American Artists • Lists • Literature & Justice

The Wire & the Decade When TV Became Art

December 18, 2009
by Celeste Fremon
57 Comments

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The Best of the Decade lists are everywhere.

Newsweek has some interesting ones like 10 History Altering Decisions. and 10 Most Overblown Fears.

Paste Magazine has a pleasing list of the 50 best albums.

And at the flimsier end of the spectrum, Vogue magazine was suddenly overtaken by a giddy moment of populism and decided to let you and me choose the ten best dressed women of the decade.

However, for my money, when it comes to lists pertaining anything of an artistic nature—best books, best films, best music, best television dramas, et al—from a social justice perspective, one work stands out among all the others, and that is the five seasons of David Simon’s The Wire.

Yes the Sopranos was brilliant, Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 is a literary game changer, and Fernando Meirelles’ City of God was astonishing in its portrayal of Rio’s desperate favelas.

Yet, I can think of no other recent work of art—any kind of art— that so successfully gets to the multi-layered complexity of modern urban life and the interwoven nature of its strata. The Wire stands alone.

The truth is, I don’t think lawmakers should be allowed to vote on a single bill relating to issues of criminal justice without watching all five seasons. And, obviously, before they’re let near an education bill, Season 4, is an absolute requirement.

I could rattle on, but instead I recommend that you watch Bill Moyers’ interview with David Simon, recorded last April (Part 1 and Part 2). It’s clip filled and both men get right to the heart of the matter.

Enjoy.

“You come at the king, you best not miss.”

For the next few days I’m in the last stages of reading students’ final projects (which are inspiringly good, by the way) and giving final grades, which means I’ve not been doing much in the way of original reporting.

But, never fear, I have a couple of good stories lined up for next week before we plunge into the holidays.

57 Comments

  • Not to disagree with your points about the Wire, or the fact that serial television hasn’t evolved into an artform competing with the novel for depth of characterization and plotting ( or more accurately “mini-serial” television, since the great shows generally stick to a dozen episodes in the span of a year) BUT…regarding the post headline, it’s certainly arguable that television was “art” starting back in the ’50s when live dramas like Marty, 12 Angry Men and Requiem for a Heavyweight were written for the small screen and broadcast weekly via several different series. These broadcasts followed some of the conventions of the stage and some of the conventions of film, but the proliferation of these drama series gave rise to something unique and offered guys like Paddy Chayevsky and Rod Serling an immediate audience that Hollywood or Broadway couldn’t with their smaller rosters, much greater expenses and longer production schedules. “Just saying…”

  • Wow, I’m in total agreement with Reg’s take on the 50’s. I’d take The Shield over The Wire though. The Shield wrapped up with Vic in the personal hell he created all on his own, a perfect ending which few shows accomplish. It also showed gangs for what they truly are. It never pulled punches and tried to be nice, I miss it.

  • I’m am a big Shield fan and own most of the series on DVD along with The Wire and Deadwood (which got cut short but I which loved as much as The Wire, although the shows aren’t really comparable), but I don’t think Shield – which is another cop show on the surface – matches the Wire in terms of its ambitions, although it had some great characters. The Wire went from what seemed like a great cop show in the first season to becoming the story of a city’s failing institutions and the people stuck trying to make them work (even the gangs fit into that in a weird way) – maybe too ambitious to succeed 100%. I don’t want to get into a pissing contest about why this disagreement might exist. Just noting it. I’d also like to think that real cops are, in general, more like the people depicted on The Wire than those on The Sheild (despite the loveable cops like Claudette, Dutch and Julien), but I’m not entirely sure. Sheild seemed to be mining the worst LAPD scandal in recent years, which is great television drama but also exploitative of what an audience tends to enjoy most.) Simon seems to have deeper motives, observed the bigger picture over many years and was willing to tell it like he sees it. The Sheild seemed like it was conjured by some talented screenwriter, while Simon comes off as a bit of a crusader in the old muckraking mold. (I was also a big Simon/Homicide fan – have the entire series on DVD – which I thought was the best cop show until Shield and Wire upped the ante. Again, the cops come off as a bit screwy, angry or eccentric but pretty decent as opposed to, as noted above, Mackey’s deliberate descent into his own version of Hell.)

  • And some of us would say that David Simon’s other Baltimore show, “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” is pretty good also. Not as ambitious as The Wire, but still better than almost everything else that was on network TV in the 1990s.

  • The video clip which showed the Baltimore mayor talking with his handlers was classic “Wire”, here are some of the other great fictional scenes from the show which are more drama than truth.

    1) The mayor was just elected to the office and he already had ambitions and plans for running for governor

    2) The mayor being advised on how to “doctor” the crime statistics and using them to take responsibility for a lower crime rate.

    3) The mayor never missing an opportunity to take his picture with the police Chief as he announced a crime being solved. The scene where the mayor was at a major fire in a fireman’s jacket always stepping in front of the cameras as reporters attempted to interview firemen. The mayor even had his teeth whitened so his smile would look better on camera.

    4) The stories of the mayor the “family man” having affairs with news reporters were a bit over the top but proved great theatre.

    5) The Mayor’s many International Trips/Vacations to tourist cities, as the city of Baltimore was facing a financial budget crisis.

  • Or Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry series? That was proactive coppage. Good stuff!

    Congrats to you two adversaries on your peaceful reparte’. It seems there are some subjects that can bridge your differing views. I applaud your civil approach. Happy Holidays!

  • Sure Fire Says:
    December 18th, 2009 at 6:56 am

    It (The Shield) also showed gangs for what they truly are.

    …………

    Nonsense.

  • I said no such thing. I’ve never even watched The Wire, so I can’t comment on it. I’m probably the only person who hasn’t watched it. I should probably catch up and rent the DVDs. It sounds good. But I have seen several episodes of The Shield and it did not show gangs for “what they are”, as Sure Fire stated.

  • Loved The Shield too. But, as reg said, it didn’t have the same breadth. I think few things do. (Which didn’t make it less artful.)

    Also, yes, I did get a bit too superlative in the title of this post. Art…um…did exist on TV before this decade.

    I realize WRF is being a bit arch, but “The Wire” did show the range of the people caught up in gangs. Yes, there was Chris and Snoop. And there was Omar, Stringer Bell. Proposition Joe.

    And Bubbles—a brilliant character.

    And the four corner kids as a group who were middle schoolers in season four, each skating at the edges of the gangs at that age, but by season five each having very different outcomes.

    For me, an accurate view of gangs—and much of the heart of “The Wire”—lies in the characters like D’Angelo Barksdale, a heartbreaker of a kid who is a hard core shooter, yet who clearly, had he been transplanted into a different family would have turned out entirely differently. Had he been a U.S. Marine, he’d be a standout. Instead he’s a killer, and goes out as such.

    And Dukie Weems the kid who wants to go back to school and on to college, but ends up on a heroin spike. And Michael Lee (with his brother “Bug,”), a kid who wants to do right, with a deck stacked badly against him. And also Bodie, the taciturn soldier who is neither hopeful nor imaginative enough to do other than play the hand that is dealt him. I’ve seen plenty of “Bodies” turn around in my time. Or not.

    Those characters are much more prevalent in my experience, than people like Marlo, the ice-veined sociopath, or Omar, the poetic gangster hero/antihero, or Chris the conscience-free weapon.

    Snoop is something again. She’s one of my favorite literary creations ever. (And Felicia Pierson is amazing.) The buying-the-nail-gun scene alone…..

    Her last scene of the show was flawless.

    I know someone who reminds me a bit of her, but without the lethality.

    Okay, back to grading papers.

  • Of course The Shield showed gangsters, all types of gangsters as they truly are. Until Robbie can post some type of creds on having ever worked gangs, and I mean all gangs, than he’s just throwing out his I like gangsters their not that bad b.s. I’ll bet right now some low-life gangster is shooting someone as I’m writing this.

    Shot callers, soldiers, snitches, followers with no nerve, politicians and business owners in bed with them, families who covered, cared or didn’t care about their involvement were all covered in The Shield. Same as some of the type Celeste describes with not enough “heart” to do what they know is the right thing. All that and bad cops to boot, great t.v.

    I’d expect a guy who thinks the entire LAPD is nothing but a bunch of nazis would be offended by my take on gangs, like it matters. I’ll bet Robbie thinks there are more Vic Mackey’s than gangsters and there’s very few of them out there. I’m not naive to know there haven’t been some, Bob Sobel was a light weight Vic, but the oddity for sure.

    Back to t.v., also loved T.K.Carter as Gary in The Corner years back. Another Simon creation and right on the money.

  • You know, maybe I need to look back on this, but the gangbangers in the Shield didn’t come across that strong for me. In The Wire I can remember a bunch of them – and not because they were folks I’d like to reach out to with some hugs. Quite a few of them, as my brother-in-law who works for a particularly bad-ass East Bay police department puts it when discussing certain homicides, “needed to be shot.”

  • Incidentally, I just learned – checking out the availability of classic ’50s TV dramas on DVD after this thread brought them to mind – that “Bang The Drum Slowly” was a television drama back in the day before it was a movie…and starred Paul Newman no less.

    (There’s a Criterion Collection disc at Amazon that has the cream of those old shows.)

  • Sure Fire Says:
    December 18th, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    “Of course The Shield showed gangsters, all types of gangsters as they truly are.”

    ……………….

    The Shield showed fake, overly dramatic gangsters for what they truly are, and that’s about it.

    ………………..

    “Until Robbie can post some type of creds on having ever worked gangs, and I mean all gangs, than he’s just throwing out his I like gangsters their not that bad b.s.”

    ……………………..

    What are your creds? You tell me your name, what department you worked for, and how long you were in any type of gang unit. And post some kind of link to verify your identity. Why is the onus always on the person you’re arguing with to have some type of real life experience with whatever it is they’re arguing about? As far as I know, you’re just some guy who baits liberals and minorities on the internet and likes to say he’s a cop. I have no way of knowing who or what you really are until you prove it. In the meantime, you’re just an anonymous right winger who’s wrong about pretty much everything. I don’t have to prove shit to you.

    ………….

    I’ll bet right now some low-life gangster is shooting someone as I’m writing this.

    ……………….

    Just checked the crime log. Didn’t happen. Sorry.

    ……………………

    Shot callers, soldiers, snitches, followers with no nerve, politicians and business owners in bed with them, families who covered, cared or didn’t care about their involvement were all covered in The Shield.

    ……………………

    And very unrealistically, at that.

    …………………….

    I’ll bet Robbie thinks there are more Vic Mackey’s than gangsters and there’s very few of them out there.

    ……………

    OK. There’s more gangsters than bad cops. Got any more excuses?

  • Footnote: It looks like reg’s finally found a suitable protege.

    Disclaimer: The previous statement should not be taken as an endorsement of either faction of this verbal scuffle.

  • Before “Debating” with R.T. we suggest you read another book in our “Dummies” series of publications.
    …………”Arguing with Idiots”……….

  • I don’t need to Robbie and won’t. Which blog you check, gangs are everywhere Einstein? Why would I ever bother proving anything to a guy who has called all of LAPD nazis?

    Nice try.

  • The Wire was superb, but The Shield was predictable and weak. And if you haven’t watched any of the Breaking Bad series, get off your ass and watch it. Season 3 starts in the spring.

  • I will agree with Sure Fire that the end of The Shield was sheer brilliance – a whiper and not a bang.

    But I also agree with reg and Celeste on the sheer breadth of the Wire.

  • As usual R.T. is dead wrong, here is the daily gang shooting which resulted in two murders, including a woman.

    **************

    Man and woman found shot to death in El Sereno

    December 19, 2009 | 9:33 am

    A man and a woman were found early this morning shot to death inside a vehicle parked along a residential street in El Sereno, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

    Police responded to a report of numerous shots fired shortly before 5 a.m. near Warwick Avenue and Martin Street, said Officer April Harding, a spokeswoman for the LAPD.

    When officers arrived at the location they found a man and a woman shot to death, she said. Police believe the shooting is gang-related.

    “One of the victims was a gang member,” Harding said.

    The identities of the victims have not been released and no arrests have been made.

    — Ruben Vives

  • Craig is spot on with his props for Breaking Bad. The series is edgy viewing at its best, the main character’s cancer, the kid’s meth habit, the Cerebral Palsied son, the DEA bro in law, the loving, supportive wife. The injection of the sadistic rival meth dealer and his demise was off the hook. USA Network, FX with Nip/Tuck and the fantastical Sons of Anarchy (you have to appreciate Katy Segal’s rackage) and that witness protection series (what’s it called?) These one-time minor nets are coming into their own bigtime, and there’s something really satisfying about the little guys getting a piece of the pie.

  • It might be noted that I’m commenting from smalltown Midwest where an ice cream social or pick up rodeo and the omnipresent church function coupled with the dubious “pleasure” of trudging through the snow to kill some wildlife is considered entertainment. A few of us hayseeds maybe watch more video pap than what’s healthy in the Winter but what the hey? If you’ve never seen a buncha kids trying to wrangle a greased pig or “mutton busting” you need to.

  • Sure Fire said someone would get shot as he was writing his comment. I checked, and there was no gang related murder, nor even any murder around the time his comment was time stamped. I never said that murders don’t happen in a city as big as Los Angeles. What I said was that Sure Fire was exaggerating, as usual, by insinuating that gang shootings are literally happening every second in Los Angeles. Only in his imagination. But then again, that’s the kind of imaginative fiction you get from a guy who lies about having been a cop in order to win arguments about gangs.

  • I said L.A.? Show me where I said that Robbie?

    Of course The Shield showed gangsters, all types of gangsters as they truly are. Until Robbie can post some type of creds on having ever worked gangs, and I mean all gangs, than he’s just throwing out his I like gangsters their not that bad b.s. I’ll bet right now some low-life gangster is shooting someone as I’m writing this.

    ——

    Again, nice try. A cop killing one of their own right off the bat was “predictable”? I was hooked from the first episode to the last.

  • Oh, ok, you weren’t talking about L.A., but the entire country. Increase your odds. I get it. And of course, if I were to find out that there wasn’t one gang related murder in the entire country yesterday around the time of your comment, you’d then say you meant the entire world. I like your style. Between that and lying about being a cop, you’re a crafty debater.

  • Hostile!! I’m here to proclaim that there was absolutely NO gang killing out here, but the day’s young.

    Please Please don’t make this an entre to some logical lecture of rural vs. urban. I’m just funnun, not to make light of the madness you live around. Peace.

  • I’ve not watched Breaking Bad, but you’ve convinced me Craig.

    Okay, I’m going to wade in against my better judgment. Since I have access to the wire service (but not to police scanners), I can tell you that there was a shooting in Pacoima about a half-hour before SF’s time stamp. No word on whether it was gang related, but the nature of the shooting would suggest as much. I does not appear to be fatal.

    However early this morning there was a fatal shooting in City Terrace (not sure if it’s gang related), and a double homicide in Hollenbeck area (which has my stomach in knots, given what I’m reading), that indeed looks to be gang related.

    I don’t know if there were any gang homicides yesterday. Nothing on the wires, but a good half at least never show up anywhere in the press, only as statistics on the LAPD or LASD sites, and as holes in the hearts of the communities in which they occurred.

    Gang homicides nationwide don’t occur with the frequency that SF is suggesting, but they occur often enough to cause hundreds of thousands of urban kids across America to suffer levels of PTSD equivalent or greater than service people returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Gava Joe, you have just introduced me to the wonderful term “mutton busting.” (Clearly I need to get out more.) I definitely am up for the activity now, thanks to you (as a spectator, not as a participant).

    http://www.elise.com/weblog/archives/002057bull_fest_2006_-_mutton_busting.php

    PS: By the way, the level of argument on this thread is much more entertaining to read then that on the name-calling and mud throwing threads. Congratulations to all. (Maybe I need to post about art and the like (mutton busting included) more often.)

  • Gava Joe, it’s been a few hours since the last time you reminded us that you’re from Kansas. Don’t you think it’s overdue?

    Celeste, point well taken on gang violence. And again, I love how Sure Fure insists that I show some credentials proving I’ve worked with gangs before speaking on the topic, when he’s not willing to show any of his own. That made me laugh so hard I nearly threw up my brandy and eggnog.

  • Because you can’t tell I’m l.e. right Robbie? You’re a donk boy. In May I’ll mark another year in l.e. but maybe it was all a dream.

    Than again, the briefing from a few days ago that went through the entire scenario in Lakewood, Wa. tells me different.

    Breakfast and football time Robbie.

  • Since you all are link happy because everyone thinks everyone else just lies as a matter of general conversation, check this out about gangs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-29-ms13_N.htm

    Now last stats I heard for L.A. was that there were 1,323 victims of gang shootings in 2007. Hell, I’ll just let Robbie’s friend the mayor tell us about it, he’s the source.
    ———–
    In 2007, gang-related killings dropped overall by 27 percent in the
    City of Los Angeles.The news in San Fernando Valley neighborhoods
    was even better: a 40 percent decline from 2006.
    But gang-related violence remains a constant threat to vulnerable Los
    Angeles neighborhoods.According to Los Angeles Police Department
    statistics, 1,323 people were victims of gang shootings in 2007.
    Gang-related violent crime included 3,256 aggravated assaults, 216
    homicides, and 2,719 carjackings and other robberies.
    The perpetrators and victims of gang violence are overwhelmingly
    African American and Latino youth. The time to save our youth and
    protect vulnerable communities is now — before gang violence
    claims more young lives and shrouds more neighborhoods in fear
    and hopelessness.
    We need to inspire our youth and provide them with meaningful
    options, tools and the education they’ll need to be productive citizens
    in the 21st century.
    We need to rebuild communities devastated by the tragic, self-defeating
    reality of gang violence.
    In the following pages, you’ll read about the vision, the methods, and
    the Citywide base of support that will make a significant difference in
    the health and safety of Los Angeles neighborhoods for generations
    to come.
    ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
    Mayor
    ——–

    Considering the amount of gang members estimated to be in the country I’d bet I was right with the claim that got Robbie’s panties all in a bunch.

  • Sure Fire, I’ll bet you there was NOT a gang shooting in the time I typed this.

    And, again, you demanding that other people show some kind of credentials before discussing gangs while you’re not willing to show any of your own is just flat out hilarious. Ha haaaa!!!!

  • BTW, I don’t give a shit what Villaraigosa thinks. I just know he’s not responsible for how bad L.A.’s economy is, as Gava Joe said on another blog under one of his many names.

  • “Again, nice try. A cop killing one of their own right off the bat was “predictable”?”

    What did I say, dipshit? Did I say predictable? Then I meant predictable. Ergo, it didn’t entertain me. This isn’t an arguable point, tool.

    Now, yes, to the rest, if you want to get serious about gangster shows or movies, instead of stylized dialogue and over-used, predictable plot twists, go watch Gomorrah. Now.

  • “Since you all are link happy because everyone thinks everyone else just lies as a matter of general conversation”

    No, fuckwit, it’s because the 99.9% of the folks on the internet are sufficiently literate and understand what a reference to an argument is. It means you link, instead of just vomiting up whatever anecdotal crap comes into your thick skull. Why does something this remedial need to be explained? If you’ve got an IQ above 80, you should be able to understand the simple reason for this “rocket science” called linking. Don’t break your brain figuring it out, though–I don’t want to be responsible.

  • Craig, were you frothing at the mouth when you wrote your post. Last I saw you were running around kissing Reg’s ass. Taste good?

    Saw Gomorrah when it first came out and just not that big into foreign gangster flicks. You claiming the shooting was predictable is total bs, you’re too stupid to have figured that out so that means you’re just another internet liar.

    Like I said dick head, I keep forgetting that there’s so many troll and puss liars on the net, mostly liberal weaklings like you, trying to further their own dumb ass agendas that all people like you can say is “link me, prove it blah blah blah”.

    Get a life.

  • Hey, it was so much more interesting before the name calling started. (I don’t know who began it, it was a number of comments ago, but a bunch of you have descended.) Please dial back that part of the argument, and the scatology.

    Thanks.

  • Get a thicker skin to go with your thick and empty head, imbecile. Nothing you’ve said makes any sense–you tried to “nice try” me, and said nothing of consequence. Then I called your dumb ass out (after never addressing you in the first place) and then you babble on some more. You’ve convinced me of nothing: the Wire > the Shield, Gomorrah > the Shield, and you’re an idiot who thinks linking is brain surgery. For the cerebrally challenged like yourself, yes, perhaps it is.

    Now, stop addressing me and go learn about html and how to send an email to yourself.

  • Speaking of trolls and puss liars, Sure Fire, what about your lie about being a cop? Impersonating a police officer in real life is a felony. You’re lucky you’re just doing it on the internet, stupid kid.

  • You repeating the same claim over and over is pretty brain dead Robbie, same as Scott on his computer prattle. What do you do Robbie, some kush desk job where you have time to troll the net like you do? No girl I guess, they take up time.

    That’s the best you boys have? Simple minded and witless comments meant to entertain the mindless?

    Weak, weak and more weak.

  • “kush desk job”

    The word is “cush”, imbecile. If you want to sound intimidating online, it helps to at least learn how to spell. Especially since you’ve already proved this sophisticated linking thing is beyond your mental capacity.

  • You truly have O.C. shithead, locked down in your group home with others like you but they give you computer time, nice. I don’t try to intimidate anyone dickless, why would I bother doing that to someone I can tell without doubt is a pussy?

    Now you’re the spelling monitor here? A liberal lightweight bitch with limited ability to talk shit is all you are boy. I’m guessing that’s as high as your talent will take you.

    I linked again on another thread dickwad, have fun with it. Now repeat your last post again…and again…and again, you know like always OC boy.

  • See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it? You actually can learn new skills. Consider me amazed. Seriously, I have to give you credit for trying something new–I was perhaps a bit rude to you, but I suppose it did motivate you to finally learn some basic internet political discourse protocol. Maybe it’s because of your previous cop training that you need a more abusive attitude to get you motivated to change your behavior. I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.

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