The Wire

[Findog]

Okay, so who was the best police in the show?

Landsman said it was McNulty at the "wake", and he's got a point. But I think the baddest-ass cop of the bunch was Freamon.

Greggs, Bunk, and Daniels all had their moments, too.

I would say Bunk because he was just as much the investigator that Freamon and McNulty was, but he retained his honor.

[Spurminator]

Daniels ended up being my favorite towards the middle of Season 5, and the finale clinched it for me.

[ShoogarBear]

I would say Bunk because he was just as much the investigator that Freamon and McNulty was, but he retained his honor.

Yeah, but at the end even Bunk dipped into McNulty's dirty money to close his case. Kima was the only one who stayed pure throughout. She even told Freamon and McNulty she was the one who turned them in.

[Mark in Austin]

The last season was originally supposed to be 13 episodes, but HBO shortened the order to 10. I think that is why it felt rushed - especially the Clay Davis/money trail storyline.

The only thing I would change is when McNulty stops the car and gets out to look at the city at the end, they should have used the same music they used in the montage at the end of season one.

Deadwood was killed because the same team came up with John from Cincinnati and HBO liked that POS better.

[Spurminator]

The last season was originally supposed to be 13 episodes, but HBO shortened the order to 10. I think that is why it felt rushed - especially the Clay Davis/money trail storyline.

Actually, according to David Simon...

I've heard people speculating, and the truth is, when HBO said to me, "Can you do it in eight episodes?" early on in the season, I said, "No, there's no way to accomplish what we want to do in eight." I knew I didn't need 13. We had become a 12-episode show except for season four, and the only reason season four had a 13th episode was because we had to fill in some of the political backstory. Originally, we intended to play the election as a separate political piece between seasons three and four; that was not approved, so we needed to squeeze a little more politics into the season-four story, in terms of the election and the run-up to the election. So we were looking at 12. I said "I can't do eight," and they said, "Can you try to beat it out in 10?" I said I'd try, and they said if it didn't work, it didn't work. So we started beating it out in 10, and it became clear that it could work. Ultimately, it came pretty close to working, but halfway through the season, I realized we were backing up a little bit, and I asked for an extra half-hour on the last one. It's a 90-minute episode. If I had needed an extra hour, I'm fairly convinced I could've asked [HBO President] Carolyn Strauss for it, and if I needed an extra two, I think I could've gotten it at that point.

I made a good-faith commitment to try to do it in 10. There's obviously limited production budget at any studio, and they also happened to have given me seven hours of an Iraq miniseries [the upcoming Generation Kill] in the same year. There's a lot of priority going around. There are a lot of other priorities that have nothing to do with me. If I'd needed the 12, I think I could have gotten the 12. If I had had the extra, would I have used it on the main story that you see? Probably not. We had what we needed of those stories.

I wouldn't have done more of the major plotlines. There would have been more of… With another half-hour, I probably could have managed to run Cutty's story through… That's the stuff that we had to make a choice about. Part of that was, "Should we run a Cutty story, or has he reached that point of redemption that is appropriate for the character, and is there more to say about Cutty? Or is he at the place he should be at the end of this run? And is Prez at the place he should be?" That was the other story. We decided we'd said what we needed to about those characters and about those environments, and that we were gilding the lily. If we had been insistent about extending the story to all of the limbs of the tree, so to speak, I don't think HBO would have denied us. I've read a lot of angst over, "HBO didn't give him enough time, and it felt rushed." I think people thought it felt rushed because everybody knew it was the last 10! Every single episode, everyone realized, "They can only do this. They're not going to have room for that. I want them to do this, I want to see more of this guy. I want to see the kids more." That's my guess. Maybe it felt rushed because it was rushed, but we didn't feel that pressure when we were beating it out.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/david_simon

Good interview. There's also an interview with Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar) on the same site.

The only thing that felt rushed to me was Kima's confession and McNulty and Freamon's acceptance of it... Even if they had come to feel they were wrong, I still think there would be a little more discomfort with it. But that's a very minor quibble.

[Ginofan]

The last season was originally supposed to be 13 episodes, but HBO shortened the order to 10. I think that is why it felt rushed - especially the Clay Davis/money trail storyline.

The only thing I would change is when McNulty stops the car and gets out to look at the city at the end, they should have used the same music they used in the montage at the end of season one.

Deadwood was killed because the same team came up with John from Cincinnati and HBO liked that POS better.

HBO gave the producers the option on how many hours they wanted, and the producers said they'd take 10. Then they realized they needed more and asked for another half hour.

[Ginofan]

Okay, so who was the best police in the show?

Landsman said it was McNulty at the "wake", and he's got a point. But I think the baddest-ass cop of the bunch was Freamon.

Greggs, Bunk, and Daniels all had their moments, too.

McNulty and Bunk's season 1 investigation in that house. The one was awesome. I'd list the 1A and 1B.

[TheTruth]

those last 2 posts should have been me.

[monosylab1k]

WTF ever happened to Deadwood

I don't know what the happened to ing Deadwood, but I think those sucker s made a big goddamn mistake when they decided to can that great ing show.

[Spurminator]

What should I watch next?

Deadwood
Six Feet Under
Battlestar Galactica
or
Jericho?

[ShoogarBear]

McNulty and Bunk's season 1 investigation in that house.

Oh, man, you are a Wire God. That one was terrific, I forgot about that.

I really need to go back and rewatch them all from S01E01.

[Evan]

What should I watch next?

Deadwood
Six Feet Under
Battlestar Galactica
or
Jericho?

IMO...

Six Feet Under
Battle Star
Deadwood

No opinion on Jericho

[monosylab1k]

What should I watch next?

Deadwood
Six Feet Under
Battlestar Galactica
or
Jericho?

Six Feet Under is great. But the gaydar goes off the charts with that show. Not that theres anything wrong with it, but if the gay sex/makeout scenes make you a tad uncomfortable, be prepared for uncomfortableness with just about every episode.

[TheTruth]

If you guys want to get into a show, I'd recommend renting Rescue Me. Very entertaining show.

I'd also recommend Deadwood. Season 1 of that show was off the charts good. Season's 2 and 3 aren't quite up to that level.

[TheTruth]

Oh, man, you are a Wire God. That one was terrific, I forgot about that.

I really need to go back and rewatch them all from S01E01.

Yeah, that scene is probably what turned me from a fan to a believer that it was the best show on tv. Brilliant stuff. CSI can blow me.

[Mark in Austin]

Actually, according to David Simon...




http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/david_simon

Good interview. There's also an interview with Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar) on the same site.

The only thing that felt rushed to me was Kima's confession and McNulty and Freamon's acceptance of it... Even if they had come to feel they were wrong, I still think there would be a little more discomfort with it. But that's a very minor quibble.

Perhaps some of the fine details were wrong in the reports I read, but what happened is fairly similar... HBO wanted to keep it as short as possible, pushing for 8 originally. (plus killing the planned mini-series on the election earlier) Simon is being diplomatic about it, because he has Generation Kill, plus a New Orleans musician show he wants to sell HBO on, so he's not burning any bridges.

I call bull on 10 1/2 episodes being exactly what was needed; and that going over that would have been filler. There isn't a single moment in five seasons of that show that felt like filler, and I have no doubt that anything else written would have further enriched the show and the audience.

[ShoogarBear]

There you go again, giving a when it isn't your turn to give a .

[Spurminator]

If any of you haven't seen The Corner, I recommend it. Lots of the same actors from The Wire... Great opportunity to see Lester as an addict.

[Spurminator]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00123BY6S/...76580_pe_ar_t1

[atxrocker]

just got done rewatching season one again and i'll be goddamned if this isn't the best television show ever.

[Findog]

just got done rewatching season one again and i'll be goddamned if this isn't the best television show ever.

Season One takes a while to get into and really become emotionally involved. I remember hearing all the hype and raving about the Wire. Took me about 5 or 6 episodes before I was sold. I'd rank the seasons this way:

1. Season Three
2. Season One
3. Season Four
4. Season Five
5. Season Two

[atxrocker]

Season One takes a while to get into and really become emotionally involved. I remember hearing all the hype and raving about the Wire. Took me about 5 or 6 episodes before I was sold. I'd rank the seasons this way:

1. Season Three
2. Season One
3. Season Four
4. Season Five
5. Season Two

nice rankings. i'd probably have season 4 as my number one, so it would look like this

1. S4 (this season was simply some of the best i've ever seen in my life)
2. S1
3. S3
4. S5
5. S2

[Findog]

Funny how everybody agrees that Season Two was the worst, and yet, it's better than 90% of the that's on tv.

[atxrocker]

this series delivered. not one season failed.

[Findog]

this series delivered. not one season failed.

Yeah, for all of the dogging on Season Two, it's still gold.

Funny how we can be Wire buddies and talk so much smack in the basketball forums.