Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Wire

The entire run of The Wire is for sale for $82 (or roughly $170 off list).

I am told this is the best TV show EVER, but I have never seen it.

Should I buy it?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know little about the show other than what I've heard on Fresh Air since Terry Gross is a big fan, along with countless other white people: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/09/85-the-wire/

mcsteans said...

I'd put it on your birthday wish list.

The League said...

Where is this list?

Anonymous said...

Yes.

J.S. said...

It is true that many white people love The Wire. It is also true that many black people love The Wire (the first channel to run it in syndication, in fact, was BET). Anyhoo, I might buy it, and then you could borrow it.

Simon MacDonald said...

I think that you should buy it. People who's taste I trust have seen it and love it. If you wanna go splits on it and ship the watched season's to Canada I'd love to take advantage of that price as it is going for $205 on Amazon.ca :)

J.S. said...

And by the way, at first blush it seems extremely bold to say The Wire has been the best show on TV (see, now we're moving into the territory where this thing has been overhyped, so it's going to have a hard time living up to expectations). The Wire has a large cast, and there's some nuance to it, so it takes some time to really get into it and appreciate it. Having watched the whole show, however, I really am hard pressed to think of very many shows that might have been better television than Thw Wire (which maybe isn't as impressive a claim as it sounds- 95% of all TV programming being complete garbage). HBO just makes good shows. The Sopranos had some outstanding seasons, I was a huge fan of Deadwood (although apparently I was almost alone in that sentiment), and I really enjoyed Rome. I would consider buying Rome and/or Deadwood in thier entirety as well. (by the way, I just ordered it, so you can borrow my copy if you want)

The League said...

Well you and Simon work it out. I'm happy to go in for part of the purchase, but if you want to get it for yourself and loan it, I'll watch it for free, too.

It just seems like a hell of a deal.

Simon, if you want, I can also but it for you and send it to you via post.

Simon MacDonald said...

Hey if you can split with Steanso by all means go for it. I think I'm owed a $10 Amazon.com gift card anyway so I might just buy it for myself anyway.

Steanso you are not the only one who loved Deadwood, the a fore mentioned peoples who's taste I trust love Deadwood too. I've got Rome sitting on my desk waiting for some time when my wife's schedule and mine coincide.

JAL said...

This seems like a difficult show to want to watch more than once, IMHO. Sounds like a job for Netflix or Blockbuster Online. Put that $82 toward comic books and records or some awesome sneakers or one of those sword/skull replicas you seem fond of.

The League said...

I actually feel better about money spent on a TV show than on a movie.

With a TV show, I figure I'm getting x-hours of experience for the price, especially at $82 for 5 seasons. I have purchased enough movies to know that I'm more likely to watch them on cable than I am to dust off the DVD and pop it in the player. But A TV show I might crank through in a few weeks (or even a weekend, in the case of the Sunny in Philadelphia DVDs).

That said, the TV shows I've purchased have been few and far between.

Sunny. Firefly. Some Futurama seasons. Justice League. Adventures of Superman. I had Twin Peaks on VHS.

J.S. said...

And JAL, you may prove correct that The Wire is a hard show to watch more than once (there are definitely some "heavy" parts), but by the same token, there are a bunch of scenes that I am already definitely looking forward to watching again. The Wire had some really good dialogue, and I find that I tend to go back to shows and movies with good dialogue and want to listen to them again. (of course, that doesn't really explain why I find myself watching Independence Day whenever I run across it on basic cable- I guess it's also just fun to watch things blow up sometimes)

Fantomenos said...

YES! Seriously, this stuff is amazing!

My verification is policele, so if that doesn't convinve you...

Jill said...

I wish I could go back to the day when I hadn't seen The Wire so I could go back and watch it again. I love that show.

Dug said...

Jumping in late here as usual, but my girlfriend started watching the show after I finished it, so I ended up watching a large portion of it again when she saw it. I really enjoyed it a second time. It gives you a different take on things, knowing what's going to happen, and I appreciated things I didn't notice the first time.

Anonymous said...

I watched every episode of every season. Then I went back and watched a few episodes of the first season again, and thoroughly enjoyed it. But, I think maybe I would skip the 5th season (and maybe the 2nd) if I had it to do over again.