The Wire is, in my opinion, the best show in the history of television (or at least of what I've seen). The Wire seems to have received a lot of critical acclaim and a cult following, especially after its end. Too bad it never got the popularity it deserved when comparing it to The Sopranos. Although I like The Sopranos, I think The Wire brought a lot more to the table in terms of writing, gritty realism, and pure entertainment.
On a related note, a video game journalist gets Yakuza bosses to play and review Sega's "Yakuza 3":<p><a href="http://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html" rel="nofollow">http://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html</a>
As I see a few Wire fans replying here, I'd like to recommend two related books that will give more insight and provoke some thought (if you haven't done so already):<p>Homicide (a year on the killing streets), David Simon
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide:_A_Year_on_the_Killing_Streets" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide:_A_Year_on_the_Killing...</a><p>The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, David Simon and Ed Burns
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corner:_A_Year_in_the_Life_of_an_Inner-City_Neighborhood" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corner:_A_Year_in_the_Life_...</a>
Apparently this reporter is capable of actually doing real research on thug life, rather than the Harvard professors who use "The Wire" as a lazy alternative to studying reality.
They got some things right, as I recall:<p>"Shine proposed that Marlo would kill Prop Joe; the youngest attendee, the 29-year-old Flavor, placed $2,500 on Clay Davis escaping indictment"