TV Heaven


Everyone and his blog has something to say about The Wire, but I have to add my tuppence worth. Very seldom comes the time you can genuinely say something is The Best Thing... Ever in its field, but to say this about The Wire is almost selling it short. In a nutshell, here are the main reasons why we all agree it's so good:


(1) It plays like a novel - the story builds up organically with no mandatory big action sequences or cliffhangers to end episodes.


(2) It's brutally honest. Nobody is perfect, pretty much every character is morally compromised at some point, and institutions never operate the way they should do. Power always corrupts.


(3) Completely believable characters, and terrific performances. A lot of the supporting cast are actual Baltimore natives, many of whom have been involved in escapades on which the characters are based.


(4) It's one of those works where us fans end up jealous of newbies watching for the first time - they have all this magical stuff ahead of them. We can start again from Season 1, but it's never going to be quite the same.


The classic cliche about The Velvet Underground and Nico album is that not many people bought it, but everybody who did went on to form a band. And while we shouldn't expect several thousand imitation shows popping up on Youtube, people who watch The Wire are journalists, politicians, bloggers - "tastemakers", if you will. The acres of broadsheet coverage in no way reflect the paltry viewing figures, but that's okay. We're all going to shout about this thing from the rooftops, and if you don't fancy watching it that's your hard luck.


Oh, of course (5) is that it makes any other drama look lame and predictable in comparison. This is why I'm thinking comedy is the way to go if I want to find my new favourite show. And lo and behold, I've just discovered the US version of The Office. Again I won't witter on, all I'll say is that anybody who like myself watched the first couple of episodes and dismissed this as a mere inferior adaptation really needs to watch from Season 2 onwards. The show has developed a unique identity whilst still retaining the spirit of the original, making me laugh out loud, wince and sigh wistfully at every turn.


Even non-fans of Steve Carrell should try it, as the terrific supporting characters reveal more in one or two scenes per episode than main characters in lesser sitcoms do over the course of entire seasons. I'd even go so far to say that it's frequently close to being perfect. The Best Sitcom... Ever though? Hmm, let's not get carried away.

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