HBO stands for "Home Box Office", but it should stand also for "Home of the Best Originality."
Every single year since they have commenced their original programming shows and mutated from just a channel that showed old blockbuster movies to a dynamic and captivating network changing the television forever, HBO has continued to be the standard that the other networks, whether broadcast or cable, can't even reach.
They have done it with the mob professionaliasm of "The Sopranos", the sassiness of "Sex in the City", the ruthlessness of "Oz", the wonderfully peculiar of "Six Feet Under", the shiekness of "Entourage", and the brutal impenitence of "Deadwood".
But all of those shows have been captured into one, maybe not completely, but at times, by the best show ever made by the network (and still sadly the most underrated, "The Wire". As the other shows either showed a hint of inconsistency, ended to early, or just didn't impact your perspective on life despite enhance your entertainment pleasure, David Simon's directed attempt on his hometown is a masterpiece at ever angle.
"The Wire" depicts the struggles that underscore not only the inner cities of Baltimore, but the urban communities across the country. But to say that is all "The Wire" does is indeed a massive indictment of understatement. It exposes the egregious ways of government from the top to the bottom, and captures the lives of both good police and corrupt misguided ones who abused their power. But what made "The Wire" transfrom from a great show its first three seasons into one of legendary status was everything in its memorable fourth season.
Education in the United States is no longer segregated, but "The Wire" showed how the school system, especially in urban America, is still a paramount disaster. Kids are neglected, teachers are pathetic, and everyone is basically apathetic, which in part leads to kids being horrible, teachers being irresponsible, and the school system itself in complete scambles. It was brilliantly displayed by not only the writing staff of Simon, Ed Burns, and company, but by the most precocious child acting in television history. Stunning performances by teenagers Julito McCullum, Tristan Wilds, Jermaine Crawford, and Maestro Harrell made the show reach a level that only few others have ever raised, in all genres.
In its fifth and final season, you would hope "The Wire" won't end without a definitive close unlike David Chase's controversial blackout in the diner. And you wouldn't mind a movie being made out of it if the ending isn't resolute like Sarah jessica Parker and her co-horts in New York City divine. But "The Wire" does the best for itself, and only itself. It needs no help or assistance for it has proven its undeniable class.
"The Wire" is not for the faint of heart, but your heart will surely faint at its brilliance. It has every great HBO show in it and thensome, because it stands alone among the greats of a great network of excellence.
And unlike those others shows, you can't get a reading without "The Wire".
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