It was originally produced and aired by HBO. BET bought the rights to show reruns.

HOWEVER,

BET cannot show nudity or air words like "fuck." Worse, BET heavily cuts many scenes from the show, starting from Season 2. It becomes a totally butchered show and if you're going to watch The Wire, you have only once choice: The original versions from HBO (either through HBO OnDemand, DVDs, or piracy)

ukbarksdale

United Kingdom1 Post

December 06 2007 17:33 GMT

#43

We here in the UK love the wire. One because it is the first show i have seen that gets the street on street level. The only thing i cant understand about u americans is why u cant buy at wholesale and sell your own product. In the UK a drug dealer only suppliers the drugs. They do not pay ppl a weekely wage to work corners they little would tick give drugs and await the money from teh dealer who would then repay him at a later date when they agreed. In the wire they get paid a wage for selling not for slingging thier own shit that they could fo bought from string or avon. Could someone tell me why u guys cant buy a pound of weed and sell it at 20 bags? and make the profit ur self?

Lazerflip!

United States25 Posts

December 06 2007 17:54 GMT

#44

I live in Baltimore, and it's TOTALLY not like that at all.

@ UK, it's not like that at all. The way we do it in USA is just how you described, and the only exceptions are large-scale dealings in Cocaine, which is the drug most involved in gang warfare. As long as you stay away from very limited choice areas that are controlled by the gangs, you are pretty much fine. The best choice is to obviously buy at wholesale and sell by half-gram or so, at a higher price per unit. The obvious downfall to this is that it's pretty hard to find someone who will sell you any drug other than Marijuana in any significant quantity, and if you do find someone, you can pretty much bet your ass that he's a shady character and probably wants to screw you over somehow. You really have to have friends who have your back in this kind of situation. But really, don't take "The Wire" as a "guide to American drug dealing" because 99% of the time, it's not like this at all. Drugs are becoming more mainstream and socially acceptable, and you don't have to go to the inner city and deal with a gang to get a g of coke anymore.

.dragoon

United States749 Posts

December 06 2007 18:35 GMT

#45

You live in the Baltimore ghetto?

Lazerflip...

United States13 Posts

December 07 2007 10:05 GMT

#46

No, but I have been there many, many times. Thing about the "ghetto" is that all the bad areas are literally RIGHT next to really nice areas, so someone trying to do some shopping or hit some clubs would find it quite easy to make a wrong turn and end up in an area they probably didn't plan on being in.

Breavman

Sweden598 Posts

December 07 2007 10:23 GMT

#47

I've been watching a lot of Homicide: life on the street lately if any of you remember it. It also takes place in Baltimore. That show is so great. I'll definitely look in to The Wire too.

Elwood Blues

United States261 Posts

December 07 2007 10:39 GMT

#48

ukbarksdale, it differs a lot from city to city here, but in my experience the police are pretty vigilant when you get into quantities a pound and up. Bartering and wrist slapping is commonplace dealing with numbers south of there, favoring bigger busts that yield bigger numbers, bigger arrests and oftentimes better funding. There comes a point where professionalism in the business of marijuana here means introducing measures and risks into an average day that many people simply aren't willing to deal with, ultimately making the lesser quantity easier to justify.

Obviously these things change as you get closer and closer to the heart of a major city, and tolerance can vary regionally, but this country's simply more spread out than those of Europe, and so the place of the middle man and his back and forth with the law change accordingly. Can't say if my words apply to anything other than marijuana as I simply don't have experience with anything else.

brambolius

Netherlands448 Posts

December 07 2007 12:49 GMT

#49

On September 05 2006 08:27 Hot_Bid wrote:
It's heavily continuity based so missing an episode fucks you, and I like this because it assumes the watcher is intelligent and capable, rather than dumbass network television geared to entertaining your ass for one episode at a time with little carryover.

southpark
simpsons
futurama
family guy
american dad

HonestTea

5007 Posts

January 04 2008 02:45 GMT

#50

Guess who's back, jack?

DJEtterStyle

United States2766 Posts

January 04 2008 02:52 GMT

#51

Legit show. I'd never heard of it until my brother mentioned it to me a week ago, and since then I've frantically been trying to play catch-up in preparation for the new season. I'm through Season 1, which was completely outstanding and left me feeling a little sick to my stomach. I'm hoping to start Season 2 tonight, though I obviously won't be caught up in time to watch the first episode of the new season on January 6th.

CharlieMurphy

United States22895 Posts

January 04 2008 03:17 GMT

#52

On December 03 2007 15:44 HonestTea wrote:

Show nested quote +

fixed

HonestTea

5007 Posts

January 04 2008 03:47 GMT

#53

Clever. Thank you for your contributions.

Honestly, if you have some spare change, pay for the damn show, buy/rent the DVDs or order on HBO OnDemand

Asgard

United Kingdom27 Posts

January 04 2008 18:41 GMT

#54

Incredible show. It just got better and better too: season 1 was good but by season 4 it was just flawless. Season 5 starts airing this month doesn't it?

fbs

United Kingdom2476 Posts

January 04 2008 18:46 GMT

#55

Huge spoilers in that first video........

The final season S5 starts on Sunday.

Bosu

United States3247 Posts

May 20 2009 00:19 GMT

#56

Just finished season 5. Probably my favorite show ever. One of the only shows that has an ending that completes every plot line.

Epicfailguy

Norway893 Posts

May 20 2009 02:14 GMT

#57

Nice bump.
Seriously though, nice bump..I got to read Hot_bids story about that ziggy dude from season two being a cool guy and denzel being as asshole..a shame that people let their success go to their heads and act like they can do whatever the fuck they want.

About the wire: Its an incredible show, I've watched all seasons and I love it to death.
HBO is so good. They've got so many good shows its ridiculous, but the downside is that you can recognize like half the cast in several of their series from Oz, and it can sometimes crash.

feathers

United States236 Posts

May 20 2009 02:30 GMT

#58

breaking bad is a good show, you should download it.

Bosu

United States3247 Posts

May 20 2009 04:07 GMT

#59

Ye every show on HBO that I have seen is one of my favorites. Sopranos got most of the attention, but I loved Oz, The Wire, and Carnivale much more.

Excalibur_Z

United States12252 Posts

May 20 2009 05:42 GMT

#60

I just finished watching Season 1 of The Wire and it's great. I love how the characters' decisions and motivations are all actually believable and there's not any ridiculous "magic policework" like miraculous discoveries, incredibly farfetched plot twists, or national criminal DNA databases. It's pretty realistic (though also a bit exaggerated and obviously fictional) which gives it a real gritty and down-to-earth quality. Fantastic show, can't wait to see the other seasons.