Best TV Dramas
If I hear one more person whining about The Wire never winning any Emmys, I may end up turning to drugs. Of course it never won Emmys. Let’s face it: it’s not the stuff Emmys are made of; it’s bleak, cynical, complex, violent, and ruthlessly esoteric. Anyone who says it didn’t take him a few episodes to figure out which end was up either has a police-issued gold watch, Jacob the Jeweler-issued gold teeth, or is a filthy, filthy liar. The characteristics that got the show overlooked at the Emmys are the same ones that made it the best show of the decade. It’s impenetrable on an episodic level, demanding rapt attention week after week. Those who committed to the journey were introduced to a sprawling ensemble of characters so vividly rendered they felt like people we knew, or could know, even if they did just happen to be morally compromised cops or casual killers. We watched an honest-to-God, real-life ecosystem blossom before our eyes, one that felt wholly authentic, like it existed before the opening credits and after the closing ones, and would keep on churning whether or not we were there to see it. The effect The Wire had on its viewers is one that can’t be quantified with shiny statues. I’m sure David Simon would trade an Emmy for the satisfaction of knowing there are people like me who understand on an intellectual level that it’s only a television show, and yet still wonder what Marlo Stanfield is up to these days, and if he’s OK.
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