The Wire

[crawfish]

I'm of the opinion Dexter is the best TV show ever. Possibly rivalled by Sopranos....

People who are into making "Best TV show ever" lists would flip out you didn't exalt "The Wire" over everything else.

[Moderator note: this thread is split from the Dexter thread]

[Motz]

I'm of the opinion Dexter is the best TV show ever. Possibly rivalled by Sopranos....

People who are into making "Best TV show ever" lists would flip out you didn't exalt "The Wire" over everything else.

I always wanted to get into the wire I heard it was awesome.

[CyberSimian]

I always wanted to get into "The Wire"; I heard it was awesome.

In the UK, BBC2 broadcast all 5 series of "The Wire" within the last 3 years (I DVRed them using Media Center; now watched and deleted).

The question that I have with respect to "The Wire" is whether it is a stunningly accurate representation of police/drug-addict life in Baltimore (possibly based on real events), or whether it was ludicrously exaggerated in order to create an unmissable viewing experience that would attract big bucks from the advertisers.

Several decades ago there was a popular police TV series in the UK called "Bergerac" about police life on the island of Jersey; it ran for several seasons. One avid viewer wrote in to the "Radio Times" magazine (other listings magazines are available) that she had always wanted to go to Jersey for a holiday, but now that she had seen how much crime there was on Jersey, she no longer wanted to visit.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[crawfish]

The question that I have with respect to "The Wire" is whether it is a stunningly accurate representation of police/drug-addict life in Baltimore (possibly based on real events), or whether it was ludicrously exaggerated in order to create an unmissable viewing experience that would attract big bucks from the advertisers.

It was an HBO series so advertisers weren't a consideration. The show wasn't a documentary, but it was very much based on reality, both events and real people, a notable exception being the "Hamsterdam" experiment of Season 3; AFAIK, nothing like that has ever happened, and it was just an interesting idea to explore. The destruction of that part of Baltimore and its people by drugs along with the inner workings of the police department and political systems have been major themes of the writer, David Simon, for a long time. The wiki article has a lot more on it.

[milli260876]

Decided to give this a go as it comes so highly recommended, 5 series ?? Got Spartacus Vengeance to finish first!!!

[CyberSimian]

Decided to give this a go as it comes so highly recommended, 5 series ??

Yes, 5 series, but only 12-13 episodes in each.

The curious thing about "The Wire" is that two of the stars are Brits. I guess that the producers could not find enough American actors with realistic American accents!

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[kc10boom]

The cool thing about watching The Wire now is seeing how quickly technology evolved each season. I just burned through the whole series a few months ago, the story and acting is superb

[Embiggens]

Favorite series ever.

[LuckyDay]

The question that I have with respect to "The Wire" is whether it is a stunningly accurate representation of police/drug-addict life in Baltimore (possibly based on real events), or whether it was ludicrously exaggerated in order to create an unmissable viewing experience that would attract big bucks from the advertisers.

It was an HBO series so advertisers weren't a consideration. The show wasn't a documentary, but it was very much based on reality, both events and real people, a notable exception being the "Hamsterdam" experiment of Season 3; AFAIK, nothing like that has ever happened, and it was just an interesting idea to explore. The destruction of that part of Baltimore and its people by drugs along with the inner workings of the police department and political systems have been major themes of the writer, David Simon, for a long time. The wiki article has a lot more on it.

Not to bring up an old thread from the dead, but the Hamsterdam situation actually did happen in real life *edit* apparently this happened in Zurich in a pretty similar manner in the 80s/90s.

[crawfish]

Not to bring up an old thread from the dead, but the Hamsterdam situation actually did happen in real life. Unfortunately it wasn't called Hamsterdam, but there was a police lieutenant in Baltimore who decided to allow drugs in areas of his town to prevent it from spreading to others, and his fate was the same it was in the show.

Cite?

[LuckyDay]

I remember hearing an interview years ago that it was based off a real life situation, but after some googling I think I was mistaken that it was Baltimore, looks like it was actually in Zurich:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/archive/Ten ... id=2517882

I believe the fired Baltimore officials I remember hearing about may have had to do with falsifying the types of arrests to show increased numbers of arrests that didn't exist, which also happened in The Wire in Season 3. Will have to dig around to find the story on that.

It's pretty interesting how accurate a lot of it is. I know David Simon (the creator) has mentioned that a huge amount of the show was based on stuff he either saw or heard about from current or former people in the business.

More info from the Wiki, pretty crazy stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platzspitz_park

"Thus in 1987 the authorities chose to allow illegal drug use and sales at the park, in an effort to contain Zurich's growing drug problem. Police were not allowed to enter the park or make arrests. Clean needles were given out to addicts as part of the Zurich Intervention Pilot Project, or ZIPP-AIDS program.[2] However, lack of control over what went on in the park caused a multitude of problems. Drug dealers and users arrived from all over Europe, and crime became rampant as dealers fought for control and addicts (who numbered up to 20,000) stole to support their habit. The once-beautiful gardens had degraded into a mess of mud and used needles, and the emergency services were overwhelmed with the number of overdoses, which were almost nightly. Platzspitz, or Needle Park as it was then known, became a source of embarrassment to the Swiss government and in 1992, police moved in to clear up the park."

[DJ DOC]

I love it! I have the collection. I try to get my lady to watch but she doesn't even give it a chance. She's into corny shows like the Mentalist.