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"The Wire" Review By Shawn McKenzie 06/04/2002 If I haven't stated it before, I will say it now: "Homicide: Life on the Street" was the best cop drama ever put on TV. When I heard about the credentials behind HBO's new series "The Wire," I was really looking forward to watching this show. "The Wire" was created by David Simon, the man behind "H:LOTS" and the Emmy-winning 2000 mini-series "The Corner." Some of the episodes were directed by Clark Johnson, the man who played Det. Meldrick Lewis on "H:LOTS" and directed the great HBO TV movie "Boycott." It is the story of three different worlds: cops, lawyers, and criminals. To get into the details would be too long-winded, but just think of the worlds above portrayed evenly. So evenly that they begin to parallel each other. I have the same problem with this series that I have with the NBC series "Third Watch." By portraying so many worlds at the same time, you meet too many characters to keep up with all of them. I got so frustrated with "Third Watch" initially that I gave up on the series. It takes me a while to get used to all of the characters on a new series, and when I am asked to distinguish between too many of them at the same time, I usually throw in the towel. Plus with so much going on, I'm confused as to what is going on in this series. I am going to give it another try though. The series "100 Centre Street" on A&E started the same way, but I realized that they just needed to introduce all of the characters. They soon settled into the format of telling one set of characters' stories at a time. I stuck with that series and it paid off. I ended up really liking it (of course it helped that it had the great movie director Sidney Lumet behind it and "Party of Five" super-hottie Paula Devicq in it to keep me glued.) Unfortunately it was cancelled, but it was good while it lasted. Maybe "The Wire" will do the same thing for me. Heck, even "H:LOTS" didn't catch me at first!
Ratings System:
DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!
Try to catch this show every week...
If a better show is on, tape this one...
If nothing else is on, maybe this will be good...
If this show is on, change the channel immediately!
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