It may have failed to capture the attention of audiences when it first premiered in 2002, but The Wire eventually became one of HBO’s most successful shows and is now considered the greatest TV drama of all time.
Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the series captures the erosion of the city and the futility of the War on Drugs. Season one established the base storyline in which a hard-drinking detective (Dominic West) attempts to take down the heads of a major drug ring, only to learn that the operation extends far beyond the city’s streets.
The subsequent four seasons each explored a different facet of the drug world – the port system, the city government, education and journalism. Together, they create a fascinating show that weaved together a complex and carefully constructed story that provided an incredibly realistic look at urban life and the drug problems that continue to plague our society.
Last week, the Paley Center in New York held a reunion for The Wire and we were on hand to speak with creator David Simon and cast members Wendell Pierce, Sonja Sohn, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jim True-Frost and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. We discussed with them the show’s impact and why it has become so loved and highly praised.
Check out what they had to say in the video above and if you for some reason have yet to watch this brilliant series, make sure you remedy that immediately.