*Warning - mild spoiler ahead, but it's nothing anyone wouldn't eventually see coming*
And an incredibly interesting, long ass interview with David Simon:August 25, 2006 -- THIRTEEN hours ago, I was a different person.
That was before I sat down to watch all 13-plus hours of the upcoming fourth season of "The Wire," which gets under way Sunday, Sept. 10, on HBO.
I wasn't crazy enough to watch them all in one sitting, but for the better part of the past week, I have been immersed in this show, thanks to HBO taking the unusual step of providing the entire season's 13 episodes all at once.
The shows are so powerful - so well-written, acted, filmed and edited - that the experience of watching them has left me a complete wreck.
I am so blown away by this show that I will go out on a limb here to declare that these 13 episodes just might comprise the single finest piece of work ever produced for American TV.
With the exception of "Band of Brothers" in 2001 - also on HBO - I don't remember ever connecting quite this emotionally with a group of fictional characters on a TV show.
It's not just the show's familiar cast of cynical Baltimore police either, although fans of "The Wire" will delight in the return (after a 19-month absence) of Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn), Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce), Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters), Lt. Daniels (Lance Reddick) and Sgt. Carver (Seth Gilliam).
This season, creator/executive producer David Simon and his writers have come up with something new. To their depiction of cops, criminals and the Baltimore city government, they have added a storyline about the public school system and the difficulties associated with teaching inner-city kids who often choose the corner drug trade over education.
To tell this story, the show's producers have cast a group of child actors whose performances are jaw-dropping - principally the actors who play four neighborhood friends who all attend the same middle school.
They are (for they deserve special recognition): Jermaine Crawford, age unavailable, as DuQuan; Tristan Wild, age unavailable, as Michael; Julito McCullum, 15, as Namond; and Maestro Harrell, 15, as Randy.
Where these four characters are concerned, a warning: If your heart breaks easily, then you might want to avoid watching "The Wire" altogether.
But if your heart can stand it, following the story of these four boys for 13 Sundays this fall will be one of the most rewarding experiences you've ever had watching TV.
http://members.aol.com/TheWireHBO/exclusive.html
