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The Wire - Omars Day. (YouTube)

Obit Magazine, Off-Beat Obit: “A Man’s Gotta Have a Code”:

“BALTIMORE - Omar Little, the veteran stick-up artist who inspired fear and fascination in drug-plagued neighborhoods across the city, was shot and killed in a west-side convenience store yesterday. Police said the assailant remained at large.

Famed for his brazen robberies of area drug dealers, Mr. Little had retired from what he called “the game” a year ago, moving to the Caribbean with a new romantic partner. But he apparently returned to Baltimore this winter to seek revenge following the brutal murder of a beloved business associate.

Mr. Little’s efforts to hunt down Marlo Stanfield, the man he blamed for the killing, were unsuccessful–an unusual stumble in a celebrated career. He injured his leg jumping out a window during what sources said was a firefight with alleged Stanfield associates. As a result, witnesses said, the once intimidating figure was reduced to limping along city streets on an improvised crutch. (…)”

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Nota Bene: “MANY ARE TRAPPED FOR HOURS IN DARKNESS AND CONFUSION.”

“This ain’t Aruba, bitch.” - Bunk (The Wire: Unconfirmed Reports.)

Entertainment Weekly, ”The Wire”: Bright Lies, Big City:

“Last night’s epigraph - ”This ain’t Aruba, bitch” - was delivered by a slurring Bunk at the bar. All those black bodies found in the rowhouses aren’t enough to warrant a continued investigation, and Bunk, McNulty, and Lester tried to drink away their disgust. Perhaps if those bodies had been white; better yet, if just one of those bodies had belonged to a white teenage cheerleader who had gone missing on an island spring break. Now that would warrant front-page news despite being a cold case for months now.”

(Zie ook: Missing white woman syndrome.)

Fresh Air, Michael K. Williams: He’s Only Playing Tough:

“On HBO’s The Wire, actor Michael K. Williams plays Omar Little, a stick-up guy who robs only drug dealers.

Omar has a scar running down his face. That’s not a prosthetic scar; it’s real. Williams tells Terry Gross the story behind his scar — and lots of other stories about himself and Omar.

Williams’ other TV credits include Law & Order, CSI, Boston Legal and the TV movie of Lackawanna Blues; he’s appeared on the big screen in Gone Baby Gone.

Williams tells Terry Gross that he initially had a hard time figuring out how to be as hard and frightening as the script calls for Omar to be.

“Anybody that really knows me … knows that’s very far from my character, so I just had a hard time finding a believable state of mind to execute the character,” he says. “I just kept going to laughter.”"

Omar Little. Played By Michael Kenneth Williams.

Het vierde seizoen van de Amerikaanse tv-serie The Wire (wikipedia) wordt niet zelden ‘de beste serie ooit op tv uitgezonden’ genoemd. Onnodig overdreven, maar niet eens heel ver bezijden de waarheid. Hoe dan ook, vandaag 6 januari begint het vijfde en laatste seizoen:

“The fifth and final season of ‘The Wire’ centers on the media’s role in addressing - or failing to address - the fundamental political, economic and social realities depicted over the course of the series, while also resolving storylines of the numerous characters woven throughout the narrative arc of the show.

Explains series creator David Simon, “It made sense to finish ‘The Wire’ with this reflection on the state of the media, as all the other attendant problems of the American city depicted in the previous four seasons will not be solved until the depth and range of those problems is first acknowledged. And that won’t happen without an intelligent, aggressive and well-funded press.”"

In Nederland is The Wire overigens niet anders dan via bittorent te volgen. (Leesvoer en kijkvoer na de klik.)
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Inside HBO’s The Wire:

“Continuing to describe The Wire’s visual differences from conventional TV, Chappelle moved to the subject of lighting. “We’re not afraid to let people go into shadow, we seldom have edge lights or give the ladies a beauty light. You know all the things you’re supposed to do, well we usually don’t.” The look of the show is ‘real,’ he said. “You walk into a room and it’s a harsh, fluorescent light. If it goes a little green, it goes a little green. The downlights on some of The Wire’s sets are pretty much ‘practicals’ - of course they’re re-tubed but on sets like the Police station or (Police) headquarters that’s the (florescent lighting) look we’re going for.”"

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The New Yorker: Stealing Life. The crusader behind “The Wire. Lang artikel over David Simon and The Wire.

“The Sopranos” vs.”The Wire”, Two Salon critics duke it out over which series is the greatest ever.

“In a way, it doesn’t make sense to talk of “The Wire” as the best American television show because it’s not very American. The characters in American popular culture are rarely shown to be subject to forces completely beyond their control. American culture is fundamentally Romantic, individualistic and Christian; when it’s not exhorting you to “follow your dream” it’s reassuring us that in the eleventh hour, we will be saved. American culture is a perpetual pep talk, trafficking in tales of personal redemption and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. We don’t do doom. “The Wire” is not Romantic but classical; what matters most in its universe is fulfilling your duty and facing the inexorable with dignity.”

Kottke: “Summer news regarding The Wire (including season five info).”