What's Up With The Wire?
Two of my best friends (living in different cities, not in touch) are watching it. My hairdresser is watching it. My colleague is watching it. My step-brother is watching it. My neighbour just finished it and loaned us the DVDs. Is something going on here?
It's always a bit risky when you start watching something everyone you know is raving about. Something that's been called one of the best TV shows ever.
Ever!
Better than The West Wing in its early days? Better than I Love Lucy? And Grange Hill? (OK, admittedly, the Telegraph helped with that one, as it was recently voted the best children's show Ever.)
We were warned it might take a minute to get into it. Three episodes or so. Actually it took six, but now we're hooked, almost to the point of working our social lives around one episode a night. (Just wait till this weekend! Season Two here we come.) But we've certainly been waiting to get hooked, with everything we've heard, and now everything we've read.
Here's what we love about The Wire:
While critically acclaimed from the start, the show never had mass viewership when it was running on HBO in the US.
Clearly, this is changing, and we're happy to be doing our civic duty to help it along.
Ever!
Better than The West Wing in its early days? Better than I Love Lucy? And Grange Hill? (OK, admittedly, the Telegraph helped with that one, as it was recently voted the best children's show Ever.)
We were warned it might take a minute to get into it. Three episodes or so. Actually it took six, but now we're hooked, almost to the point of working our social lives around one episode a night. (Just wait till this weekend! Season Two here we come.) But we've certainly been waiting to get hooked, with everything we've heard, and now everything we've read.
Here's what we love about The Wire:
- Each of the five seasons focuses on a different segment of the Baltimore system, with the cops and the drug dealers woven through - the set-up, the city port, developers, the school system and the media.
- We can't decide if we like the drug dealers or the cops more.
- The main cop's kids (aged eight and 10 or so) have been trained to top & tail bad guys. Are you kidding? Hilarious!
- In each season the title track, "Way Down in the Hole" (originally by Tom Waits) is done by a different performer: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe, and Steve Earle.
- Steve Earle not only performs the song on Season Five, but also appears as a recovering addict in several seasons. Steve Earle's song "Copperhead Road" will forever be on my top 20 Ever. He's also a recovering addict, so the picture is pretty real.
While critically acclaimed from the start, the show never had mass viewership when it was running on HBO in the US.
Clearly, this is changing, and we're happy to be doing our civic duty to help it along.
Here Is The Writer : Madame B
Foreign-born Madame B thinks she's a City girl, but mostly just walks our streets checking things out and searching for the best wi-fi hotspots offered by The Cloud. You can spot her typing furiously on her shiny white MacBook, wearing dark sunglasses and drinking a glass of champagne. She's one half of the Shopaholics, which might explain things...
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