veteran, Robert F. Colesberry, was executive producer for the first two seasons and directed the season 2 finale. He is credited by the rest of the creative team as having a large creative role for a producer, and Simon credits him for achieving the show's realistic visual feel. He also had a small recurring role as Detective Ray Cole.

Writers for The Wire include three acclaimed crime fiction writers from outside of Baltimore: George P. Pelecanos from Washington, Richard Price from the Bronx and Dennis Lehane from Boston. Reviewers drew comparisons between Richard Price's works (particularly Clockers) and The Wire even before he joined. In addition to writing, Pelecanos served as a producer for seasons 2 and 3. Staff writer Rafael Alvarez penned several episodes' scripts, as well as the series guidebook The Wire: Truth Be Told. Alvarez is a colleague of Simon's from The Sun and a Baltimore native with working experience in the port area. Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco Kecken, has also written for the show in each of its 3 seasons.

Directors include Homicide alumnus Clark Johnson, who directed several acclaimed episodes of The Shield, and Tim Van Patten, an Emmy winner who has worked on every season of The Sopranos. The directing has been praised for its uncomplicated and subtle style.

Episode structure

When broadcast on HBO and on some international networks, the episodes are preceded by a recap of events that have a bearing upon the upcoming narrative, using clips from previous episodes. Each episode begins with a cold open that seldom contains a dramatic juncture. The screen then fades to black while the intro music fades in. The show's intro sequence then plays, a series of shots concerning the show's subject matter that changes from season to season, separated by fast jump cuts (a technique rarely used in the show itself). The opening credits are superimposed on the sequence, and consist only of actors' names without identifying which actors play which roles. At the end of the sequence, a quotation that will be spoken by a character during the episode is shown on-screen. Progressive story arcs often unfold in different locations at the same time. Episodes rarely end with a cliffhanger, and normally close with a fade to black and the closing music fading in. During season finales, a song is played before the closing scene in a montage showing the major characters' lives continuing in the aftermath of the narrative.

Music

Audio samples of The Wire  (media help) Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item

Template:Sample box end The Wire is unique in utilizing almost only diegetic music; that is, all music must emanate from a source within the scene. For example, police bars play Irish music, while the street gangs play gangsta rap in their cars. This rule is occasionally breached, notably for the season-ending montages.

The opening theme is "Way Down In The Hole," a gospel-and-blues-inspired song originally written by Tom Waits for his 1987 album Franks Wild Years. Each season uses a different recording of it against a different opening sequence, with the theme being performed, in order, by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, and The Neville Brothers. The closing theme is "The Fall," composed by Blake Leyh.

Broadcasters

See also: List of The Wire episodes

HBO aired the first three seasons of the show in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively. New episodes were shown once a week, occasionally skipping one or two weeks in favor of other programming. The fourth season will begin on September 10, 2006. However, viewers with the HBO on Demand service will be able to see each episode of the season six days earlier.

In the United Kingdom, the show has been broadcast on FX Networks. It also airs in France, under the title Sur écoute ("wiretapped") on the pay channel Jimmy. The Polish channel TVN shows the series under the name Prawo ulicy ("law of the street").

DVD release

Season	Release Date	Additional Information
Season 1	October 12, 2004	The DVD boxset included all 13 episodes of the first season along with 3 audio commentaries on episodes by David Simon, George P. Pelecanos and Clark Johnson.
Season 2	January 25, 2005	The DVD boxset included all 12 episodes of the second season along with 2 audio commentaries. One commentary featured actors Dominic West and Michael K. Williams while the other focused on the contribution of the late producer Robert F. Colesberry, featured executive producer Karen Thorson and editor Thom Zimny.
Season 3	August 8 2006	The DVD boxset included all 12 episodes of the third season along with 5 audio commentaries. There are also 2 featurettes, Season 1 and 2 recaps and promotional spots.

The first two seasons have also been released on DVD outside the U.S., including in the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, Canada and Australia.

The packaging of the first season DVD box set prominently featured Jimmy McNulty, with D'Angelo Barksdale, Stringer Bell, and Kima Greggs surrounding him. The set received good reviews from critics. Slant Magazine praised almost all aspects of the show, calling it "the best crime show out there" and limited their criticism to the paucity of extras in the package. Amazon called the first season "a bona-fide American masterpiece."

The second DVD boxset garnered similar positive reviews to the first. Amazon said it was even better than the first season, and this time called it "the best show on HBO" and an "American crime epic easily on par with the Godfather saga." National Public Radio described the show as raising police procedurals to the level of art, and compared it favorably to BBC serials and The Sopranos. However, they were critical of the lack of special features, which had not been expanded from the first season's set. The third season was released on DVD on August 8, 2006, and has been favorably reviewed by Entertainment Weekly and TIME.

External links

• Gang and Drug-Related Homicide: Baltimore's Successful Enforcement Strategy — Ed Burns discusses some of the investigations and individuals which inspired The Wire.
• Ten Thousand Bullets — an interview with George P. Pelecanos.
• George Pelecanos on The Wire and D.C. pulp fiction — A supplement to "Ten Thousand Bullets."