Down to The Wire

Thanks to my video iPod & iTunes, I have been able to finally watch and become a fan of "The Wire". I was always a fan of "Homicide: Life on the Street", which is also set in Baltimore. The connection point is David Simon, who wrote the book Homicide was inspired by, and who became the producer of the The Wire. Because The Wire was on HBO, though, Simon was able to explore content and situations the network format of Homicide wouldn't allow.

When Mrs. Joe & I went to Baltimore last year on a weekend getaway, we took pics of each other on the steps of the station house used on Homicide -- which is an actual working Baltimore police station -- in the beautiful Fells Point area. We also stopped to eat at the bar and grill across the street that served as the Waterfront Bar on the show. In all, I found Baltimore to be a very charming city and not at all the waking civic nightmare depicted on not one but two first-class TV dramas. Has any city's PD (besides New York or LA, I guess) ever benefited so much from two different, top-notch TV shows?

At the time of our trip, though, I hadn't yet watched any of The Wire -- which had just been canceled -- so I didn't have any fan locations to check out because I didn't know of any. Now I'm halfway through Season Four and a huge fan, though I don't think a return trip to Baltimore is in the cards anytime soon.

So, to me this YouTube video featuring some of the cast from the show is pretty damned cool: