The 60th Annual Emmy Awards nominations have been announced, and as Gillian Reagan points out on our sister blog, Culture Czar, quality television purveyor HBO was shut out of the Best Drama category. There wasn't even a spot for The Wire, which finished its final season beneath an avalanche of critical praise.  read more »

That may not be such a shame according to Time's James Poniewozik, who writes, "Maybe it's more fitting that The Wire can go out with its purity of outrage and injustice intact. And at least an HBO-less drama category may be a little more interesting." HBO might've had a nomination in Mad Men had they not ]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/better-luck-next-year-hbo#comments Frank Rich HBO Mad Men The Wire Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:14:23 -0400 Matt Haber 72008 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/generation-kill-required-punishing-viewing

Critics who got an early look at Generation Kill, the new HBO miniseries about the first 40 days of the Iraq war created by Wire masterminds David Simon and Ed Burns, were treated to more than the first five (of seven) episodes on DVD. As part of a multipacket press kit, they also received a glossy, four-color guide explaining where each soldier ranks in the unit of elite Marines that is the show’s focus.

It’s unfortunate that such a guide doesn’t seem to be available on HBO’s Web site (though Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune has posted it on her blog), because unless you come in to Generation Kill with a strong grasp on Marine hierarchy, it won’t be until the third or fourth episode that most of the characters will differentiate themselves, or that any kind of chain of command seems clear at all.  read more »

Amy Ryan, the gal who starred as "Beadie" Russell on The Wire, will reprise her role as human resources representative Holly Flax on The Office next season. Ms. Ryan appeared in last year's season finale as a puppy love interested of Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott. "I don't know what they're going to do with the character," Ms. Ryan told Variety, "but as it was written, there's certainly a lot of potential. It's a funny thing to enter a show that you're a great fan of -- and it's nice to tell lighter stories. I love the dark, grittier side of life, but it's nice to take a break from that, put a skirt on and brush your hair.  read more »

On Saturday night at Tribeca Film Festival’s premiere of Tennessee, we caught up with the righteous and stern Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire, also known as Lance Reddick.  read more »

At the Columbia Journalism School on Wednesday night, David Simon, the former crime reporter and creator of HBO’s massively popular urban drama series The Wire, didn’t waste any time before he started blasting his ex-bosses at The Baltimore Sun, the overall quality of American newspapers and, harshest of all, newsrooms that are more concerned with winning prizes than with maintaining sophisticated and nuanced coverage.

“To explain the who, the what, the when, the where, the how—that’s easy shit. It’s even easy shit if you caught someone with their hand in the till, if someone’s doing something overtly wrong,” said Mr. Simon, who was soft-spoken, but seemed to enjoy dropping a few choice expletives. “The why is epic. The why is where journalism becomes an adult game.”

But, he continued a few minutes later, “The why will not get you a prize. Where was their dick caught? That shit will win you a prize.”  read more »

If David Simon is Captain Ahab, then call me Ishmael. Mr. Simon, the newspaper-reporter-turned-television-producer, stands accused of unhealthy obsession because he is using the current season of The Wire to revisit his old workplace, The Baltimore Sun.  read more »

This is a bit off the beaten track, but we couldn't help noticing that an ongoing inter-blog discussion about the socio-political implications of the official "Greatest TV Show Ever", The Wire (whose upcoming season, by the way, takes viewers inside the newsroom of The Baltimore Sun), has been joined by none other than Wire-creator (and former Sun reporter) David Simon himself.

The conversation was sparked by this rare Wire critique by Mark Bowden in The Atlantic.

And, of course, The Observer also weighed in on the show this week.

On Sunday night, Jan. 6, HBO will broadcast the first episode of the fifth, and last, season of The Wire. To assure fans: The show continues to offer perhaps the most loving and damning portrait of Baltimore ever put to film, from the cops to the teachers to the drug dealers to the politicians who make that city the charming disaster that it is. And as a bonus, a parade of favorites from past seasons (hey, was that Nicky Sobotka?) will be trotted past, like perps on a walk, before the final goodbye.  read more »

Wendell Pierce, who plays the lovable drunk detective William "Bunk" Moreland on HBO's The Wire, told Reuters that getting props from drug dealers who watch the show was "the highest compliment." According to actual police detectives who listen in on real phone taps for drug cases, "the chatter went dead during the show's hour-long broadcast."  read more »