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Returning: The Wire

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Critical darling, The Wire will return to Channel Nine, as part of the network’s amended schedule following the exit of The Mint.

The HBO series returns at midnight on Tuesday evening April 1 (12am Wednesday April 2).

“The Boys of Summer” is the first ep of the fourth series. Taking place in Baltimore, this series follows the lives of a number of police officers, criminals, addicts and politicians.

Season 4 will take the show in some new directions, including a look at the lives of some of the local school kids affected by the local drug trade. Four new integral characters are introduced.

Four West Baltimore boys wrestle with what to do with the rest of their summer vacation as the new school year approaches. Bodie deals with his corner running slower than usual so he decides to take on a runner. Stars Jermaine Crawford and Maestro Harrell.

5 Responses

  3. And it only took the boning of The Mint to get it on.

    Seriously, the most engrossing, complex and well told TV show gets bumped for The Mint AND Quizmania.

    Too late now Nine, The Wire fans have already got it from other means. Hell, I’m working through the final series right now.

  4. Simon B

    I tip my hat to you. Great post. “Nicely Done”

    Yes indeed The Wire is certainly the best thing to happen to TV in my/our life times. My advice to anyone who his interested in this show is to not waste your time with channel nines scattered and erratic airing of this show. Simply go to Amazon and order the DVD’s.

  5. This is great news – although it continues to disappoint that Nine doesn’t schedule this brilliant series in primetime. I wonder what sort of ratings it draws in the graveyard shift?

    For those who don’t know, The Wire is the greatest drama series to come out of HBO. Oz was groundbreaking; The Sopranos made high quality drama popular; Deadwood and Rome were both very impressive; Big Love, Six Feet Under and others have had their moments. But it’s The Wire that is the most meaningful, deep, bleak, funny, and heartbreaking of them all. Critics have called it the greatest television drama in history, and I’m yet to come across anyone who has given it a shot (i.e. watched all of the first season) and hasn’t agreed with the critics.

    It tells the story of Baltimore, with each season looking at a different facet of the city – the failure of the so-called ‘war on drugs’, the death of the working class, politics, schools, the media. To most viewers it appears as a simple ‘cop show’ at first – but it quickly evolves into much more than that: a critique of failed postmodern institutions in American cities, channelling greek tragedy as the source of its drama. Of course, the problems endemic to American cities different to those in Australia, but it’s easy to apply the show’s bleak view of the institutions of Western capitalism to those we have here.

    Anyway, I implore viewers to watch the fourth season – or, ideally, rent or buy the first season and start from there. When the fourth season aired in the US in 2006, the generally disappointing ratings improved, since it’s the easiest season since the first one to jump into as a new viewer. But since the whole show is essentially a 60-hour novel, it really should be read from the start.

    Incidentally, the final episode of the fifth (and final) series aired in the US a week and a half ago, so I guess Nine might air it sometime in 2010? Unfortunately, Australian Wire fans generally have no choice but to illegally download it – hell, the last season released on DVD here was season two, and that came out in 2006 (although it was originally broadcast in the US in 2003!!).

    Oh, and if you do choose to watch it, make sure you don’t miss an episode. It’s the sort of show that rewards careful viewing – the pace can feel slow for the first few episodes of each season, but it’s all designed to build to pay-offs in later episodes. Stick with it and pay close attention.

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