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Was and is an extraordinary TV show. The difference is that the former is dealing in ludicrous iconography and the former is just narrative. But "just" is perhaps misleading.
The first time I saw "The Sopranos" - episode two, season one - I was unimpressed. It seemed like a highbrow attempt to rip off Scorceses' "Goodfellas" and I didn't think it did a very good job.
But "The Wire" was unique in every way. There was not a single movie to which I could pin it, and wow what a relief that was! It simply showed life as close to as it is really lived in those environs as it could, and did a magnificent job. It is comparable to nothing, in much the same way as "Six Feet Under", and that is what gives it so much power. Last but not least, Laura Miller does it great justice.
