OFFICIAL THE WIRE THREAD.. ''The game is the game"

[District of Columbia]

Yea I can def agree with that ...although the Wire started to get too convuluted by the end of the show. The Newspaper angle was completely unnecessary

 

[Master Zik]

All great shows but I really wouldn't compare The Wire to The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.

It's one of those rare things that doesn't really have a real good similar counterpart.

 

[slicknick951]

Sopranos GOT and the Wire are all GOAT status to me imo

For me it looks something like this

The GOATS for lack of a better word- Wire , GOT

Clearly better than most -Sopranos

Great shows- Homeland (this one is probably dropping after last season) , Boardwalk empire

Things that I enjoyed but really are not in the same category- entourage , walking dead

 

[dmbrhs]

Yea I can def agree with that ...although the Wire started to get too convuluted by the end of the show. The Newspaper angle was completely unnecessary

It wasn't unnecessary, you just have to know a little history. It's a story about how the media gets manipulated, and how the media manipulates right back.

It was more or less based on a famous, Pulitzer Prize-winning story in the Washington Post in 1980 that profiled an 8-year-old heroin addict. Here's the Wiki entry:

In a September 28, 1980, article in the Post, titled "Jimmy's World", Cooke wrote a profile of the life of an 8-year-old heroin addict. She described the "needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin, brown arms." The story engendered much sympathy among readers, including Marion Barry, then mayor of Washington, D.C. He and other city officials organized an all-out police search for the boy, which was unsuccessful and led to claims that the story was fraudulent. Barry, responding to public pressure, lied and claimed that Jimmy was known to the city and receiving treatment; Jimmy was announced dead shortly after.

Although some within the Post doubted the story's veracity, the Post defended it and assistant managing editor Bob Woodward submitted the story for the Pulitzer Prize. Cooke was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing on April 13, 1981.

Is that not dissimilar from what happened in Season 5?

The reporter (Templeton) who bought Mcnulty's BS was already established as having fabricated stories (mainly, the one about the kid at Orioles opening day) and having his colleagues question him. He jumped at the chance at a story he initially felt was real, and then added his own details and quotes to make it more juicy. He knew this would appeal to his editor-in-chief, who aggressively pursued stories he could submit for Pulitzer consideration. Command caved to public pressure and began allotting hours to search for the non-existent killer. It just spiraled out of control to the point the lie became so great it collapsed under its own weight. The only thing Simon did differently was make McNulty the ring leader of the circus, rather than have Templeton make up the story. In a way, it made more sense to do it that way because viewers would be like "why should I care about this reporter making up this story about a homeless serial killer?" Simon had to tie it to a character (a loose cannon) whose motives people could at least understand.

I hope that at least provides some context to the whole thing. Yeah, it wasn't necessary, but Simon wanted a media-focused story arc. Which is perfectly fine.

By the way, for those of you who don't know who Bob Woodward is, he basically invented investigative journalism. Woodward (and Bernstein) broke the Watergate scandal. Woodward was no idiot, and even he got taken for a ride by Janet Cooke.

EDIT: I should clarify that I don't know if that was the inspiration for the Season 5 story line. I'm just pointing it out as an example of reckless "journalism" that exploited a disadvantaged segment of the population for one's personal gain. The parallels are uncanny to the point it doesn't strike me as coincidental, though. Also, that was D.C., and The Wire is Baltimore. It's close enough.

 

[skurrtskurrt29]

I've never disliked a character in television more than Scott Templeton. Typical privileged and preppy jackass who couldn't do his job, yet felt like he deserved the **** he didn't want to work for. His entitlement was outrages to me. He was working round legit reporters like Alma and Fletcher but still couldn't gain the motivation to do his damn job, correctly.

His bosses are even worse. I hated that one of them played Gale in Breaking Bad because Gale is actually a likeable character, but when he got killed I was like "**** that guy."

 

[jaypesoz]

Just been randomly saying **** like Clay Davis all week

 

[getback]

Let me preface this by saying i didn't fully watch the sopranos till later but i feel like they didnt really go into the Mafia lifestyle like we haven't seen before. (might have been fresh at original air time)

It was pretty one dimensional to me in how it revolved around Tony and the people close to him while the Wire went all over and had multiple stories flowing with their own arcs. This is only my opinion and you dont have to agree but the wire story board would look like Chinese to one from the Sopranos.

Man the Sopranos was so much more than the mafia and people getting clipped. Everything about it was great. Tony might be my favorite television character ever. Christopher is up there too.

Sopranos, GOT and The Wire are pretty easy top 3 for me.

(Haven't seen Breaking Bad).

 

[aepps20]

The Christopher/Paulie love hate dynamic was incredibly underrated.

 

[gentrification]

Sopranos was a dope show indeed. The crazy thing is the I got older the less I was into these shows. I can't watch them today. But dope always. 

 

[getback]

The Christopher/Paulie love hate dynamic was incredibly underrated.

When they're at the Bada Bing retelling the "Pine Barren" story for the guys and it gets heated real quick

 

[eracism]

Holy crap. This thread is still active? I just started my first re-watch since the airing of the finale. My life has meaning again.

 

[Thats My Word]

Shhhiiiiiiieeeeeettt....

 

[Nike Jordan]

Shhhiiiiiiieeeeeettt....

Which city is that at?

 

[Thats My Word]

Shhhiiiiiiieeeeeettt....

Which city is that at?

San Francisco.

 

[whywesteppin]

Another thing to add is that recent media coverage related to the Freddie Gray case highlights just how important journalism is in influencing the dynamics of the city. The street violence, drug trade, education system, politics, and the media all work together to impede progress.


On another note, the Wire continues to play out in real life as Carcetti runs for president.

 

[Mark Antony]

only thing I don't like about 5 is the homeless serial killer angle

the newsroom stuff and all the character endings made up for that wack premise

still one of the worst seasons tho

That worked perfectly into the media angle though, creating a story.

 

[eracism]

Just started S4 Ep.1
Not sure if my heart can handle what's gonna happen to Dukie. =(

 

[slicknick951]

Sobatka !!!

 

[superantigen]

Sobatka !!!

Just saw him in the Prius 4 super bowl commercial.




...

 

[Master Zik]

It was such a weird cameo in that commercial. He wasn't even the driver.

I did realize he currently doesn't have a steady job.

 

[slicknick951]

It was such a weird cameo in that commercial. He wasn't even the driver.

I did realize he currently doesn't have a steady job.

Ziggy was driving and nick was in the back

 

[Master Zik]

Wait that was Ziggy!?

I'll have to watch that again. Now that's an even weirder nod to The Wire. Making the Sobotka's bank robbers now

 

[shorty doo wop]

And frank riding shotgun

 

[slicknick951]

Wait that was Ziggy!?

I'll have to watch that again. Now that's an even weirder nod to The Wire. Making the Sobotka's bank robbers now

Yea i was like wtf. I was waiting for Mcnutty to be one of the cops lol

 

[superantigen]

Ohh snap, didn't even notice ZIggy and Nick...

That's awesome...





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