Ten and a half months later...

So is The Wire the best thing on TV in the last twenty one years? Yes - because apart from anything else this allows The World At War and most importantly The Phil Silvers Show their rightful place in the TV Pantheon. What about The Sopranos or The Wire? First allow me to explain why The Sopranos is not quite as good as The Wire. The Sopranos is great television, moving, funny, shocking but rarely meaningful. It's derivative which is not necessarily a bad thing but it depends on you getting references to The Godfather and the way a vicious crime boss is sometimes depicted as Homer Simpson is a touch of genius. But there's no moment when you say to yourself, 'That's just like my life!' Now I'm not 'police' and despite the fact I taught in an urban comprehensive in South London does not really make my life like Prez's school in season four but the way in which public service jobs have been reduced to target setting so that the targets are ends in themselves speaks to a very wide audience. All of the characters have their good and bad points there's moral ambiguity all around which makes everything seem more realistic. Towards the end of Season Three where a prominent public servant is spotted in a gay bar his hypocrisy and duplicity is not dwelt upon and preached about it's just noted - all of this resonates with our everyday experience of people. As has been pointed out already by somebody else The Wire is like a novel -you cannot skip the chapter it demands effort but rewards the viewer not just with TV entertainment but the the same reward that great literature brings. The characters are so strong and the acting is simply phenomenal - especially that of the school children. It is so easy to forget that these little guys are acting it's incredible.

What about The Shield? Well it too is great television brilliantly acted and superbly written - it too creates all sorts of moral dilemmas that test our consciences but for me it does not transcend the genre of a cop programme - and it is very much from a police perspective which is fine in itself but it lacks the depth of The Wire. The viewer is given less perspective of the LA politician and little insight into gang members despite it being about much of the same subject matter. Consider what the viewer has learnt about Baltimore drug dealing or teaching or municipal politics with what we learn from The Shield.

Episodes 10 - 11

Hooray! The Second Season is on its way from the good people at Amazon. We're running out! The series continues to get better. The sensitive treatment of a black police officer's lesbian relationship providing a very eloquent rebuttal of accusations that this show is simply for white heterosexual men. (I know at least one Asian woman who adores this show). I'm not convinced it is better than The Shield or The Sopranos but it is definitely up there with them.

Episodes 3 - 9

Yes - we watched quite a few episodes of 'The Wire' on holiday and it gets better and better. Anyone - no matter what job they do - can relate to the 'chain of command' theme that runs through this season. The depiction of the Baltimore drug dealers is often sympathetic and occasionally poignant. Sympathy for some of the police officers arouses similar levels of sympathy in the depictions of their day to day frustrations. Nobody is portrayed as an angel but neither is anyone painted as a devil. It's all shades of grey.

Great holiday with some magical moments. One of the most memorable was cycling back from Fakenham with my stepson along a very dark country lane lit by a full harvest moon that looked like a celestial ball of cheese. I could see something in my peripheral vision looked up and saw beautiful barn owl who had been following us. As I looked he glanced over and banked away from us..

Episode 2

Still don't get the white misogynistic thing about 'The Wire'. One of the strongest characters is a black lesbian. This episode (Season1 episode 2) gets its title from the astute observation that 'If you don't play you can't lose.' This observation is made by the lieutenant's wife. Of course this doesn't prove that it's Spare Rib friendly but it's a long way short of the testosterone levels of say, Top Gear or Rugby Special. It's not yet at the level of the best thing on TV for the last twenty years but we're two episodes in and I'm hooked.

Off on holiday to Norfolk tomorrow. Had to check if cottage had DVD player so we could continue to watch my beloved new box set. It hasn't so room in the car will have to be made for the DVD player.

And after episode one...

Definitely worth it. I can't see how this is just a male white thing. It is thought provoking and compelling. I'm going to find it difficult to resist the temptation to stay up to the small hours to watch episodes. I'm already planning which friends are going to be lent the box set. I don't understand how TV in this country puts out rubbish like Big Brother and Two Pints of Lager but not this.

Had a great time at the park today playing with NPG. Loads of other kids wanted to join in too - lots of parents and carers were there which was a good thing - the catcher had to catch and tickle the others - that's right - they all escaped me. It's right to be cautious about such stuff but sad nevertheless. NPG's sheer enjoyment of it was fantastic. He's still not as fast as he would like to be at running but he is getting faster and runs far more confidently now (and less like a girl!).

TV Musings

What should I do with the free time I have in the summer? On the basis of a good review I've decided to buy the first season of The Wire on DVD. Any doubts about spending £18 on a programme I've never seen vanished when I realised that the same bloke behind Homicide Life On The Street is responsible for The Wire.

There's such a lot of rubbish on TV at the moment (The Shield and House are two honourable exceptions) it makes sense to invest a bit of cash into TV viewing. I'll let you know if I feel it's been worthwhile.