liz_marcs | Does this make me a Bad Fan?

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Does this make me a Bad Fan?

Confession #1:

I'm approximately 1 gazillion times more excited about Mama Mia! opening today than I am about The Dark Knight, despite the fact that I can see The Dark Knight at no less than 2 IMAX theaters within easy driving distance.

Confession #2:

It appears that I will buy anything David Simon does because, as it turns out, he's my favorite author (for television) ever. I own the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, all 7 seasons plus television movie of Homicide: Life on the Street, the book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the HBO series The Corner, and the first 4 seasons of The Wire (with Season 5 on order for immediate shipping when it's available next month).

I am counting down to when Generation Kill will be available on DVD (I don't get HBO) so I can get my hands on it.

In short, you know how people will buy anything Joss Whedon does (even when it's total crap) and call him a genius for it (even though it's a case of the emperor walking around completely starkers)?

This is apparently how I treat productions involving David Simon, Ed Burns, and partners.

How can I put this...long before I let any of David Simon's stuff out of my hands, I will sell both my Angel and Buffy box sets.

The hell with that. I will burn my Angel and Buffy box sets before I give up any of David Simon's stuff.

(Seriously, those of you who kept looking for meaning in the "numbered shirts" of Buffy Season 6 that actually didn't have any meaning beyond, "We found a bunch of these for cheap in thrift shops?" Try The Wire, which actually has twice the meaning and twice the mythic elements of any Angel and Buffy episode without requiring you to fanwank. Best of all? The Wire actually has continuity that puts most book series to shame. No. I'm not kidding.)

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If I may... I am your polar opposite on Confession 1 (though I didn't manage to secure IMAX tickets for this weekend, I'll be going next weekend) and basically with you on Confession 2, with the caveat that I'm new to David Simon's stuff, and haven't had time to build a collection yet.

But it's coming. Oh yes, it is coming.

The Wire is the single greatest television show I have ever seen. Bar none.

I feel that on Confession 2 I'm more forgiving of Whedon than you are, but he doesn't hold a candle to Ed Burns and David Simon. And though I love many of Joss's characters, not one of them comes close to the level of awesome that is Omar Little.

You have got to listen to the commentaries on the DVDs. I positively love how they get into the backgrounds of not just the characters (i.e., who is based on whom), but the actors. (I swear Ed Burns was giving people he busted for drugs and murder acting jobs on The Wire as they were coming out of prison.)

Seriously, though. The biggest head-trip I ever had was, after being a H;LotS fan for years, reading the book it was based on for the first time. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I'd get deja vu because they did try to yank at least several murders that were mentioned in the book into the television show per season.

I just got "The Corner" DVD and book, so I can't speak to them yet. :-) Gimme a week or two.

I watched the first Ep or 2 of The Corner, and wasn't enthralled, mostly, I think, because of the style of the thing.

And I have the first disc of H: LotS showing up from Netflix tomorrow, so... yay!

I will definitely check out the commentaries, too.

Just to let you know: The first box set (the 13 episodes that comprise Seasons 1 and 2) while fantastic are somewhat rough in execution. Although one of the best episodes they ever did ("Three Men and Adena") falls on episode 7 (I think?).

I think the show really hits its stride in Seasons 3, 4, and 5 is really the creative height of the series. Season 6 is still really good, but with a slight drop ("The Subway" shows up in this season and it's the equal of "Three Men and Adena"...be sure to watch the PBS documentary of it that's included on this disc.)

Season 7, while a definite drop in quality thanks to network interference, is still (I think) better than anything in the Law and Order oeuvre. I know that when I watched it first run I haaaaaaated it, but in recently re-watching the episodes it actually wasn't all that bad.

As for the H:Lots movie...skip it. Keep to the happy place where Season 7 leaves you. No, seriously. The good in the movie (some outstanding performances, a haunting and heart-breaking final 15 minutes) will never make up for the negatives you get by watching it. Ignore it. Pretend it doesn't exist.

Homicide was the best show on television, ever. I still miss it. There will never ever be another character like Frank Pembleton. I used to record episodes and take them to school and show them to my high school students. I got so many lesson plans out of that show. I showed my students Hush on Halloween, but they didn't react to it the way they often would to Homicide episodes.

You dare diss Joss? Hah ha. His followers are like blind cultists. I'm not saying I don't love a lot of what he's done, but it's not the greatest stuff in the world. It's good quality, fine quality, but it's not the all the answers to everything you wanted or needed in the universe.

I never got into or understood all the fanwanking on BTVS and ATS. I just watched and enjoyed. I'm not even amused by all the fanwanking that continues. :shrugs:

I still watch the documentary about the making of that Homicide episode, "Subway" starring Vincent D'Onofrio. I still show that to my students because it shows all the work behind the scenes getting one episode made.

bastardsnow convinced me to try The Wire, which is better than H:Lots because they can actually get away with more on HBO than they could on NBC (where producers and writers were always battling with the network).

That said, I don't think you'll ever be able to show The Wire in a classroom, unless your class is college-level. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I like Buffy and Angel just fine (I own both box sets after all and write fanfic for Buffy), but whenever the Whedonnites start with the loud worship of Joss (and it's at annoying levels with this Dr. Horrible thing-y), I really have to wonder.

That said, I don't think the sun shines out David Simon's ass, either. I just happen to think he's one of the best television writers working in the U.S. right at this moment, mostly because I love the way he structures his shows (each season really is a stand-alone novel) and I love his strong sense of continuity.

And speaking of H:LotS....I need to rent Oz from Netflix so I can decide if I want to give Fontana some love in the future.

I will definitely keep that in mind. And I've never been a huge fan of the Law and Order stuff. I don't know why, it's just never appealed to me. But I will definitely keep in mind your warnings about the movie. Thanks!

I must join you in the Simon-squeee. I haven't managed to get sucked in by Buffy, Firefly or pretty much anything by Joss Whedon, but I adore Simon. And that's my 11 cents.

I tried watching two episodes of The Wire and I didn't get the magic. Why is it so popular?

I'm not sure I'd be able to take "The Wire" because I'm kind of wimpy and sensitive. Homicide used to take a lot out of me. I'm fairly certain I couldn't watch Oz. I had to stop watching "The Shield" because it just hurt my psyche. I'm weird.

I like Joss too, and I loved Buffy and Angel, but I don't *WORSHIP* Joss the way a lot of people do. I think Dr. Horrible is cute, but it's kind of sad that something of that quality is getting so much attention when there are probably young filmmakers out there putting out real quality stuff which will never be seen.

I was given series one of "The Wire" as a birthday present recently. I haven't watched any og it - it is on an obscure (=expensive) satellite channel over here.

But suddenly I keep reading about it - there are things in the papers about how it is the best tv series ever. For real.

I do still harbour a love of "Buffy", though. And Buffy, of course...

Oh, and I don't think that preferring "Mama Mia!" over Batman makes you a bad fan. Just a different fan to the one you thought you were, perhaps!

It really is the best TV series ever...for real. :-)

And, to be honest, The Wire is shown on HBO even in the U.S., which is a premium channel that requires people to pay extra to watch it if you want to see it first run. Otherwise, you have to rent or buy the DVDs.

The way to think of the The Wire is that it's a series of 5 true crime novels (there are 5 seasons, one season = one novel) that explore the different facets of the Baltimore, MD, drug and criminal culture.

In many ways, the storylines (especially the storyline of the Barksdale Crime Organization which takes 3 years to pay off) are built on the same structure as classical Greek tragedies.

Also — and this is really key — the series is written and produced exclusively by people who live, work, and (no shit) committed the crimes in Baltimore (quite a lot of the cast have felony records for drugs and murder and were arrested by one of the producers, Ed Burns, back when he was a homicide detective).

I got sucked into The Wire by the end of the first episode that kicked off Season 1. I ended up buying the entire series sight-unseen as a result.

Seriously. Give it a try if you've got the discs.

It simply may not be your cuppa. I have a friend who has approximately zero desire to see The Wire because she doesn't like true crime or shows that are so completely morally ambiguous (and The Wire is utterly without a a moral compass in many ways). That's a completely all right, by the way. The show is not to the taste of everyone.

However, the reason why the show is so wildly popular is because each season "reads" (or watches) as it it's a self-contained true crime novel. The entire show is produced and filmed in Baltimore by Baltimorians. Many of the second- and third-tier cast are either former cops or former drug dealers with a felony record for murder (and don't be so sure that those felons actually play felons...because they don't).

In addition, all of the situations shown in the series are based on real-life situations that the writers (which are either former reporters, former cops, or former teachers that have worked in Baltimore) have had to tangle with.

The essential reality behind the fiction is what people are responding to.

Ummm, then you probably don't want to watch The Wire if Homicide affected you like that. (Think Greek Tragedy...)

As for Dr. Horrible...there's wank going on right now about someone called Dr. Steel who's not only been doing the exact same thing on the Internet as "Dr. Horrible," but has done it better as well.

Buffy and Angel are fun escapism and quality entertainment for the most part, but neither show is as original nor as mythologically deep as Whedon's cultists would have us believe.

Firefly bored the tits off me because I could always guess the end of the episode roughly 10 minutes after it started.

As for the Buffy comics *rolls eyes* let's just say they're a serious case of "meh" (no, I've never bought any, but I've at least looked at every issue and I haven't been at all impressed), so the wet-panty reaction that greets every issue mystifies me.

Oh, I will definitely be watching it. It was just strange how I had never heard of it - and then suddenly it is all over the papers and radio here, without it being released on terrestrial tv.

My brother wanted to move to Baltimore at one point - I am sure this series wouldn't warm me to the place... But then he moved to Silver Spring, MD, instead - and promptly gave me books by George Pelecanos... Mmmm, not sure I want to visit there much, either!

Ummmm, so is it a selling point to mention that George Pelecanos is one of the writers for The Wire?

What about Dennis Lehane?

Actually, Baltimore is a rather lovely city (if a bit far south for me). There are parts of the city that are breath-takingly gorgeous in a historical sense, and there are other parts that are too terrifying to walk around in during the day.

Hmmm. I read the wiki entry and it does appear to have a great amount depth, but when I was watching it...Meh, it didn't come across as anything more than another gritty cop show. Too bad, since I hear a lot about it.

Didn't Whedon admit he basically sprinkled Buffy and Angel with random mysterious elements solely for the purpose of falling back on it when/if he wants a convenient plot twist at a latter date?

That one I never heard.

All I ever heard was that Whedon admitted he loved the big "GOTCHYA" moments and that he wasn't too fussed about whether said "GOTCHYA" wasn't consistent with previously stated canon.

I mean, sure, it's Whedon's show, and he has a right to blow his own canon out of the water. But there's a reason why Buffy S6 and S7 descended into an exercise in fanwanking...in large part because that was about the point that the show began collapsing under its own WtF moments. (S7 is a clear-cut, on-screen demonstration of a show falling to shit on screen.)

The hell with that. I will burn my Angel and Buffy box sets before I give up any of David Simon's stuff.

Yep. I'd do the same. Don't get me wrong, I love Buffy and Angel (well, mostly), but The Wire is on a completely different level. I really do think it's the best TV show ever made.

I've seen the first episode of Generation Kill and so far, it's quite good as well.

How far into The Wire are you now?

Oh yes! I friended his myspace page yesterday. The folks on Whedonesque are *worried* that Dr. Steel's fans are going to try to *disrupt* Joss's panel at Comicon! They were fluttering and clucking about it.

I am amazed that they really don't think that some of the publicity photos for Dr. Horrible don't look amazingly like some of Dr. Steel's artwork. One of them is quite obvious to me. I hadn't known better, I would have thought the two blue posters were advertising the same product.

I think someone messed up some where, but He who has the gold makes the rules.

Do you think the Browncoats will have to fend off an attack from Dr. Steel's toy soldiers?

*shakes like a junkie*

I'm waiting for Season 5 to be shipped to me via Amazon when it comes out August 18.

I pretty much burned through the first four seasons, and then went back and watched all the commentary and special features.

Order of my love (thus far):
1) Season One (D'Angelo explaining chess to Wallace and Bodie will haunt me for a long time)

2) Season Four (I want to draw hearts all around all four of the kids, Bodie's soldier's death)

3) Season Three (Stringer Bell's death actually made me weep...and I was rooting for Omar!)

4) Season Two (While still awesome, I don't think it held together as well as the other seasons.)

I suspect that I'll probably love Season 5 more than most people, in large part because of the Baltimore Sun focus and the slow decline of the American newspaper. That's a storyline that hits home because it started waaaaaay back when I was working for newspapers as a reporter. I pretty much knew that my choices were either face getting laid off once every two to three years, or switch careers. I suspect that's going to *ping* for me in a way that it didn't for most people.

Plus, any time I get to watch Clark Johnson on my TV screen is always a good time. :-)

*cackles*

One can only hope that someone will film the Comic Con battle of the Browncoats vs. The Toy Soliders. (My bet's on Dr. Steel and his minions...what say you?)

And I agree...while it's possible that the JW came up with the idea independently (because evil scientist masterminds are not exactly a new idea), the art work reaaaaaalllllyyyyyy makes me wonder.

And I can't blame "Dr. Steel" and his "Toy Soldiers" for being just a mite pissed over the fact that someone is going to be accusing them of "copying" Whedon when they've been around for far longer.

Hey, you have it easy with a month-long wait for season 5. I had to wait about a year :)

I'm glad you mentioned the chess scene, because it was that scene that first really pulled me in to the show and convinced me that this was going to be much more than a typical cop show. It was brilliant, and you're right that it's haunting, especially considering that all three people from that conversation ended up dead.

As soon as the season 5 DVDs come out, I'm going to rewatch the whole series from beginning to end. I think there's a lot of foreshadowing of certain characters' fates that happens really early on, and I'm going to see if I can pick it out.

Just an amazing show all around. If I could pick one show to put in a time capsule to survive the apocalypse, this would be the one.

(Oh, quick question - what were you talking about when you mentioned "numbered shirts" in Buffy season 6? I hadn't heard about that.)

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