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It's tortuous, dark and utterly gripping. As cult series The Wire hits mainstream TV, here's how you can be in the know about Barack Obama's favourite show...
A slow-burning cult hit, The Wire has proved as addictive as the crack cocaine sold by its protagonists. Ostensibly a tale of Baltimore cops trying to trap drug lords with wiretaps, the show is in fact a mammoth exposé of American society. It has everything: action, betrayal, comedy, romance, lesbian parenting - all viewed through a prism of jet-black cynicism. Variety claimed that when the history of TV is written "little else will rival The Wire". Entertainment Weekly calls it simply "the best series on TV, period".
Yet the show drew modest audiences of around four million when it first aired on HBO in America between 2002 and 2007, and just 70,000 on the FX Channel in the UK. This is because the very density of the drama and the authenticity of the profane street-slang dialogue demands total dedication.
All five series' box sets remain in Amazon's Top 50 list. Once bought, each is passed around like a Bible in a communist country (my own are in demand from at least eight gangs of Wire-hungry friends).
Thanks to this groundswell of cultish mania, the first episode drew 600,000 viewers when it finally aired on terrestrial TV here last week, despite being on BBC2 at 11.20 on a Monday night. But what, really, is it about The Wire? For those not already in the know, here is a user's guide.
1. It's the creation of David Simon, a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, and based on two books he wrote after spending a year shadowing the city's police. His co-producer, Edward Burns, is a former cop and schoolteacher.
2. The entire, five-season arc of the story was planned from the start, like the Harry Potter books. Each branches off from the central police story to explore different aspects of Baltimore (and American) life - drug-dealing, manual labour and unions, politics, education and the media.
3. The moral tone is grey. Our main cop hero McNulty is a drunken philanderer and the cops are often as corrupt as the politicians and the crooks.
4. It's not for the casual viewer, thanks to the elaborate interlocking plot and often impenetrable dialogue. David Simon said he wanted audiences glued to the screens, working hard to work out what's going on. Miss an episode, even take a phone call, and you're lost.
5. Nor is it for the faint-hearted. The N-word, the C-word and the M-F-word are liberally sprinkled throughout, and the dialogue for one crime-reconstruction scene features two characters saying "fuck" 37 times. There are many brutal killings, too.
6. Glossary: a "corner" and a "tower" are a street corner or housing project assigned to a drug dealer as his turf by a drug lord. A "burner" is a disposable cellphone used to make deals, and to "re-up" is to replenish the drug supply. "Cheese" is money, "suction" is influence and a "title III" is the wiretap from which the series takes its name.
7. A prominent chunk of the apparently all-American cast is British or Irish. Dominic West (Detective McNulty) went to Eton, Idris Elba (drug lord Stringer Bell) grew up in Hackney and Aidan Gillen (Councilman Tommy Carcetti) is from Dublin.
8. Another prominent chunk of the cast is made up of real-life Baltimore cops, criminals and politicians. One character had to be written out while the politico playing him went to jail for fraud.
9. Barack Obama cites The Wire as his favourite TV show, and the shotgun-toting, scar-faced, gay hijacker of drug-dealers, Omar, as his favourite character.
10. There are more than 500 Facebook groups dedicated to the show and 100-plus videos from it posted on YouTube, including an outrageously elongated edit of the character Clay Davis's favourite exclamation, "sheee-it".
Reader views (15)
It's a well known trick by authors to assert they have an entire saga already in mind so they're more likely to get contracted to do sequels and higher fees for the work overall as they're essentially offering publishers/distributors the chance to buy into a potential big new intellectual property rather than simply trying to sell a small self contained story. These days it's all about the merchandising rights, something you're much more likely to make money on from an ongoing saga to simply a single book/series where the author may simply say after it's run "That's it I'm not doing anything more with these characters, I'm off to do something new".
- James, Milton Keynes
Let's not forget the great acting from Hackney home-grown Idris Elba of American Gangster fame.
- Albe,, LONDON
I watched this from inception on HBO.
It is, in my view, the finest TV series I have ever seen in my time in the US (1977 onwards).
Everything stated in the article is true. And it reflects life in Baltimore!
My second and third choices (on Network TV) are Hill Street Blues and China Beach.
Deadwood was the best HBO series although many liked The Sopranos and Six Feet under.
- Minnie Ovens, London UK and Boston Mass, USAV
Having watched the first four episodes I thought that perhaps I was missing something until I discussed The Wire with a few friends.
Our general consensus was that it was dull, tedious & boring. The conversation and the street slang of the druggies was almost impossible to understand. It may be a slow burner but as far as I can tell it just appears to be a dull glow. Maybe it is just too realistic and is nothing more than a docudrama.
Not sure I will stick with it.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Maybe some people enjoy the wire, to others they do not like it, respect their opinions. There is no need to get nasty on a person if they dislike the show
- Kate, London
I am giving it a fair chance but I do not think it is anywhere as good, paced, acted and written as
'THE SHIELD' I beleive 'The Shield' to be the best thing on TV ever! Watch 2 episodes and you will be hooked.
- Doug, West malling UK
Carol, I suggest you stick to watching The Vicar of Dibley. That seems more up your street. How can the characters in The Wire be both: 'dull and interesting'? If you do not understand what the characters are saying, maybe it is time to buy an ear trumpet and a dictionary.
- David N, London
Dull and interesting eh Carol did you actually understand what they were saying? Maybe you should stick to watching things like Katie Price and Andre or Coleen's Real Women is more your thing? Personally I loved it once I switched on the subtitles so that I could understand what they were talking about
- Lorraine, London
It takes some dedication but after about episode 5 I was totally hooked. I knew all the characters and was learning how the baltimore drug lords worked. Facsinating if not for the insight it gives you in to the corruption of the so called 'good guys'. Carol, as you're from essex I can understand why if it isn't an instant and predictable storey arc with easy dialogue and fantasy style characters a la 24 or others, then you would have trouble with it. maybe you should just stick to eastenders...
- Ag, London Village
Totally agree with Carol from essex, found the programme boring
By the way Barack Obama also like Mad Men so why do not go and on and on about that show
- Jim, London
The comments from Carol and Robert are excellent and hit the point exactly...The Wire requires effort from the viewer. There are several plot lines going on at once, the dialogue is difficult to follow and the characters are complex -they don't fit the standard Hollywood moulds. As a true fan, I love the fact there are a plenty of people who just don't get it........whilst the critics and people like Obama share my opinion..
one thing that I would say to any new viewer, is that it requires giving it some time and effort. 11.20 pm is too late and the best way to watch it is on DVD ...
- Martin_Clerkenwell, london
Thanks a lot for your input Carol from Esssex.
If there any other award-winning, hugely popular TV shows that you personally don't like then please list them here - I'm sure TV schedulers will take them off the air just so you don't accidentally flip channels to briefly view them.
- Waldopepper, London
I have watched 12 out of 13 episodes of Series One of The Wire on DVD (I plan to watch the last episode tonight) and I can honestly say it is the most gripping TV series I've ever had the pleasure of watching. It is totally addictive. The characters are multi-faceted and not at all clichéd and the plot and events are very realistic. This is not your average made-for-the-ignorant-masses US drama. It is clever, shocking, sometimes funny, often brutal and never less than brilliant. The acting is phenomenal. Everyone should watch it!
- Shelley, London
I watched The Wire for the first time last week and I just cannot see what people rave about. It's boring, the characters are dull and interesting. Who needs a guide to whats being said when what they are saying is so mundane. Please take it off our screens as soon as possible.
- Carol, Esssex, Grays, UK
It's tedious repetitive and very boring.13 episodes of much the same thing with a very drawn out plot and very hackneyed characters. The dialog is mostly not understandable and who needs to have to read a guide to understand what's being said or have to switch on subtitles. OK it's the best thing since sliced bread for a lot of viewers but certainly not for me.
- Robert Thornton, malaga spain
