Save The Wire

I'm a sucker for a good cause, and doing my bit to ensure that HBO's THE WIRE gets renewed for a fourth season certainly counts.

The show's been on the bubble for a number of reasons, most notably because viewership was cut in half from 3 million to about 1.6 million subscribers. Never mind that because the third season aired in the fall (instead of the summer) it was up against the surprise success of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and the stalwart Sunday night football on ESPN, the latter especially taking a toll because of demographic similarities (i.e. younger males.)

Last week, just before the season finale aired, creator David Simon went on something of  a media blitz, talking to papers like the LA Times, the New York Daily News, the New Jersey Star-Ledger and the Baltimore Sun about the show's chances of survival, why even if it does go off the air he'll be proud of the work that was created, and what cancellation might mean for the city of Baltimore:

[...] that's cold comfort for a local economy that could be $17.5 million poorer next year if the series is canceled. Jack Gerbes, director of the Maryland Film Office, confirmed that the series spends at least half its $35 million budget locally.

"So, first and foremost, yes, there would be a huge economic impact if it were not renewed," Gerbes said.

"But, with `The Wire,' the impact extends even beyond the normal spending on production, because they have given so much to local schools and charities -- like 500 backpacks to an inner-city school last week and after-school bus service to another school that couldn't afford buses. How do you measure that? I don't even want to think of this series getting canceled. Let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope."

The edict comes down from HBO in mid-January. Let's hope they decide in the favor of Simon, his writing and producing staff (including crime writers George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane) and the cast and crew.

Comments

[Nichelle]

Sarah,

I'm a big fan of this show. Thanks for the petition link.

Nichelle

[Dave Zeltserman]

I don't think the Sunday broadcast matters since HBO plays their shows to death over the week. Probably biggest problem is that its a pretty slow moving show that takes several weeks to get into and appreciate. Still next to The Shield (and yes, unlike Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, I do watch it!) my favorite show.

[Dan Conaway]

I'm with you 100%, Sarah. With THE SOPRANOS up on blocks for another year, THE WIRE's the best television drama out there; indeed, it's easy to argue that THE WIRE is the more daring and groundbreaking series. I can't think of anything quite like it: a show that risks giving the audience 25-30 characters who're worth caring about. And the quality of both the writing and the acting is such that we DO care about them, and understand them, without having to be condescended to in the typical ways (expanding the screen-time for characters that "test" well or are likeable, foresaking the others, etc). Is such that the bad guys are every bit as compelling (and in some cases sympathetic) as the good. Is such that THE WIRE contains the least amount of exposition-through-dialogue ever seen in a t.v. drama. [Compare this with the LAW AND ORDER franchise, the very foundation of which is exposition-through-dialogue. Well made, well acted, certainly, but virtually no color or character depth whatsoever.]

We've come to expect the opposite. The typical network approach to a show modelled after THE WIRE would be to A) cut the cast by two-thirds; B) increase by half the amount of dialogue whose purpose is to reassure the viewer as to who-what-where-why; and C) make it much clearer which cowboys are wearing the white hat and which the black.

In other words, the show gives the viewer's intelligence the benefit of the doubt. You may not completely "grok" every single exchange, but what you swap for that comfort is an infinitely broader sense of the complexity and turbulence of urban life. In no t.v. drama does the city where it takes place come across in such contradictory, paradoxical, being-everywhere-at-once fullness as does THE WIRE's Baltimore. That a show can manage to have both things--depth and eccentricity in its characters; bredth and true complexity in its political and social spheres--is what makes THE WIRE so truly extraordinary. Two Sundays ago, the producers stunned us by executing the remarkable Stringer Bell--imagine a show with both the balls and the deep pool of meaningful players that it could kill off its Tony Soprano and still remain utterly viable!

Yet that's what THE WIRE did, and what it is. I had a deep ache in my gut while watching the season finale Sunday night, knowing how long I'd have to wait to see what David Simon, George Pelecanos, Ed Burns & Co. have up their sleeves next. I'm glad I didn't know then that its very existence was in question. It would have been too much to bear.

[Harry Hunsicker]

Sarah,

Thanks for posting this. I had no idea the future of THE WIRE was in jeopardy. I just assumed it would be around next year. However, as I think back on the season finale, there was a certain this-is-the-end quality to it. All of the bad guys were taken care of, McNulty was back walking a beat, etc.

Echoing the comments already made, THE WIRE is one of the best written shows out there. It would be a tragedy if it were to go away. Besides, where else could you see Dennis Lehane oogling a dirty magazine? Let's get busy on the petition.

[Karen Palmer]

I thought the finale felt like a wrap-up too. And a fairly satisfying one. I adore this show, but it's hard to see where they might take it next. On the other hand, the second season, with its shift in emphasis to the docks, was unexpected, so given the opportunity, Simon and company could surely figure it out. Thanks for the petition link -- it's a worthy cause.

[Manuel Ramos]

Sarah:
You caused me to do something I've always resisted: pass on info regarding Internet petitions. I have doubts that these things do anything more than fill up bandwidth, but the cause is right so I sent out your message to several others. THE WIRE captured my attention early on and it has improved over time. This year's finale definitely looked like the swan song for the series--hard to think of McNulty walking a beat for TV eternity. I guess my one cautious observation would be that it appears that there are not any Latinos in THE WIRE's Baltimore. (Am I overlooking a character?) In one of the shows there might have been some reference to "the Columbians" from NY, the really nasty drug smugglers, of course. Still, the writing is excellent, the overall quality is topnotch. Character-driven drama on TV - who would have thought it possible?
Manuel Ramos

[Laura]

Trust me on this -- the writers have a lot more to say and do. The Barksdale storyline is done, but bureaucratic dysfunction remains widespread.

Thanks, Sarah, for posting the link.

[Dave White]

I just started catching up on this show (Season 1) through DVD and it's brilliant. I hope they renew the show (though I shouldn't have read all the comments here)... I don't have HBO, but I'm down for Season 2 of the show when it comes out on the ol' DVD and def Season 3...Hope this link works.