Okay, so I finally decided to watch this show. I finished season 1, and I liked it. But unfortunately I didn't LOVE it (I realize I'm in the minority here). But knowing this, would you still recommend I continue to watch it? I just feel like, if I didn't get hooked after one season, its kinda hopeless for me to keep going.

I might just watch season 4 and stop after that.

6/20/2011 11:49:58 AM

You've got three months of reruns unless you're a big fan of Rookie Blue or Franklin and Bash. Considering the alternatives, any season of The Wire is going to be a superior summer viewing option. Season 2 is completely different than season 1, with a shitload of new characters and plot lines. Give it a chance. Otherwise, hey, that new show with Elijah Wood and the Dog looks allright.

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 11:58 AM. Reason : x]

6/20/2011 11:58:25 AM

stick with the show

if you skip seasons 2 & 3 you won't appreciate season 4 nearly as much

6/20/2011 12:04:27 PM

Most people I know who didn't love it had a hard time following the dialogue? Is this the case for you?

6/20/2011 12:15:09 PM

I didn't love it at first either. Might have been because I read all the praise about the series beforehand and my expectations were a little high. I kept on and eventually liked the later seasons more.

6/20/2011 12:35:30 PM

If you liked D'Angelo and Wallace in Season One, I would keep going. Not because they do great things with those two specific characters in later seasons, but because in Season One, those two characters are most indicative of the series' themes IMO.

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 12:39 PM. Reason : s]

6/20/2011 12:38:39 PM

^I did like D'angelo and Wallace. Two of the more memorable scenes for me were D'angelo giving the chess lesson and Wallace prepping the kids for school. I also really liked McNulty and Omar. The characters weren't really the problem, I just didn't find the general story very interesting. I guess I'll keep going though.

^^I think that's my problem too. My expectations were way too high.


[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 12:51 PM. Reason : ^^]

6/20/2011 12:43:59 PM

what's most interesting to me about the show is that Season 1 is loosely based on a real person, "Little" Melvin Williams. he is one of the most intelligent people around, he just happened to choose gambling, then drug dealing as a way of making money.

the code used, that Prez broke, was initiated by Melvin Williams when he was running shit in Baltimore. there is an "American Gangster" episode on Williams. if you can ever catch it, i highly recommend it.

what was even more fascinating to me was that my grandfather was a beat cop in the area that Melvin Williams began to gamble. also, parts of my old neighborhood appear on the show frequently. and in Season 4, my last name appears on a plaque in a background shot. it's a very unique name, and my grandfather and two of his brothers worked in the Western District so i imagine that's why they used the name. the first name is fictitious, but the last name cannot be made up.

outside of all this, i would recommend continuing watching the show. it shows, in a very realistic way, life from the bottom of the barrel to the mayor's office in a city setting. granted some people may not care for that kind of thing, but the writing is superb, and the character development is masterful.

6/20/2011 3:29:25 PM

I re-watched Season 1 this past weekend

For some reason my first disc of season 2 is all fucked up though...the 2 episodes play fine, but HBO's preview/advertising title/chapter data is all fucked up and I have to be lucky for the disc to read, let alone get through the previews

but once it gets to the Title Menu, everything is fine, I dunno, must be from a bad batch of discs

8/8/2011 7:44:16 PM

I didn't really get into it until Season 2. After that I kind of got it and saw parallels everywhere in life. Especially the juking the stats theme. You see that everywhere in private and public sector as a way to pretend like work is being done by using analytics. It's the bread and butter of MBAs.

8/8/2011 8:42:13 PM

no fingerprints, no face

tried thinking of my favorite lines from each season, i know S2 is "I'm not even Greek" and S5 is "that was for Joe" but can't figure out the others as easily

8/8/2011 8:55:05 PM

Quote :

"The characters weren't really the problem, I just didn't find the general story very interesting."

You didn't find the take down of a sophisticated criminal organization by a ragtag bunch of bumbling morons and drunks and a lone, shotgun wielding antihero to be entertaining? I see. Maybe this is more your level:

http://www.everybodylovesray.com/

8/8/2011 8:58:47 PM

i let a friend borrow the box set from me a few weeks back, and i've been watching a few here and there with him.

now i'm pissed he has it, because i want to watch them all again. it stoked the fire of my Wire interest.

8/8/2011 9:01:01 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qulcqNMHVic

8/8/2011 9:03:47 PM

Quote :

"what's most interesting to me about the show is that Season 1 is loosely based on a real person, "Little" Melvin Williams. he is one of the most intelligent people around, he just happened to choose gambling, then drug dealing as a way of making money. the code used, that Prez broke, was initiated by Melvin Williams when he was running shit in Baltimore. there is an "American Gangster" episode on Williams. if you can ever catch it, i highly recommend it."

maybe you already knew this, but i feel like you would have mentioned it in discussing him in the show, but he played the Deacon that gives Cutty the old boxing gym to fix up/run as a community center.

8/8/2011 9:05:02 PM

yeah, just didn't mention it for whatever reason

David Simon said Williams was such a perfectionist that after takes, even if everyone loved it, Williams would say, "No, we need another take. I can do better."

8/8/2011 9:06:46 PM

bump comin'

2/21/2012 3:29:37 PM

An interesting read:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/in-dc-a-real-life-drug-investigation-straight-out-of-the-wire/2012/02/03/gIQAr6yYER_story.html

2/21/2012 3:30:50 PM

fuckin GPS's

also i'm having a helluva time finding pics of any of the main dudes

2/21/2012 3:49:27 PM

my favorite part about the wire is how Wallace died in the projects and then somehow became senior class president and got super powers from touching some alien underground thing

2/21/2012 9:25:36 PM

i like how Michael went from big brother to Omar to Luke Skywalker

2/21/2012 9:37:05 PM

^^He also became the star QB of the Dillon Panthers and led them to a state title.

[Edited on February 21, 2012 at 9:38 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2012 9:38:09 PM

^ that's a really uplifting story

2/21/2012 9:49:12 PM

according to my g/f, michael is making sick beats in beverly hills and randy is living in suburbia

somehow michael is in college and randy is still in high school, he must have been held back for selling candy in the cafeteria

also, there friends are now 100% white.

2/21/2012 10:18:26 PM

Michael time traveled and is now one of the Tuskegee airmen.

2/22/2012 8:49:28 AM

randy wagstaff looks weird on Suburgatory

2/22/2012 8:55:25 AM

^^he must have gotten tired of all the white people

2/22/2012 3:04:46 PM

Quote :

"^^He also became the star QB of the Dillon Panthers and led them to a state title."

false, he became the star QB of the East Dillon Lions and let them to a state title. We'll never know if he lead them to a title under the Dillon Panthers.

2/22/2012 3:36:51 PM

im watchin this shit for the second time. its even better this time. man, this is my favorite show of all time. *drops mic* smh. im just a humble motherfucker with a big ass dick. well, i aint that humble. the second season is a lot better than i originally thought.

im rambling. but for real who's your favorite character? Omar is an easy choice for sure. but mcnutty is fucking spot on too. LT daniels is awesome, i mean fuck, thats what's so great about the wire, you're forced to like all of the characters. shit, i even like prez.

/ramble

[Edited on March 31, 2012 at 3:47 AM. Reason : how bout in the second season when mcnutty rams his car into the pilon, re exams it, and tries again]

3/31/2012 3:45:46 AM

Not sure about favorite, but I think Bodie is probably one of the most interesting characters.

3/31/2012 5:28:20 AM

So why the hell hasn't HBO released this on Blu-ray yet?

I want to watch the series again, but no way in hell i'm shelling out for the DVDs.

3/31/2012 8:55:15 AM

I'm finally getting around to watching this, I'm about halfway through season 2. I'm enjoying it so far, but not exactly seeing where all the "greatest show ever" talk is coming from.

Favorite part so far is mcnultty and bunks reexamination of the old murder scene in season 1 that consisted soley of fucks. Took me a minute to realize what was going on, then could not stop laughing, it was fucking epic. My other favorite part so far was the story in the opening of the pilot episode about how they let the kid come to the dice game knowing he was gonna run with the money every time, because this is America.

I fucking hate Ziggy.

3/31/2012 10:55:53 AM

^^ David Simon has said multiple times this will NEVER happen. The Wire was purposely filmed with lower resolution cameras to give it a "gritty" feel. HD would ruin that

3/31/2012 12:25:04 PM

^^ just go watch two and a half men.

3/31/2012 12:28:54 PM

The whole series is on HBOGo.

I plan on checking it out after I'm caught up on Game of Thrones.

3/31/2012 12:30:35 PM

favorite character from the whole show is Dukie Weems, not kidding at all...took season 4 to a whole 'nother level

3/31/2012 12:44:01 PM

i keep trying to watch this, but i get bored...i'm only on the 4th or 5th episode of season 1, though

3/31/2012 6:33:45 PM

if you're bored at that point it's probably because there's something wrong with you more so than the show itself. sorry.

3/31/2012 9:42:34 PM

well, obviously...can't possibly be that the show is over-hyped

3/31/2012 10:03:29 PM

first few episodes are basically character/show/theme development

i could see how it could start slow because there is so much to absorb

dunno many people who've seen all 5 seasons and would call it over-hyped though

3/31/2012 10:05:54 PM

Yeah a show that's been off air for 4 years and still gets new threads is not over hyped. Still possible its not for everyone though.

3/31/2012 10:13:04 PM

After I pressed submit I turned the page in my criminal procedure book and there's an excerpt from david Simon's 1991 book. The narrator calls you, the criminal, bunky several times.

3/31/2012 10:27:51 PM

Quote :

"well, obviously...can't possibly be that the show is over-hyped"

i hate to succumb to the whole "someone expressing an idea that is contrary to popular belief about the way a thing is must be trolling" train of thought, but it's really difficult to come to any other sort of conclusion after someone has watched 5 episodes of season 1 of the wire and still doesn't understand what the big deal is. by that point you're almost halfway through the season, and things have already started to pick up. i could see someone saying that after watching season 2 out of context, but not season 1. as silly as it may sound, there's enough substance in the show that there are college courses based on it.

[Edited on March 31, 2012 at 10:59 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2012 10:57:35 PM

Quote :

"just go watch two and a half men."

4/1/2012 8:03:18 AM

"just go watch two and a half men."

4/1/2012 11:27:42 AM

Where the boy String? Where's Wallace?

4/1/2012 11:29:54 AM

Quote :

"Okay, so I finally decided to watch this show. I finished season 1, and I liked it. But unfortunately I didn't LOVE it (I realize I'm in the minority here). But knowing this, would you still recommend I continue to watch it? I just feel like, if I didn't get hooked after one season, its kinda hopeless for me to keep going."

Since you at least liked it, I'd give it some more time just for the fact that the first season isn't always a good example of the potential/best of a show.

Quote :

"dunno many people who've seen all 5 seasons and would call it over-hyped though"

The flip side to that is that anyone who watched all 5 season probably thought it was really good or they wouldn't have devoted the time to it; so of course they wouldn't think it was over-hyped.

I think there is also something about experiencing something as the hype builds (or at least with no hype) vs well after the hype is established. A lot of people know now that The Wire is supposedly one of the best shows of all time. That's going to set the expectations extremely high for some people.

[Edited on April 1, 2012 at 11:35 AM. Reason : .]

4/1/2012 11:32:53 AM

Quote :

"i keep trying to watch this, but i get bored...i'm only on the 4th or 5th episode of season 1, though"

It took me until the later episodes in Season 1 to really get it and after that I was hooked. The show does a lot to show modern inner city life in an objective light. It's also got a lot of themes that bleed out into the modern working world, like using stats to show you're making progress on a project when the stats used aren't a good model for accurately defining progress.

Here's an interview from David Simon: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/watch.html

[Edited on April 1, 2012 at 12:13 PM. Reason : a]

4/1/2012 12:11:21 PM

I think episode 9 or 10 of season one is where I became hooked.

If you don't like The Wire, then i can not respect you as a person.

4/1/2012 4:04:43 PM

If you don't like the wire then i can not respect you as a person

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

4/1/2012 7:13:04 PM