Way Down In The Hole

There were three things that absolutley made my weekend:

1. Not coming into work yesterday,
2. a 4-run rally in the 8th on Sunday,
3. and the season premiere of The Wire.

It is difficult at 8am after a holiday to briefly sum up what is so incredible about this program so fortunately just about every TV critic in the country has done it for me. I will toot my own horn a bit by saying that I have been a huge fan of this show since its very first episode and have long believed that it is the finest piece of original programming that HBO has ever delivered And I am a very big fan of Oz and Deadwood.

The show has spent its first three seasons quietly operating in the shadows of The Sopranos -- a show that got ridiculously self-absorbed after its first season and while purporting to be a character study in American Tragedy really just wallowed in its own celebrity -- and Six Feet Under -- something that, to me, was interesting but lacking a well-conceived story arc. But now with Six Feet Under concluded and, rightfully so, no one giving a damn about The Sopranos anymore, what may be The Wire's best season yet will have an opportunity to shine on its own.

I don't think I would recommend the new season to anyone who has not yet seen the show because it would be difficult to follow and really would not do the show justice. So I guess this is just an advertisement for the series at large. Got get the first three seasons on DVD. Watch them all. And believe the hype when people tell you that this is the most gripping, Real, and engrossing television drama to come along in a very, very long time.