Getting Down...to The Wire!

Chris Albrecht, Chairman, HBO, Inc.
1100 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Re: The Wire

Mr. Albrecht:

After reading the January 14, 2005 Variety article by Denise Martin, in reference to HBO’s phenomenal drama series, The Wire, I was compelled to script this correspondence. In the article, it was stated that you made the following comment at the TCA session:

“I have received a telegram from every viewer of ‘The Wire’ – all 250 of them.”

As I type this letter, I’m wondering if you meant for your comment to be taken as a joke, because for the life of me I didn’t find it funny – especially considering you can go to your own website and find that almost 9000 individual memberships have been created or utilized in order to play The Wire trivia game. Now, even if you took into consideration that anyone can create multiple screen names to access the special features on the HBO website, it is highly unlikely each of the 250 people that you indicated were The Wire’s only viewers, took the time to create 36 screen names apiece just to push the numbers up. (Source: www.hbo.com/thewire/games.)

I am troubled to see that the Chairman of a network would make jokes about a show that was not only hailed as “program of the year” by Entertainment Weekly, but has received more critical acclaim than most of the other shows in its continuum combined. Every individual person that I have turned on to The Wire has loved it and has joined the laundry list of loyal viewers. Yet, as I conveyed to one of the Vice Presidents of the film studio where I work, there are too many black people featured on The Wire for it to be nominated for a non-black achievement award, or to even be defended by anyone who counts as far as decisions about the show go. I know, I know…that isn’t your fault, it’s just the way it goes in the industry. Who cares if the show is good or not, just as long as the white folks with the Nielsen boxes are watching - right? For the record, I have never met anybody with a Nielsen box in their home. So, who speaks for me? No one, that’s why I’m speaking up for myself in this letter. Since it has been publicized that HBO’s 2004 profits surpassed one billion dollars, it seems to me that you have enough financial strength to put your money where your good shows are – instead of bringing back debris like Carnivale. Oh, I’m sorry, was that harsh of me to say? Well, for you to say that only 250 people watch The Wire is pretty doggone harsh too.

Of course I like to watch The Sopranos, America Undercover, HBO Championship Boxing, Inside the NFL, Six Feet Under, reruns of Sex In The City and even Deadwood, but I can’t see paying money to a network that makes jokes and considers canceling a show that has received as many accolades and sincere viewers as The Wire; all because the real viewers of the show, the ones that can answer every trivia question on your website, are probably way too dark-skinned to be offered a Nielsen box.

Yes, without The Wire, I don’t believe I will have further need to spend the extra ten dollars a month on HBO. I will spend the time that I use to spend watching your network on creating my own scripts and my own network - because from the looks of things, I know where I can find a stellar cast of potentially unemployed thespians who deserve their just due.

Sincerely,

Waset Regir
author.writer.truth defender.
http://www.waset.net/