David Mills, Dead at 48
Published March 31, 2010 @ 19:38 in Celebrity Death Watch, The Wire

David Mills was 48. He was the award-winning TV writer and producer whose credits included celebrated series such as The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street and ER.

I will be eternally grateful for his collaborations with David Simon, especially The Wire, The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™.

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The Show I'm Most Stoked About: Treme
Published March 14, 2010 @ 11:51 in Television, The Wire

It's pretty rare these days that I get excited about a new television series. Sure, I'm up for tonight's premiere of The Pacific, but that's not the show I'm most heavily anticipating in 2010. The show I'm most stoked about is Treme.

I stand by my claim that The Wire is The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™. I've opined openly on the subject at http://www.torontomike.com/the_wire/. Treme is from the makers of The Wire, and here's the description from Wikipedia.

Treme is an upcoming American drama television series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer. The series takes place three months after Hurricane Katrina where the residents of New Orleans, including musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians and ordinary New Orleanian try to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane. The series is scheduled to premiere April 11, 2010, on HBO. The first season will consist of 10 episodes, including an 80-minute pilot episode.

Note: I originally embedded the trailer below, but it was inexplicably pulled from YouTube. Instead, here's the less exciting teaser.

Welcome back, Bunk! I'll be watching on HBO Canada... there's no way I'd miss this.

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Greatest Quotes from The Wire
Published December 20, 2009 @ 10:24 in The Wire

The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™ a.k.a. The Wire is never far from my mind. Thanks to all who have sent me links to the 100 Greatest Quotes from The Wire on YouTube. I tweeted about it in November, but I never gave it the spotlight it deserves.

There's actually a sequel now, so we have the 200 Greatest Quotes from The Wire. I must warn you, there will be some spoilers in these quotes, so don't watch unless you've already enjoyed the 60 episodes of The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™. And if you haven't, what the hell are you waiting for?

THE WIRE - 100 Greatest Quotes

THE WIRE - Other 100 Greatest Quotes

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The Wire #1 Most Important Show of the Past Decade
Published November 14, 2009 @ 12:19 in The Wire

In an article entitled "10 most important TV shows of the past decade", the Toronto Star lists The Wire at #1.

THE WIRE

One of the great benefits of cable, in addition to freedom from the network limitations of content and ratings-driven advertising, is its ability to embrace and nurture shows of unusually high quality and relatively limited audience appeal. The Wire is the most extreme example, the best show on television nobody was watching.

The interwoven stories and characters, with an entirely different focus for each of its brilliant, all-too-brief five seasons, were ripped from the pages of the Baltimore Sun and the work of former crime reporter David Simon. His non-fiction bestseller, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, was adapted as a similarly titled network series, which he also wrote and produced.

Inevitably frustrated by the constraints of network prime time, he pitched a tougher, even more downbeat version to a reluctant HBO, and then spent the next half-decade labouring in obscurity, beloved by critics and ignored by viewers. The final season, bemoaning the fall of print journalism, featured Toronto actor/director Clark Johnson, who also directed key episodes.

Unappreciated as it may have been, The Wire outlasted other prestige buried treasures that were to follow, such as Deadwood (three seasons), In Treatment (just renewed – barely – for a third) Carnivàle and Rome (two each). And there's always DVD.

Rob Salem

The Wire, or The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™ as I like to call it, has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm ready to revisit all 60 spectacular episodes. If you haven't seen it, here's a taste of what you've missed. This is my favourite character, Omar Little, and his confrontation with Brother Mouzone.

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My Ten Favourite Characters on The Wire
Published September 18, 2009 @ 14:34 in The Wire

This list was inspired by "Andrew with a capital A" who now goes by the name McNulty. He emailed me a list of his ten favourite characters on The Wire, The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™.

His list was very good, but my list is just a little different. Here are my ten favourite characters from The Wire, The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™.

1. Omar Little
2. Jimmy McNulty
3. Lester Freamon
4. Bubbles
5. Bunk Moreland
6. D’Angelo Barksdale
7. Howard “Bunny” Colvin
8. Preston “Bodie” Broadus
9. Frank Sobatka
10. Michael Lee

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Toronto Safe Injection Sites: A Hamsterdam for the T.Dot
Published August 12, 2009 @ 19:55 in My 2 Cents, The Wire, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

Six years ago, I wrote about the opening of North America's first legal safe-injection site in Vancouver. Here's what I wrote back then.

Today marked the official opening of North America's first legal safe-injection site at 139 East Hastings St. in Vancouver, B.C. It will be staffed by 16 nurses, four alcohol and drug counsellors and peer counsellors. At the injection site, addicts get clean needles and inject themselves at small booths in a room supervised by a nurse. After shooting up, they go to a "chill-out room" before returning to the streets. Up to 800 people are expected to use the facility each day.

Already upset over Ottawa's plan to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, this facility has been criticized by U.S. officials who say it is an example of Canada becoming lax in the battle against illegal drugs. Once again, the needle's point has been missed.

Those addicted to heroin are sufferers of a debilitating disease. Many will overdose and die. Up to 40 percent of these addicts have HIV or AIDS and 90 percent have hepatitis C. Allowing people to inject in a clean place and with ready access to medical help will reduce the spread of these diseases and dramatically reduce accidental overdose deaths. This isn't about legalizing heroin and crack, this is about saving lives. "It is not I who become addicted, it is my body." - Jean Cocteau

The Star is reporting that a group of researchers are quietly studying whether Toronto and Ottawa would benefit from similar facilities.

"This is not a study to see how to establish a site. This is a study to look at whether it makes sense to have a site or not, whether there should be one site or multiple sites or no sites, and whether the sites, if there should be any, should be fixed or mobile. We will be answering those types of questions," said Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, a co-principal investigator of the study and scientist at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael's Hospital.

The feasibility study, dubbed the Toronto and Ottawa Supervised Consumption Assessment (TOSCA), was requested by the city. It stems from a recommendation in the Toronto Drug Strategy, which was approved by Toronto council in December 2005.

I feel the same way today as I did six years ago, only more so. That's because I've since seen Hamsterdam. Hamsterdam, in The Wire, is the name of a few uninhibited city blocks in Baltimore in which Howard "Bunny" Colvin essentially legalized the illegal drug trade. There was reduced street crime, city-wide, and increased outreach of health and social services to at-risk populations. It was glorious, until it was discovered and Hamsterdam was quickly dismantled.

Here's a great summary of Hamsterdam.

Call me a left wing nutjob if you will, but drug abusers are sufferers of a debilitating disease and will use regardless. Wouldn't it be civilized to provide them with a safe haven for injection where we can ensure they're safe, not spreading disease and aware of alternative programs?

A city that does so for the least among us is a city I would be proud to call my own.

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The Wire's David Simon on Bill Moyers Journal
Published July 16, 2009 @ 16:10 in The Wire

I implore you to watch this interview with David Simon, screenwriter of The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™. Seriously, if you haven't seen The Wire yet, what the hell are you waiting for? Watch this interview with Bill Moyers Journal then get the five seasons of The Wire on DVD, watch them and then talk to me about it. Do it!

Here's a scene seen at the beginning of the interview and a taste of what you've been missing.

DETECTIVE JIMMY MCNULTY: Let me understand you, every Friday night you and your boys will shoot crap right? And every Friday night your pal Snot Boogie he'd wait 'till there was cash on the ground and then he'd grab the money and run away? You let him do that?

WITNESS: If we'd catch him we'd beat his ass but ain't nobody let it go past that.

DETECTIVE JIMMY MCNULTY: I gotta ask you, if every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away why'd you even let him in the game?

WITNESS: What?

DETECTIVE JIMMY MCNULTY: Snot Boogie always stole the money, why'd you let him play?

WITNESS: Got to. This America, man.

Watching this great chat with David Simon has me aching to revisit The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™. Omar comin!

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Omar Little Had Respect Since Day 1
Published June 11, 2009 @ 11:10 in The Wire

Before the final series of The Wire aired, HBO released three prequel shorts produced by Wire creator David Simon, exploring the backstory for the characters Prop Joe, Omar, and William ''Bunk'' Moreland.

Omar Little is the single greatest character in the history of television. The Wire is overflowing with amazing characters, so rising above such a stellar crop is saying something.

Here's Omar Little back in 1985. He had respect since day one.

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Ranking The Wire Theme Songs
Published May 22, 2009 @ 23:29 in The Wire

The Greatest Show On Television, Ever™ used Tom Waits' "Down In A Hole" as its theme song. Each season featured a different artist singing the song.

Here's how I rank the five versions of "Down In A Hole" that accompanied the opening credits for each season of The Wire.

5. Season 3, The Neville Brothers

4. Season 4, DoMaJe

3. Season 5, Steve Earle

2. Season 2, Tom Waits

1. Season 1, The Blind Boys of Alabama

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Omar Listenin'
Published May 8, 2009 @ 12:18 in The Wire

It's come to my attention that I haven't blogged about The Wire all week. It's time to correct that oversight.

This is my favourite character on The Wire, Omar Little, and Brother Mouzone. The scene opens with Omar whistling "A Huntin' We Will Go" and closes with "Omar listenin'". Stafford, have you started watching yet?

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