Why don't more people talk about The Wire?

I love the Wire - actually just yesterday got completely caught up to the current episode. I also consider it the best TV show, and my current favorite. Other shows touch on issues of race, politics and drugs (Hill St, The Shield, Homicide, The Corner), but the Wire really shines on its realism. I'm not a Baltimore resident but i have been there a few times and Baltimore is a big part of what makes the Wire so great (as it was for Homicide & The Corner).

As you get into the show, it does become "entertaining" -- as long as your definition of entertainment can include things that happen in real life, and not just a bunch of beautiful actors playing shoot-em-up.

I agree with most of the commenters that "The Wire" is the best show on television.

For me, it comes down to having someone to discuss the episodes with. It takes so much thought, that I miss many things. If you have someone to discuss the show with, it makes it easier to piece together what is going on.

Of course, predicting what will happen in the next episode? Next to impossible.

Ever since the first season I've been trying to get people interested in this show. There's just nothing like it; it redefines the medium. But a lot of people who watch it can't stand it. "Too depressing" is the most common criticism I've heard--"Late on a Sunday I don't want to look at the failure of American society," is how my uncle put it.

Other shows flirt with social relevance or controversy. The Wire is the only one I know if that makes race, class and poverty its ongoing, relentless focus. That's bound to make folks uneasy.

If someone has trouble understanding the dialogue, the accents of the drug dealers, my advice is the same as for someone who gets lost with the dialogue on Deadwood or a BBC America presentation: Turn on the closed captioning. I'm not hard of hearing, but I've found it useful for these shows.

The Wire isn't completely incomprehensible to "Middle America," either. I grew up in a town of 5,000 in Tennessee, and now live in a small city of about 50,000, but I have no trouble grasping the storylines, relating to the characters or seeing the broader implications of what's discussed.

It's the best show on American television -- possibly the best show anyone's doing anywhere -- and David Simon really deserves a shot at wrapping it up with a fifth season.

#18 does such a nice job with the "novel" analogy that makes me want to add to my post (#13). It is not only a novel, it is a DIFFICULT novel. Anyone who has ever finished Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow will tell you it's the greatest novel ever written. However, to finish it requires a serious commitment and alot of work. Some people don't want to give that commitment or do alot of work to be entertained (especially when it comes to TV - it's the "Idiot Box" after all). They want to sit back and let it come to them. That's why few people have read Gravity's Rainbow, and few have watched The Wire. But to finish that commitment is the greatest reward.

I think the analogy to make with both The Wire and Deadwood is to think of them as novels, rather than TV shows. The writing is densely layered, the plots take a long time to build, the characters are all intertwined, often in ways they themselves don't understand, and the language is filled with argot. Like a thick novel, the work is challenging and time-consuming, but the end result is so much richer than something like Lost (which I enjoy, but not with the same degree of ardor I have for The Wire or Deadwood).

I love the show. I think its the best show on TV. I'm surprised people have trouble following the plot. I'm not very bright and I don't have a problem keeping up with The Wire. I have much more trouble with Deadwood, probably because I just can't make out half the dialog. But that's another story.

It probably is tough to jump in the middle of a season, but in one or two episodes you could figure out what's going on. And Netflix is a wonderful thing for catching up on shows you missed the first time around.

To those who haven't been watching The Wire. Please rent the first or second season and give it a chance.

I gotta tell you, I did not like the show much at all. We actually rented season one from NetFlix. We got the first three disks, and sat down last Saturday for a marathon. After disk one, we seriously thought of stopping. We just could not get into it. Then half way through disk two, we finally quit. Sorry, but I personally did not like the show at all, and would not recommend it to anyone. I really like finding shows like this that are not heavily watched. Firefly, Veronic Mars and Boomtown are three of my favorite shows to come out in the last 5 years (two are now cancelled). I tried to give it the good old college try, but simply could not get into The Wire.

#13 hit it on the head. It is the best show on TV, but too many people want "stupid TV" that don't require them to think or remember storylines, characters, etc. between episodes. Sort of reminds me of Fight Club with the "single serving" everything. Most people want to turn on and tune out their minds. This show is not for them.

For me, I love this show and have loved it since ep 3 of season 1. I hate waiting a week in between episodes.

Good points...also, I think that to you have to have a working knowledge of urban city (and more specifically Baltimore city) politics. I live near Baltimore and actually know people who have been extras in the wire, and I think the show is spot on with its representation of the city. However, people in middle America just might not get it.