Slog - Comments on Obama Loves the Wire; I Now Love Obama

Comment by brandon

brandon — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:00:14 -0800

odd... they just re-ran an old interview with the show's creator on NPR today. i'd never heard of it before.

Comment by thehim

thehim — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:04:06 -0800

I also heard that McCain claimed to be a fan of the show as well. I have a hunch that a candidate saying he likes The Wire is almost an attempt to use code to say, "We understand the drug war is a disaster but can't say it out loud, so we'll just say we like The Wire and maybe that'll be enough".

Comment by N in Seattle

N in Seattle — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:05:19 -0800

How does it compare with the other Baltimore-as-hell TV series, the wondrous Homicide: Life on the Street?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:08:06 -0800

Good thing that President Gore likes Pushing Daisies ...

Comment by Jonathan Golob

Jonathan Golob — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:09:57 -0800

Having watched every episode of both series: Homicide was great. The Wire is exemplary.

Imagine Homicide, but without the limits of an episodic format and network censors and a gradually building scope.

I cannot wait for Season 5.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:13:25 -0800

Does Romney have any opinion re: Big Love?

Comment by SeMe

SeMe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:13:58 -0800

The Wire is the best thing ever put on TV.

Comment by Tony D.

Tony D. — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:16:47 -0800

It's better than H:LOTS. Having worked in Balmer for a while it's really fun to watch. Just a great show with many layers of goodness.

Comment by Fire F. Ly

Fire F. Ly — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:23:01 -0800

FYI, "Firefly" is objectively the best television show ever.

Comment by Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:31:06 -0800

I'm a big Firefly fan, but nothing comes close to The Wire.

The clincher is a scene in season one where McNulty and Bunk investigate an entire crime scene, and work out what happened with perfect communication, using only the word fuck. That may be the best scene ever filmed for TV.

Comment by Lis

Lis — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:38:28 -0800

Wow, that's almost enough to change my change my vote. A Law and Order rerun is a fine enough way to spend an hour when nothing else is on. Grey's Anatomy, I have never watched and have no desire to see, despite the fact that I went to high school with T.R. Knight. But, The Wire - I agree it is probably the best show ever made. I can't say it's my personal favorite - I would probably save that for The Simpsons, Arrested Development, or even Buffy, but The Wire is almost perfectly made. Plus, mmmm... Stringer Bell... (drools).

Comment by matthew e

matthew e — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:51:47 -0800

@3 Maybe you're already aware, but David Simon, creator of The Wire, wrote the book on which Homicide was based and was also a writer and producer on that show.

@10 Agreed. Best. Scene. Ever.

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:58:22 -0800

after hearing so much about the wire, i finally netflixed the first DVD. i found the writing (dialog) substandard and the characters unbelievable.

nothing compared to the sopranos, and i certainly like the simpsons, seinfeld and L&O better.

Comment by SeMe

SeMe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:03:25 -0800

nah, i think the best Wire scene is the season 4 opener, when Snoop is shopping for a nail gun so her and Chris can seal up the corpses.

" Yeah, I got u, the kick back."

Comment by IMAdrgQ

IMAdrgQ — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:20:55 -0800

Oh that's a good reason to vote for Bareback Osama... er Barak Osama... um Bareback Obama- Oh Fu*k IT!

Comment by Poi

Poi — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:49:46 -0800

He likes those HBO shows. He was introduced by Jeremy Piven and said he watched Entourage in Chicago.

Comment by Harker

Harker — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:40:06 -0800

I want to be Omar when I grow up. in the meantime, voting for Obama will suffice.

Comment by douglas

douglas — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:54:53 -0800

i never saw homicide:life on the streets, and i'm sure it was very good but i must say that any show about police or crime that does not include the word fuck is ridiculous. it's like having a show about space explorers who never say the word star. that is one of the reasons why the wire is the best crime drama of all time.

and to the commenter who thought the characters were unbelievable, you should know that most of the main characters are composites of real baltimore people, omar is particularly interesting in this regard.

Comment by seadevi

seadevi — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:47:06 -0800

HBO has been running all previous seasons on demand in preparation for the 5th & final season - coming 1/8/08. I blogged about Obama and the Wire here: http://chtriangle.blogspot.com/2007/11/re-up-on-wire.html