The Wire

[Iain]

Never watched it before, borrowed the box set for the first series. Been off work sick Monday/Tuesday and watched the whole first series. Amazing. Any other fans?

[tincat2]

i thought it was one of the best series i've ever seen. ''Brooklyn's Finest" owes much to it.

[Silver Bullet]

I've been thinking about adding that show to our viewing list.  I've seen at least a dozen different sites where it finished in Top Ten TV Shows Ever, or some such.  I've been hesitant because I'm not sure the subject matter will appeal to my wife and me.  I'll probably give it a try.

[tincat2]

I've been thinking about adding that show to our viewing list.  I've seen at least a dozen different sites where it finished in Top Ten TV Shows Ever, or some such.  I've been hesitant because I'm not sure the subject matter will appeal to my wife and me.  I'll probably give it a try.

if strong language, sex, nudity, or violence present dificulties for you-stay away; though there is plenty of all of it, none of it is misplaced or gratuitous-life as it is for many in this world.

[tyme]

There are clips from it all over youtube.    If you can stomach it, watch it.  If not, too bad, you're missing out.  The level of vulgarity and general sinfulness is about what you'd expect from embedded reporting of inner city slums and drug gangs.

Not watching The Wire because of its borderline NC17 style is like not watching Band of Brothers because you can't stomach being reminded of Nazi Germany.

[Silver Bullet]

  strong language, sex, nudity, or violence present dificulties for you-stay away;

Tons o' that in Deadwood, and I loved Deadwood.   In fact, the language in Deadwood was so over-the-top vulgar and over-the-top stilted it actually made the show funny.

All of the above would bum my wife, though.  She wouldn't watch Deadwood with me.

What concerned me was I got the idea from reviews that Wire makes heroes of street punks, and that would thoroughly turn me off.

[tyme]

The Wire portrays criminals as human beings, rather than as future inmates.  If you, or whatever reviewer you read, thinks that amounts to making them heroes, so be it.  I can think of one character that I might call a (flawed) hero, and he's an ex-cop before the series is over.

Violent criminal actions are never minimized, that I can recall.