FTA-TV The Wire

[Piss Poor]

I was watching the movie, Takers and notice that stringer bell is on it, but his got a British accent, lol.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

He is also in Luther with the British accent.

 

[iDon]

Pretty sure the actor is english.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Elba

 

[flight23]

most things he's in, he's got a British accent

 

[power09]

He is the reason i watched Prometheus

 

[Rod Stroker]

Finally getting around to giving this a look after hearing nothing but good things, I am 3 episodes in and TBH was that unimpressed by the 1st episode was nearly going to leave it there.

Same. Finally gave it a spin now and was underwhelmed after watching the first 4 episodes. When does it get good? I'm finding the plot progression to be too slow.
I heard good things about the show and thought I was missing out on something, but from what I've seen so far it doesn't feel like I've missed much.
As for the writing, it's OK but not brilliant from what I've seen so far.

 

[chargers 09]

Same. Finally gave it a spin now and was underwhelmed after watching the first 4 episodes. When does it get good? I'm finding the plot progression to be too slow.
I heard good things about the show and thought I was missing out on something, but from what I've seen so far it doesn't feel like I've missed much.
As for the writing, it's OK but not brilliant from what I've seen so far.

Be patient and take special note of the characters and try to learn about their history and background.

 

[THRILLHO]

How could you not like it after three episodes? Also, RS I'm sure you're a Deadwood fan so I don't understand the complaints about plot progression. Deadwood's plot barely moved for three seasons. That didn't stop it from being one of the greatest shows of all time.

In the first three episodes there's "the king stay the king", The Game and Omar sticking up the stash house. It's a slow burn sort of show but things start to really motor once the cops get clearance for the taps, Omar shows up and the focus shifts away from The Pit to more of a general perspective of the Barksdale gang.

If you're finding the plot progression to be too slow then this isn't your game. I'm up to episode 11 and loving it. Favourite characters are easily Proposition Joe, Wallace and Bunk. Man, my heart breaks for Wallace. Shit ain't right, yo.

 

[bunsen burner]

A must-read:
http://www.maxim.com/tv/maxim-interrogates-the-makers-and-stars-of-the-wire

Andre Royo: They called me and told me I got the part of Bubbles, and my wife got excited. “Oh, shit! You got the part!” Packing her bag for L.A., and I’m like, “Nah, nah, we filming in Baltimore.” And she unpacked real quickly: “I’ll see you when you come home.”

 

[Caesar]

I do think the Wire is kinda overrated and Homicide:LOTS is underrated. Homicide came first, and did a lot of the common material better IMO.

First 3 seasons of Homicide > the Wire.

The Wire is still great though.

 

[Flawed Genius]

Where the **** is Wallace?

 

[Rod Stroker]

How could you not like it after three episodes? Also, RS I'm sure you're a Deadwood fan so I don't understand the complaints about plot progression. Deadwood's plot barely moved for three seasons. That didn't stop it from being one of the greatest shows of all time.

In the first three episodes there's "the king stay the king", The Game and Omar sticking up the stash house. It's a slow burn sort of show but things start to really motor once the cops get clearance for the taps, Omar shows up and the focus shifts away from The Pit to more of a general perspective of the Barksdale gang.

If you're finding the plot progression to be too slow then this isn't your game. I'm up to episode 11 and loving it. Favourite characters are easily Proposition Joe, Wallace and Bunk. Man, my heart breaks for Wallace. Shit ain't right, yo.

Deadwood is take it or leave it for me. Not one of my favourite shows. I appreciate the set, dialog, attention to detail, but I'm not really a fan of westerns.

The Wire scene with D'Angelo explaining to his gophers how the game of chess works was good, but I can't recall too many other scenes of that quality so far...

 

[Flawed Genius]

What about the chicken nugget scene?

 

[rocker_oz33]

Where the **** is Wallace?

 

[rocker_oz33]

Here's a good fan made video

Very cool vid the last bit my omar was nice touch.

 

[chargers 09]

Very cool vid the last bit my omar was nice touch.

Yeh there's a few good wire tribute videos on youtube.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

I just finished season 4 after only watching the first episode a month or so ago. I cannot believe I never watched this earlier, I still think The Sopranos is the best drama I've seen but shiiiiiiiiiieeeeet this one is pretty damn close. Don't want to read the thread until I've finished season 5 but this is easily one of my favourite shows ever and sits comfortably alongside Sopranos, The Office, Curb & Arrested Development as the best shows of the 00's.

 

[XFactor1979]

Does anyone here watch Treme?

Its got Bunk and Freamon and an African American theme and its another David Simon production

 

[Roobs321]

Treme is criminally underrated. Noone talks about it, no emmy noms in sight. I think it is currently the best show outside Breaking Bad and Mad Men.
Along with Homicide and The Wire, Treme is one of my favourite shows. Yay for David Simon.
Homicide might be my favourite of the bunch, just has a certain 90's feel and you really care for the flawed characters. Not to mention the brilliance of 'the box'. Season 1 especially maintains a ridiculous standard of excellence that the rest of the series cant quite replicate as consistently. That season 1 cast ensemble is amazing.
The Wire is the best across it's entire run. Just unbelievable television. Treme has a similar feel.

 

[THRILLHO]

Didn't realise Treme was a David Simon production. I'll have to slot that in after I finish The Wire and Generation Kill.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Finished season 5 the other day and haven't been able to stop thinking about this show since. I burned through all 5 seasons in about 4 weeks. At first I watched the first few episodes and although it was a slow burn I found myself hooked into wanting to jump to the next ep straight away. I was hooked but couldn't really explain why, there wasn't all that much that had happened storyline wise yet but I couldn't help but feel compelled to keep watching.

Agree season 4 then 3 probably the best but I loved them all really. Even season 2 I was a fan of, maybe because I am Greek I loved that the guys running through the docks were the Greeks (well some of them anyway ) but I loved the union angle as well, the corruption shown by elected officials who put their own greed ahead of supporting workers and the community and the breakdown of the economy this represented which is what leads to the destruction of communities we saw epitomised throughout the rest of the show and particularly is seasons 3 & 4. The Sobotka's were great as well and although Ziggy was a f*** up I couldn't help but feel some empathy for him, he tried but nothing he ever did worked out.

I never thought I'd see another show I loved as much as The Sopranos, I still think that is my favourite of all time but this is only fractionally second if not it's equal. The Wire was a much tighter show overall with the Sopranos probably running a season too long which meant we got some pretty horrible storylines thrown in (like that whole thing with Vito and the fireman in Vermont) but I've always been a sucker for psychology/the subconscious which was the major recurring theme in the Sopranos along with the family/Family conflict and the old guard vs new generation theme with Tony's nostalgia for the past and disdain for the present in constant contrast.

Meanwhile The Wire's recurring themes were the nature of our current society encompassing all aspects from the street to the blue-collar workers to the schools to the cops to city hall to the media. I thought it was absolutely brilliant not only in the way it addressed these things but the way they all intertwined with one another and the way the writers didn't seek to judge the characters like so many other shows will. There was no real black and white here it's all grey and the characters were what they were, products of their environment more than anything. The end where Michael became the new Omar, Dukie the new Bubbles, Sydnor the new McNulty etc didn't just show that while the players change the Game remains the same it showed that reformation within a corrupt system is doomed to failure. It is the system that is rotten and moving some corner boys along is fruitless because there's another 100 waiting to fill the void.

I have watched the Sopranos through about 3-4 times already and I plan on rewatching The Wire a few more times as well. Thinking on it now I have no doubt that The Wire will sit comfortably alongside The Sopranos as the best (drama) shows I have seen with each having separate but equally important and relevant recurring themes.

And my favourite character? Yeah Omar was great but for some reason I just loved Bodie's character and was shattered when he was gunned down. Of the cops I loved both McNulty/Bunk. Two of my favourite quotes were McNulty's "what the f**k did I do?" and Bunk's drunken "pussi" speech - "Jimmy? Where are ya Jimmy?" Tom Waits version of the theme song easily the best also.

 

[flight23]

Brilliant post, top shelf

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Another thing I should add - my fiance hated this show to start with which was due to me watching it constantly as well as the fact that as she was only half paying attention she couldn't follow what was going on and couldn't get a grip on some of the accents and street slang. But at the start of season 4 she was hooked and watched through to the end with me. She was so involved with the characters that when Michael dropped off Dukie with the homeless junkies after dropping Bugg off at his aunties place she started bawling her eyes out. I think it was partly to do with the fact that Dukie reminded her a bit of her younger brother (in that he's a young teenager, pretty quiet, a bit lanky etc) but also when I tried to soothe her saying "it's OK it's only a TV show" she said "but it's real, there's kids out there that this kind of stuff happens to all the time." It is a very powerful show because it doesn't sensationalise or glamourise it just portrays what is in these cities and after learning of the creators' backgrounds I wasn't surprised.

The day after I finished watching there was an article in The Age about young African migrants trapped in a circle of unemployment, poverty, violence and substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) and it just hit home that this kind of stuff isn't just limited to other countries but could spiral out of control here as well if these issues aren't addressed by our politicians and the community at large. It got me thinking what can I do to try and help the situation. I don't know yet and maybe there's nothing I can do but I'm going to keep thinking on it and look up some "charity" or community groups who may need assistance that do some work in these areas.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/how-the-west-was-lost-20120712-21yo1.html

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/african-youths-abandoning-hope-20120712-21yxx.html

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/the-team-too-afraid-to-play-20120712-21yyl.html

 

[rocker_oz33]

I must get back into Treme.

 

[Upton Sinclair]