Letters to the Editor
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Fonz Alert
***Also a minor spoiler alert here.***
I realize the concept of jumping the shark long since jumped the shark, but when the "desperate measures" Heather mentions McNulty and Lester taking started up, I became very glad this was the last season for this show, much as I have love love loved it. The plot thread caused me to cringe every time McNulty came onscreen.
I think perhaps David Simon should have spent less time this past year telling everyone within earshot that his show is revolutionizing TV, and more making sure it didn't turn around and fall prey to one of TV's most obnoxiously ubiquitous devices, the outlandish twist. Reminiscent of Landry murdering Tyra's attacker on Friday Night Lights.
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You have never seen Japanese game shows
Which are bar-none the greatest things on TV ever.
Human Tetris?
Freezing Wax Battle?
Endurance?
People getting caned, people getting nose hairs yanked out, people getting hit in the balls.
It is awesome divided by zero.
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wow
It really takes a special effort to get me to stop reading an article about The Wire, (my favorite show, about which I must have read 100 articles at least in the past year or two), but you managed it. Just because you have no space constraints on here doesn't mean some semblance of structure shouldn't be applied.
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What monopoly does to entertainment.
Isn't it interesting that the megacorps who refuse to settle the WGA writer's strike also own networks like HBO? And that the continued strike is destroying commercially-supported broadcast television, while it's doing nothing to pay channels?
Perhaps that's the reason AMPTP doesn't want to settle. They want broadcast TV to die, so that we'll all have to pay for entertainment programming. And that may eliminate the need for TV critics, the good ones and Havrilesky alike, since the products of megacorporations can't be criticized or rejected. (Has any of the bitching about Microsoft Windows stopped it from being the predominant operating system? And the next time date rape drugs are used to coat children's toys, do you think they'll let the research out, or the lab assistants who discovered it to get away with their lives?)
Curious that the capitalists are making America into a country as bad as Russia was under communism, with no competition and no recourse.
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The Wire
This show should be required viewing for every candidate running for president. That Senator Obama lists it as his favorite show, and that other candidates list "Dancing with the Stars" and "The View" and other feel-good claptrap is telling.
Personally, I can't wait until 6pm tomorrow (the early HBO feed!). "The Wire" doesn't get the kind of respect it deserves, but years from now, hopefully, it will be seen by everyone as the masterpiece it truly is.
Also, to the inevitable (and usually anonymous) letter(s) about how this column is a waste of space because "people are dying in the world," I say, preemptively, shut the hell up.
Television is a core part of our American culture, and I'm glad to have someone like Heather Havrilesky writing about it.
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I'll tell you what happens when people don't read newspapers
They say embarrassing things, like claiming that Obama's opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing marks him as too liberal.
See, if those people read newspapers, they might have found out that the Supreme Court recently voted 8-1 against mandatory minimums. Thomas and Scalia voted with the majority, as did 50% of the Bush appointees on the court.
That's why it's good to read newspapers. Then you won't be accusing people of being too liberal for agreeing with powerful conservatives.
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not a minor spoiler
I'm usually annoyed by people who whine about spoilers; it's all about the journey, and knowing the destination ahead of time doesn't really hurt my enjoyment. Sometimes it helps.
==major spoiler warning==
So I breezed right by the "minor spoiler" warning, only to read that Omar gets taken down! I really thought that he'd be the last one standing; it was a huge surprise to find out that he isn't. And that really is going to affect my experience of this season.
So, IMNSHO, HH and/or an editor should either take out the part about Omar, or upgrade the spoiler warning from "minor" to something larger. Also, it would be really cool if the spoiler warning included a link that would take you to the part of the piece immediately after the spoilers are done.
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Heather, Take Your Meds
Somewhere in this piece--and in the author's mind-- there is a heartfelt critique of "The Wire." However, this ain't it.
Heather, do you READ your stuff before you submit it? This is a manic sprawl. Seriously, take your meds.
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didn't like the newsroom repartee in the wire
HBO on demand is already running the first ep of the Wire, so I got to check it out. I'm hoping it's just the "shock of the new" of seeing the newsroom characters, but I found alot of the dialog to be uncharacteristically hand-holding for this show. What city editor randomly shouts out to his staff, "At the Baltimore Sun, people, God still resides in the details"? Thanks for clearing that up for us.
One of the most entertaining aspects of the Wire is that it seems to plunge in medias res and forces us to learn the universe. Hopefully the hand-holding will end soon and we can get down to brass tacks.
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Omar Dies?
-- mitch That's what I though she said, too. But a careful reread shows it to only be speculation. Omar Lives!
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The Wire
"a vigilante who seems to represent the reckless but still principled justice of those unconstrained by a poisoned bureaucratic system"
THAT is a truly epic quote. Remember, "it's all in the game."
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I've not seen the show but
I'm sure it's of the hand held fuzzy high contrast variety.
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Who cares if the writing sprawls? It's brilliant!
I like the conversational style of this commentary. It's like huddling over a cup of coffee with a brilliant friend on a mission. I have never watched "The Wire." Now I will. Ms. Havrilesky got my attention with her sterling wit and sassy demeanor. You gotta love a strong woman!
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What jaygordon said,
and for Heather’s unflinching reminders of the grip of social pathology and escapism in a palatable and snarkily covert style that is ultimately as powerful and important as anything else being written on Salon.