I'd just like to say I have no idea what you're talking about.

Is this something you'd need cable/the podcast to have heard about?

I hit them about the head and shoulders with my meaty Irish fists until they submit*. Then I hold them while they have a good cry and apply a cold, damp towel to soothe the lumps and contusions. Friendship is a duty.


*I thumped one of my frailer friends right into a coma, but when he awoke there I was with the dvds and a glass of chilled fresh squeezed orange juice.

I tried to get my mom to watch it. She told me it was "too black". Sigh.

Nah--I don't have cable, and I've known about it for years.

When I've been able to convince people to watch the first 2-3 episodes, that's often enough to get 'em hooked. On the other hand, one of my friends watched about five minutes, decided that it's 'such a dude show,' and that was the end of that. Sigh.

This is why I try to not do a lot of evangelizing about media and art and whatnot--sometimes I feel like I've got too much invested.

A friend of mine nagged me constantly for nearly a year to start watching The Wire--even after I bought season 1 on sale I let it sit on top of my TV for months while I watched lesser things. I think it was the analogy "Deadwood is to traditional westerns as The Wire is to traditional cop shows" that got me to watch it, but that's only because I'd already seen two seasons of Deadwood and love it to pieces.

Saying that "it's the best show on television" (which a couple of people did, over and over again) definitely did not work for me, since many programs have previously been pitched to me as "the best show on television" that later turned out to be things I didn't find worth my time. Using that phrase to describe a TV show automatically makes me suspicious, not just of the show (which is likely to be cultish, but not good), but of the person pitching it to me (who is likely to be fannish, with tastes that don't match up with mine).

Recently I got a friend to watch it just by handing her the season 1 box and saying "Hey, watch this. I think it's really good, but it's not for everyone. If you don't like it by the end of the second episode, don't bother watching the rest." By the end of the second episode she was hooked.

when he awoke there I was with the dvds and a glass of chilled fresh squeezed orange juice

Yes, but did he watch the program?

I asked a very good friend today if he'd even *tried* to watch it. "Yes" he replied. "So, how far into Episode One did you get?". "Oh no, I only got as far as intending to watch it", he says.

There seems to be some sort of barrier which you can't get past without hyping the show.

I try to pitch it to Homicide fans, but I haven't lent out my copies yet.

I'm kind of glad the Wino pummeled me into submission on The Wire. I had an irrational aversion to HBO Series, probably based on SITC. But The Wire featured a lot of my favorite actors and writers (Richard Price! George Pelecanos!)and some fairly astute thinking. Also, Omar Little is one of the great badasses in TV history and Stringer Bell is quite the urbane and charming Lucifer (as is Tommy Carcetti). I wish they had gone further with the Sobotka story arc, since I'd be interested in finding out who The Greek* actually was and who's further up the food chain than him and Vondas.I also have grown very attached to Bups. I've managed to get midway through the third season and there's another DVD arriving from Netflix today. I'd also like to see JD Williams play another kind of role since he's made a career out of playing not-too-swift thugs up to now.

*That storyline also got me to download some old rembetika music. great stuff.

More Wire from Netflix tonight! (I dread reaching the end of the line... Deadwood's next on the que, though... should take the edge off the withdrawal.)

There isn't much music in The Wire because it all has to be natural or in the last couple of episodes. At the end of season two there's some Greek music. Is that what you mean by "rembetika", jonmc? Because I'd really like to hear that outside the context of the show.

I did notice the word "agape". I dunno why I mention that.

That song they play at the end of the second season is awesome, I'm going to listen to it right now. Here is the website/blog of the dude who does the music for the wire.

You can get the song there, btw.

Your friends won't watch the Wire? Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

(Spoiler warning: if you haven't watched season 4, you might want to skip my link above. Sorry.)