THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

The Wire is awesome. Best show over.

But I think the gangsters’ comments on that blog are remarkably dumb. I don’t know why people love that so much.

OMG gangsters watch The Wire.

One of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and it also has my favorite character in any show ever (Omar Little).

I would agree that it’s a little bit difficult to get into early in the first season, but I’ve felt that way about a lot of shows (Deadwood is my prime example).

Interestingly enough, Richard Belzer had a cameo in the latest episode. Although he wasn’t named, context clues suggest he was playing his Detective John Munch character. This is now the 7th series in which he’s played that character. I think that’s a record.

7th?

Homicide, L&O, SVU, Wire .... where else?

By far the best show on tv.

JD, I thought season 1 was a masterpiece and the best season so far.

Tango,

According to imdb: Became the third person to play the same character in six different prime-time TV series, playing Detective John Munch in “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993) (originating series), “Law & Order” (1990) (crossover), “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” (2005)_ (crossover), “X Files, The” (1993)_ (crossover), “The Beat” (2000) (guest appearance in the short-lived UPN series), and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999).

Navs,

I think I agree that the first was the best, but it took me a couple episodes to really get into it. It’s a show with a lot of different characters, and just about all of them are very flawed (and some of the most flawed also have the most likable qualities). I think no clear good guy means it takes a couple episodes to really understand what the show is all about.

Without spoiling for those who haven’t watched, The Wire also has my favorite death scene ever (season 3, episode 12). It was executed perfectly.

Put me down for Homicide, too.  You have to ignore the flawed last few seasons, and the occasional clunkers, but on the whole, it was a real shooting star.  The Wire is more consistent.  It doesn’t blow it as much—but that’s because, on the whole, it doesn’t risk as much.

As for David Simon, I might be the only person I know who read his pre-Homicide-the-book article in porn-funded-my-son’s-vanity-rag Spin magazine back when.  I was in high school in Oakland at the time, back when the death rate for young black men in town was higher than the death rate in Beirut, then an actual war zone.  I liked his article.  Baltimore sounded a little like Oakland—maligned, troubled, but basically a good town.

I’m pleased he made a career, and some pretty good art, out of his experiences there.

Venkatesh’s blog entries are fantastic - if you like them, his other work (_American Project_, _Off the Books_, and most recently, the less scholarly _Gangster for a Day_) are highly recommended.  At the least, (re-)read the portions of Freakonomics that discuss his work.  Just great stuff.

Simon’s Baltimore is a fantastic study - but I’m not sure if he’d agree it is basically a “good town” any more than any of the characters in the story are basically good.  Everything and everyone is flawed.

Much better show than Homicide, to me - in large part b/c the characters and the actors are so good, and, prior to this season, the pace and arc were just perfect.  (This season may be the worst - good stories, but way too rushed.)

If you want more flavor for Baltimore and its character(s), Laura Lippman (Simon’s wife) puts out a fun set of detective novels that are not as good nor as complicated as the wire, but entertaining train-ride-to-work books.

Homicide: The only really bad storyline was the metaphorical castration of Frank Pembleton.  And the last season, without Braugher, was definitely weak.

The best single episode was the one with Vincent D’Onofrio trapped between a subway and platform.  Brilliant stuff.

The best villain perhaps in all of TV was Mahoney.  Though Sonny Steelgrave and Mel Profitt (in Wiseguy) were superb villains too.

What Homicide has over The Wire (and I’ve only seen season 5) is a real climax in each episode, a real central character to care for (Pembleton, Giardello, or Bayliss).  Even The Sopranos made you care about the most horrible of the characters (Tony).  The Wire?  Nothing like that.  Basically, it’s too much like real life.

I’m finally a convert.  It took a while.

When I first saw Wiseguy, I was hooked immediately.  I was lucky that a friend of mine had taped the whole season arc with Sonny Steelgrave, that after the first episode, I couldn’t stop watching to the 2nd episode, then 3rd, until I saw the whole thing in one day.  Even though after the first few episodes I would tell my sisters (who were watching with it, now and then with me that day), “this is the last one for today!”.  But, I couldn’t stop.

The same thing with The Sopranos.  I was hooked on the very first one I saw (Tony driving Meadow for schools).  And HBO was playing two of them back-to-back every Sunday as a catchup.  So, that’s what I did.

Homicide also hooked me right away.

But, The Wire was different.  It took a while.  I was watching it on and off for several weeks now, starting with the reruns of Season 4, with the schools and the kids, and that slimy politician running for office.  The series is very well done, but, there’s no hook.  Last night, I finally got the hook.  Next Sunday is the series finale, so I definitely got the hook late. 

The one thing that I cannot stand was that female cop snitching.  The difference between what she did and what the other cop who went after Tony was, was that he offered Tony a chance, and that he would back his play to a point.  Tony wanted no part of it.  With that female cop, all she said is “You can’t do this!”.  No attempt to get it resolved, no nothing.  Just a mother hen.  The cops did what they did because the politicians held back all the money to pay the cops.  Her?  She bent over.

In Homicide, there was a similar situation, where a cop took down (murdered) the kingpin (the best kingpin ever!).  He had two other cops who sort of backed him up, as they were witnesses.  The female cop with him (why are the women always the good cops?) had a problem, but she kept her mouth shut.  That’s the way it would really happen.  But, it was only after an investigation was started that things started coming out (she was like Andy Pettitte).  And the murdering cop finally confessed (and he really wanted to). (Almost like Roger Clemens you would hope.) Brilliant episode.

In The Wire, it didn’t happen like this at all.  But, it does provide the setup for next week.  So, it better be good, because I didn’t like the way she went about it.  I can’t believe we’ll be able to get a decent resolution, since there’s only one episode left.

The rest of the episode was great, and you were reaching the same climax as the lead wiretapping investigator.  Him, and Bunk, were the guys that the show should have centered more around.  That’s why I wasn’t hooked, but am now.

Cool interview with David Simon:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114438

I agree with his “pretty white girls” line.  I say it to my wife all the time. 

She’ll say: “Did you hear about the kidnapping?”

And I’ll say: “Was she young, white and pretty?”

She responds: “So you heard about it?”

Me: “No.”

Just more of the media bias.

Recap of the finale:
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/03/sepinwall_on_tv_the_wire_ends.html

http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/03/the_wire_30_farewell_to_baltim.html

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Interview with David Simon:
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/03/the_wire_david_simon_q_a.html

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“Sheet”:
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/03/the_wire_the_secret_origin_of.html

A couple of other articles (haven’t read these yet):
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?printable=true

http://www.cjr.org/cover_story/secrets_of_the_city.php?page=all