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Wednesday, 10 August 2005
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My daughter saw a sale brochure from Big W the other day and noticed, among the DVDs on special, the complete first season of the best
show I have ever seen on television. The best. Better than any other.
No exceptions or doubts. The best. And she bought it for me.
So what is it? The Wire.
You've never heard of it right?
Of course not. Only two people in Australia watched it. Me and my sister, and she because I made her.
And I only found it by accident.
It was two summers ago, summer being the season TV stations put on all
the filler shit they've been forced to buy to get the stuff they really
want, the Seinfelds and such.
I scan the TV program guide to see what might be interesting,
particularly in lean viewing times. I saw at 12.30 Tuesday night,
surely the graveyard of television, two words, The Wire.
I thought, "Interesting title", so I set the VCR. Next Tuesday came and
it was on at a completely different time, 1.00 am or so. But I hadn't
watched the first episode. I thought, bugger it, I'll tape this one
too. Then the next Tuesday came and I hadn't watched either of the
first two episodes! And the next episode was on at 2.00 am or some
ridiculous time, because Channel 9 doesn't care about anything after the 8.30 slot, particularly if there is a sporting event on.
What to do? I was on leave so I made up my mind to sit down and watch
the first two hours (if I could stand it) and decide then whether to go
on taping the series, knowing full well that I might have to use a full
videotape to capture each episode, because Channel 9's advertised times were always wrong (sport again I guess).
I watched, and was hooked from the start. Firstly the theme was the Tom Waits song Way Down in the Hole (which I had played with the band Cookin' with Chili) sung by someone whom I did not know, but it was a miraculous version. I later found out that it was The Blind Boys of Alabama.
It was a crime show, but unlike any I have seen, although, with good reason, it had similarities to Homicide: Life on the Street. Both were set in Baltimore, a city with a larger black population than white. Later I found that the creative team were the same.
Unlike most crime shows, the series did not solve one or two crimes in
every hour long episode. The whole series was about one investigation.
Unlike most crime shows, the cops weren't entirely the good guys and
the bad guys weren't all bad. It didn't blur the lines quite as much as
The Shield does - the cops were generally not corrupt - but politics certainly played its part in dealing with crime.
The acting was superb, at least two key parts played by British actors, and showing their superiority.
I say again; the best I have ever seen. I particularly enjoyed one
scene which achieved something I attempted, and failed at, years ago. I
wanted to write a scene for a play in which almost the only word was fuck.
In one episode these writers did just that, and did it with meaning,
and it made sense in the context of the scene. It was wonderful. As
with most episodes, I watched it, rewound the tape and watched it
again. It was that good.
It was very difficult to watch the entire series, because it was
impossible to predict what time it would actually air. You've never
heard of it because it was never promoted or advertised. Channel 9 did not care about it. It has never been repeated; all kinds of other crap has.
In 2006 series four of The Wire will air in the USA. I saw the first series by accident two years ago. No other series has aired in Australia.
And that is why I hate Channel 9
Postscript: I'd love to see The Corner too.
1:18:14 AM 
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© Copyright 2005 Peter Nixon.
Last update: 27/9/05; 9:53:59 PM.
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