OK, Let's talk about it.

The Wire. Best. TV. Show. Ever.

Those who I talk to every day can't get it out of the heads. That's because I insist that they watch it immediately. Of course, the bludgeoning method rarely works. In fact, it only turns people away (think of the parent cramming into the child's head what not to do, and the child doing it). People would rather become addicted to something organically, without verbal coercion.

But I digress.

This show, set in Baltimore, MD profiles life. Not buttered up, sensationalized, dramatized, made for TV life. Real life. There isn't a element of life that isn't showcased in this show.

Drug dealers, you got it.

A look into the life of a drug addict, yep.

Politics, uh-huh.

Clandestine trysts. Flawed school systems. Reformed criminals. Police department agendas. Gentrification. Corrupt journalists. Corrupt politicians (a tautologous phrase, huh?). Comedic scenes with the fellas. The ubiquitous sex scenes. All there.

Shoot, there's even lesbian love-making and two guys kissing in the show.

Pause...this is where I draw the line and ruin the spoiler. That's how I know the show is great: two of my favorite characters are gay thugs, one being a woman and the other a guy. And this doesn't affect my affinity for the show one iota.

But yet, this show boasts a declining viewership. HBO has picked this up for the fifth and final season (currently it is on episode five). Many question how, being that this is no Entourage, Sopranos, or even Sex and the City in terms of fan base. In retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised though, given the length of time it took for me to become attuned to this creation.

The Wire, Season One, began in 2002. I didn't start watching Episode One until late December 2007. I tried it out after persistent prodding by the uncle - and his putting up the dollars for the rentals. How good can it be? I shouldn't have asked myself that question. I watched four seasons in under two weeks. That's fifty plus episodes. That's complete addiction.

That's the start of many hour-long conversations discussing the unpredictability and volatility of it all.

That's a lot of time allocated towards my world education (yes, I consider this show a documentary. Nobody can convince me otherwise) that I could spend towards something else, like playing NBA 2K8 or reading some autobiographical novel or hang gliding or lifting up some mope on facebook.

That's one more fanatic for the depleted spectator-ship this show claims.

That's the reason that I have updated this blog.


-IV