This week marks the twentieth anniversary of David Simon’s iconic drama “The Wire” on HBO, a show that still tops many ‘Greatest TV Series of All Time’ lists alongside the likes of “Breaking Bad,” and fellow HBO alum “The Sopranos”.
Even so, it was an underdog compared to those other shows which were ratings juggernauts and very much in the cultural zeitgeist. “The Wire” on the other hand was more niche, flying under the radar for many who found it in the years since as characters like Omar, McNulty and Stringer Bell became more well-known.
Simon created and ran the show with the help of real-life retired Baltimore detective Ed Burns. Speaking to The New York Times this week, Burns revealed the pair would never get a show like that made in today’s media climate. Why? It lacks visual scale and sizzle:
“Now, it’s got to be ‘Game of Thrones’. It’s got to be big. It’s got to be disconnected from stepping on anybody’s toes. I’ve watched a couple of the limited series on HBO, and they’re good shows, but they’re not cutting new paths. They are whodunits or these rich women bickering among themselves in a town. I don’t see anybody saying, ‘Hey, that’s a really great show.'”
Burns and Simon re-teamed with HBO on the mini-series “Generation Kill” in 2008, “The Plot Against America” in 2020 and this year’s “We Own This City” – well-regarded but none of which have failed to generate much buzz for the premium cabler.
“The Wire,” however, remains talked about two decades on and can be watched now on HBO Max, VOD or on DVD and Blu-ray.
