BY JAMES DOOLITTLE For all you bitchasses who still refuse to believe that the greatest thing since the marriage of McNugget and Honey Mustard Sauce is actually found on television, excuse time is OVER! No longer can you complain about not having HBO, or having to shell out mad money for a slew of Blockbuster rentals. Starting tonight, the first season of “The Wire” begins airing on BET, and as I said — NO EXCUSES! Even if you don’t have basic cable, you at least know someone who’s stealing it. Mind you, this isn’t a bandwagon you can jump on when you feel like it, so get it while you can. It’s more rewarding than any work of fiction released in the last decade, be it book, flick or Diddy album — a true work of craftsmanship, full of nuances and tics and heartbreaking realities that all but
renders everything else moot. And to boot, the intricate plot lines, laced with intellectual hoods, broken-down cops, corruption, dashed hopes, failing waterfronts, skyrocketing murder rates, mayoral aspirations and underfunded schools is sooooo Philly, even though the series is set it Baltimore.
For the diehards in attendance, enjoying the fruits of the series’ relative anonymity is all but over. Every time I see State Senator Clay Davis (actor Isaiah Whitlock Jr.) hawking Verizon to his “daughter” on that commercial, I cringe, because this dude playing State Senator Clay Davis should play nothing else but State Senator Clay Davis until the series is six feet under, ya dig? Same goes for actor Dominic West, who’s gone all gladiator and shit in the upcoming adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300. Dammit man, Det. McNulty wouldn’t take on the entire Persian army with a sword and shield — he’d drink ’em under the fucking table!
And don’t even get me started on the real-life hip-hop aspirations of the series’ lead actors. As per a recent hit on AllHipHop.com:
As viewers prepare for The Wire’s upcoming fifth season, two members of the show’s cast are spreading their wings with pursuits into music. Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale) is putting the finishing touches on his first untitled rap album, while Idris Elba, (Stringer Bell) is opting to make his mark as a DJ. “Actually [my album] is getting mixed right now. My mixer on there mixed [Dr. Dre’s] The Chronic album just to give you an idea of how dope it’s gonna be,” Harris revealed to AllHipHop.com.
Hey Wood, no offense, but here’s a rock analogy; the dude who mixed Nirvana’s “Nevermind” did the same for Silverchair AND Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Just sayin’.
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