Sunday, September 10, 2006

I Implore YOU.

I like to know what people are into and what people like. Not because I intend to conform with the masses, (I don’t) but because the knowledge is important all the same. What I’ve seen and heard far too often than I can truly believe is that many Black folks in particular say that their favorite show is The Soprano’s on HBO. Sure, I like that show too, but I find it really difficult to fathom that Black people like The Soprano’s more than HBO’s best series, The Wire. With a 70% Black cast, The Wire is unveiling, unapologetic, hilariously funny, extremely saddening and wholeheartedly fulfilling. It’s like oatmeal. It sticks to your ribs.

Tonight at 10pm on HBO, The Wire premieres its 4th dynamic season. Yet, the show finds itself in peril of not being able to completely wrap itself appropriately with a 5th season, because frankly, people either don’t know about it or they haven’t been brave or smart enough to embrace it. Now that may sound harsh, but serious times call for serious measures. I could write pages and pages of text about this show, (and I will) however all those pages will only boil down to what I am really trying to convey. Watch this show, give it 3 episodes and you will come back and thank me for the nudge. I implore you.

___________________________________________________________________

New viewers can view previous seasons On Demand, through Netflicks or Blockbuster or you can purchase all three past seasons on www.amazon.com. Also, check out the show’s home page here: http://www.hbo.com/thewire

You think I am the only one who thinks this is the best serial show ever created for television? Think again…

‘The Wire’ aims higher: TV’s finest hour is back - KANSAS CITY STAR

“This is TV as great modern literature, a shattering and heartbreaking urban epic about a city (Baltimore) rotting from within.” - TV GUIDE

“A critic for this paper once declared "The Wire" "the greatest dramatic series ever produced for television" and as the fourth season gets under way Sunday night, there's no reason to quibble with that assessment.” - NEWSDAY

“Few series in the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none -- not one -- has done it as well….

An after-school special this ain't.

There is a crushing sense of failure at all turns in "The Wire," but that has never, in three seasons, been as disheartening as it might sound. That's because Simon has ratcheted down the age range of where hope meets reality. And at that intersection, we meet a whole new batch of kids on "The Wire." Emphasis on kids. Simon catches them at a crossroads, their innocence still intact despite it all. Their vulnerability exposed. Season 4 follows the lives of a band of grade-school kids who will find out sooner than they should that their world begins and ends at the corner.

It's not Simon who should worry that people won't watch his show because it's difficult. It's viewers who should worry that they are missing the absolute best of what television has to offer merely because it requires effort.” - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“If you have only one hour a week for television, give it to “The Wire.” - CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“It's time to get 'Wire'-d - after all, it's the best show on TV”- PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

“And you'll want more of "The Wire." Simon and his producers had to fight hard to get this fourth season out of HBO, and ended it with an ambiguity that makes a fifth season necessary. HBO hasn't given the go-ahead yet, waiting to see how this season fares in the ratings.

If you care about keeping great television on the air, give "The Wire" the chance it deserves. Lose this series, and we're all the poorer for it.

WATCH IT” - SEATTLE POST-INTELLEGENCER

“Brilliant, scathing, sprawling, The Wire has turned our indifference to urban decay into a TV achievement of the highest order.” - USA TODAY

“When television history is written, little else will rival "The Wire," a series of such extraordinary depth and ambition that it is, perhaps inevitably, savored only by an appreciative few. Layering each season upon the previous ones, creator David Simon conveys the decaying infrastructure of his hometown Baltimore in searing and sobering fashion -- constructing a show that's surely as impenetrable to the uninitiated as it is intoxicating to the faithful. In its fourth year, the program adds the school system to cops, drugs, unions, the ailing middle class, and big-city politics. Prepare to be depressed and dazzled.” - VARIETY

“The best series on TV, period.” - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“PAY close attention.

It's the only way to get the most out of watching the new fourth season of "The Wire," which happens to be one of the finest TV shows ever made, but nevertheless requires that you concentrate.

Unlike most run-of-the-mill TV shows, "The Wire" contains too many characters and storylines for your mind to wander.” - NEW YORK POST

“The mystery that propels the season is that in the midst of a full-force drug war, there are no bodies so far. The opening scene on tonight’s episode, in which a coldblooded street urchin buys a nail gun at a Home Depot-like store, is a wonder: a chilling exchange between a salesman and a customer about shooting nails. It’s also our first clue. “The Wire” is a beautiful, brave series. This is its best season yet.” - THE NEW YORK TIMES

“For me, television could go away forever, as long as on Sunday nights, it returns to show The Wire. This show is the greatest serial program (Roots was a mini-series) ever made in the history of television and I tell everyone I know and everyone I meet that very same thing.” - WASET

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's just it television has gone away forever for me. Therefore, it is impossible for me to watch it. On the strength of your recommendation alone, i would watch it, but i can't.

Anonymous said...

Shoot, I'll watch it....and I did. Great show! Whoever's not watching it, you're missing a lot, trust me.

When do I get my check Waset? :)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.