In A Perfect World, We'd All Be Watching 'The Wire'

When I watch good television, do you know what I do the next day?

Well, since you asked...

I spend my morning going to my favorite television-related sites and blogs like TV Squad, EW's TV Watch and Chicago Tribune's The Watcher to read what they thought about last night's episode.

I do it with Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Veronica Mars...

I especially do it with The Wire.

It's such a moving, powerful and incredibly bleak show that I love reading a variety of opinions about it.

But I also find it frustrating because EVERYONE isn't talking about it.

"...after watching the season finale of "The Wire" this week, I wrote up an extended rant about the show and how much it means to me -- both as a writer and a human being -- and how I believe it's the most important show of my lifetime, how I can't remember being more attached to four TV characters than the four school kids from Season 4, how I simply can't fathom why more people wouldn't give it a chance ... but it ended up sounding too preachy, so I'm just going to say that it's my favorite TV show of all-time and leave it at that. Name another show that could peak during a season in which its best character (McNulty) basically disappeared for 12 of the 13 episodes?"
-- Bill Simmons, "The Sports Guy" at ESPN.com

TV Guide, whose columnists recognize, don't cover it in their daily TV recap page, The Watercooler, but cover pretty much every other garbage show this side of reality.

I don't know anyone who could watch one season of this show and not think it was one of the top five dramas they have seen in their lifetime.

It's not immediately gratifying like most dramas. It's like reading a perfect novel. Each episode is a chapter. Some chapters are more exciting than other. Some chapters are quiet but give hints and clues of things that are lurking in the background waiting to make their way to the front. But all of the chapters serve a purpose. When you get to the end, you won't be happy because the world is not a happy place but you will be glad you read the book and will look forward to the next in the series.

It's frustrating that America doesn't watch it and it doesn't win Emmys because of it's predominantly African-American cast and it's urban setting. I find that argument laughable because apparently America can identify with a bunch of amoral mobsters because despite their nature, we find their Italian accents entertaining. Unlike Law & Order, The Wire is the real "ripped from the headlines" television drama. I don't even like when people refer to it as a "cop drama" anymore because it's really a societal drama. It's a show about the breakdowns of society at every level - politically, socially, scholastically, etc.

I'm going to keep trying to convince people to watch this show but I know for the most part, it's for naught.

Fuck it, I'm not going to give up. Join Netflix and put the first three seasons at the top of your Netflix queue right now!

Update: Here's an great interview with David Simon, the co-creator from Slate.