You Lucky Bastards in Ol' Blighty...

[liz_marcs]

I've been reliably informed by booster17 that all those within the broadcasting reach of BBC2 will be getting The Wire 5 nights a week (Monday through Friday) starting at 11:20 p.m..

You lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky bastards.

Here in the US, if we wanted to see The Wire we either had to pony up for HBO or buy the DVDs.

And you guys are getting it for free. And you get to start from the beginning. And some of you get to watch it for the first time.

Okay, I own the DVD set of the whole thing. And I've watched it 3 times in the 6 months I've owned them...yes, all 60 episodes 3 times...and...oh...Stringer Bell, Brodie, Omar, Bunk, Lester Freamon, Bubbles, Kima, D'Angelo, and Snoop, ...and...and...

And, oh, I cannot talk about The Wire without posting a my favorite scene from the series (it's from Season 1). I loved it when I first saw it, but after having watched the whole series (3 times!), this scene is layered with so much meaning that it kills me dead.

It's the classic: D'Angelo teaches Bodie and Wallace how to play chess using the fearsome Barksdale drug organization as a common frame of reference:

Still not sold? How about this?

Stephen King said the most terrifying character he'd ever seen came from The Wire.

Meet Snoop:

The Wire Snoop
by ces_choses_sont_chaudes

Right after Omar, Snoop is like my second favorite character. Seriously. She scares the ever-living hell out of me.

Aaaaaand I'll stop now. Really, I'll stop gushing.

Anytimenow...

Omigawd I'm so excited for you newbies who'll be watching it for the first time...

Comments

[matgb]

Here in the US, if we wanted to see The Wire we either had to pony up for HBO or buy the DVDs.

And you guys are getting it for free

Not exactly. We pay for the BBC through the licence fee, it's effectively an advertising free subscription service that everyone pays for.

But, y'know.

The only annoyance I have is that it's on every night at an annoying time for me. Oh, wait, BBC on demand through the iPlayer. UK only.

I can watch it when I like.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

You lucky, lucky, lucky bastard.

Oh. Wait. I own all of the DVDs. I can watch whenever I like too!

(I might just watch one episode every night in time with the BBC schedule, because how cool would that be!)

[trish786.livejournal.com]

Ooh...I've been meaning to watch this show cos I've heard how good it is. Thanks, I've just set a recording for it.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Glad I could help!

Me...I'm thinking I might watch one episode a night myself along with the BBC airing schedule...(HA! Won't be able to keep to it, I know that already. I'll probably be watching ahead by an entire season by the time the week's done.)

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding! Off to set my video recorder...

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Glad my reminder helped!

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

OK- is it Firefly good? BSG good? Planet Earth good?

Guess I'll have to watch it.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

It beats them all. Hands down.

I would argue that it is easily the best television series. Ever.

The way to think about it is that it's a series of 5 crime novels (each season being a singular novel) that focuses on one aspect of Baltimore's 10-year decline due, primarily, to drugs.

Best of all, even the street level drug dealers and addicts are accorded basic humanity. There is no one truly, purely evil, just as there are no heroes.

Keep in mind, some small thing that happens in Season 1 will end up having major, major consequences 4 seasons later. And best of all, every bit of it makes sense. There's no handwaving. There's no easy-way-out. Everything is right there in the narrative.

It's honestly the television equivalent of the finest Greek tragedies you'll ever see. Except, instead of "The Gods" being responsible, it's "The Institutions," here defined not just as "the man" (or government), but also the drug organizations, unions, newspaper, school system, and so on.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

OK- looks like I'm going to have to check it out. I love stuff like that. Sounds like it's similar to the layers in Kurtz' "Adept" series...

[invisionary.livejournal.com]

I'll just second what Liz said. I feel pretty comfortable in saying that The Wire is the best TV show ever made. It's not perfect, but it's the closest thing to it that I've ever seen on TV. Well worth watching, though admittedly, it's not the easiest show in the world to get into. You pretty much have to give it an entire season, because they don't start the seasons with any big set pieces or anything to grab your attention right off - it's all setup for what comes later. But the payoff, when it comes....

[invisionary.livejournal.com]

Minor correction - I'm pretty sure that Stephen King said that Snoop was the scariest female villain that he'd ever seen. But still.

Thanks for posting the chess scene. When I started watching the show, I was interested, but the first couple of episodes didn't grab me right off. It was that scene that got me hooked on the series. D'Angelo was such a great character.

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

First video was blocked by work, but the scene with Snoop wasn't. It wasn't until you said that she was she that I realized that that wasn't a 10-12 year old boy. And the casual sociopathy is frightening, beyond a doubt.

I haven't watched this show. I may have to try it out.

[chicating.livejournal.com]

Hey...a mutual friend suggested I come say hello and get some Wirefiend chat. So, Wirefiends represent!
I love the chess scene, too, but I think the one about Snot Boogie is one of my favorites.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I almost posted that one! Especially since the Snot Boogie scene is what sold me on the show.

Okay, okay. It only shows I was sold right from the opening frames. That scene still cracks me the hell up every. single. time.

*looks around shiftily*

I don't suppose you know of any Wire coms around here, do you?

[chicating.livejournal.com]

There was one I used to get icons from...let me check my Fandom stuff cause I can't remember the name.

[hilleviw.livejournal.com]

liz-marcs, meet chicating; chica, meet liz. Mutual friends include me and Szandara.

[chicating.livejournal.com]

I guess I mostly went to wire_icons. There are a couple others, but I've had trouble finding active ones.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

Wow. I didn't scroll down far enough so I had no idea Snoop was female until after she scared the ever loving shit out of me.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

My very cheap freeview recording box had better behave and record The Wire every day this week.

[uninvitedcat.livejournal.com]

I'm getting mR to record it for me - mainly on the basis of your enthusiasm!

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

OK, OK, OK. You finally convinced me (adds to top of Netflix queue).

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I love that chess scene. D'Angelo was a whole lot smarter than people realized.

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

Snoop reminds me of two people I know, but I don't see very often because they're often in prison.

[doingsoso.livejournal.com]

Jesus Christ on a moped! That Snoop IS scary!

[chicating.livejournal.com]

Yes, and it probably says bad stuff about me that she makes me want "The Lexus of Nailguns"
But I don't have three grand.;)