Read an excerpt from Snoop's tale.

08.24.2007 | Turning a Corner
David Simon finds a happy ending. More.

08.24.2007 | Ryan's Hope
It's not all floating bodies for 'Wire' actress. More.

08.17.2007 | Lesser Burden to Bare
McNulty's wife keeps it decent onscreen...Read more in The Buzz.

06.15.2007 | August 11th: Meet Levy!
Michael Kostroff (unscrupulous gang attorney Maury Levy on The Wire) will be signing copies of his popular book, Letters from Backstage: The Adventures of a Touring Stage Actor. The book is a funny, behind-the-scenes chronicle of Kostroff's two years on the road as an actor in The Producers and Les Miserables. He'll be reading chapters, meeting fans and taking questions about his career, life on the road and his role on The Wire.

Saturday, August 11th, 2pm
Clayton Fine Books
317 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD
410-752-6800

06.15.2007 | The Game Is To Be Sold
How to spend the night with McNulty. Read more in The Buzz.

05.25.2007 | Powerful Reception
Wendell Pierce sets stage for playwright's award. Read more in The Buzz.

04.13.2007 | Day of the Locusts
Stringer Bell is no longer with us, but Idris Elba can be see onscreen these days opposite Hilary Swank in 'The Reaping.' Read more about Idris Elba's new film.

03.23.2007 | Spartan Attire
Back to Baltimore to film the final season of 'The Wire,' Dominic West had occasion to watch the blockbuster '300' (in which he plays a no-good politician) with an audience for the first time. Read more about how Dominic West bares all.

02.23.2007 | Have Accent, Will Travel
Aiden Gillen logs miles for a good role. Read more...

02.09.2007 | Beat Cop?
Ed Norris makes a comeback. Find out more at the HBO Buzz.

02.08.2007 | An Evening with "THE WIRE" - Open to the Public
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presents an evening with "THE WIRE"

Thursday, February 22, 2007
7:30PM
Reception to follow
For more information visit the Emmys website at: www.emmys.tv

12.04.2006 | 3rd Exclusive David Simon Q&A
Wire creator David Simon answers more questions in a new wide-ranging Q&A, and music supervisor Blake Leyh adds musical insights.

On all Q&A's on this web site, the Yahoo group members submitted questions. I organized them by subject and submitted them to our participants. Thanks to David and Blake for sharing their thoughts. Read more

09.20.2006 | Educational TV
The most scabrous critique of Bush's education policy isn't coming from a think tank or newspaper but from the grittiest drama on television, "The Wire."

09.13.2006 | HBO Renews The Wire, Acclaimed Drama Series From David Simon, For Its Fifth Season
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13, 2006 - The critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning HBO drama series 'The Wire' has been renewed for a fifth season, it was announced today by Carolyn Strauss, president, HBO Entertainment. Read more

09.08.2006 | 'The Wire's' Hard Life Lessons
In its fourth season, the gritty HBO series will look at the mean hallways of a Baltimore school. (Registration Required)

09.08.2006 | Cops and Killers Battle in Baltimore
The fourth season of HBO's cop drama "The Wire" is, simply, television at its best. And that statement isn't just hack critic boilerplate: Television is now minting hour-long dramas of such unusual quality, you'd think the lunatics had finally taken over the asylum.

09.08.2006 | 'Wire' taps into kids and crime
And a little child shall lead HBO's "The Wire" to greatness this time around

09.07.2006 | The Wire
When television history is written, little else will rival "The Wire," a series of such extraordinary depth and ambition that it is, perhaps inevitably, savored only by an appreciative few.

09.07.2006 | 'The Wire' sends a masterful TV message
If you have only one hour a week for television, give it to "The Wire."

Even if you think you don't have time for television, find an hour a week to watch the fourth season of "The Wire" (9 p.m. Sundays, HBO). It's a masterpiece.

09.07.2006 | HBO's 'The Wire' enters fourth season
America?s most watched, unreported television series is back. The HBO drama,? The Wire,? will start its fourth season this Sunday.

09.07.2006 | Electricity makes 'The Wire' white-hot
The worst terrors are the ones we breed at home. Brilliant, scathing, sprawling, The Wire has turned our indifference to urban decay into a TV achievement of the highest order.

09.07.2006 | The Wire's Michael K. Williams on Playing Gay
In June of 2004, USA Today's Robert Bianco proclaimed Michael K. Williams one of the top 10 reasons to still love television. The kudos were no doubt related to his role as stick-up artist Omar Little on HBO's critically acclaimed drama The Wire, which kicks off its fourth season on Sept. 10. Read more

09.07.2006 | HBO's satisfying 'The Wire' begins fourth season Sunday
In the opening scene of the fourth season of HBO's "The Wire" (10 p.m. EDT Sunday), Snoop (Felicia Pearson), one of drug lord Marlo Stanfield's youthful lieutenants, saunters down the aisle of a Hardware Barn looking for the perfect nail gun.

08.15.2006 | Exclusive David Simon Q&A Introduction
In March I attended "A Night At 'The Wire'" in Baltimore and met David Simon. We talked about my support for "Homicide," "The Corner," and now "The Wire" over the years with Internet web sites and discussion groups. In order to promote this new "Wire" news and information web site, David agreed to help by providing some exclusive content. Read more

07.13.2006 | Is it the end of the line for 'The Wire'?
David Simon, the creator of the acclaimed but ratings-challenged HBO urban drama, faces the Sept. 10 launch of his show's fourth season knowing it's likely the last.

03.21.06 | A Night at The Wire Charity
The Wire invites you to join us on Saturday, March 25th, for "A Night at The Wire Charity and Celebrity Auction" to benefit The Ella Thompson Fund.

You will meet the actors and crew who make the magic happen, and get a rare behind-the-scenes look at The Wire soundstage, usually closed to the public. At this one of a kind cocktail party, you will tour the sets, walk the same hallways as your favorite characters and enter the rooms where you've watched the drama unfold on the show. Enjoy fabulous food and drinks as you bid on our silent and live auctions all while benefiting Baltimore's at-risk youth.

We will be auctioning film and television memorabilia along with great packages and items from local businesses. You can even bid for a part on The Wire!

For more information about The Ella Thompson Fund and ticket information please visit www.ellafund.org or call 410-448-5663 ext. 136.

"A Night at The Wire Charity and Celebrity Auction" benefits The Ella Thompson Fund of the Parks & People Foundation which supports recreation and after-school programs in West Baltimore, the same area where much of The Wire has been filmed. Ella Thompson, portrayed in the HBO miniseries The Corner, suffered a great tragedy when her 12-year-old daughter was murdered near her West Baltimore home. Despite her personal loss and heartbreak, Ella continued to volunteer at an under-funded recreation center in her neighborhood. In the years that followed, she became a cornerstone in her community, committing herself to the idea that with just a little more support, faith, and opportunity for the children of West Baltimore, a neighborhood and, ultimately, a city could turn itself around. After being named "Baltimorean of the Year" by Baltimore Magazine in 1998, Ella tragically suffered a fatal heart attack, at just 47, while driving a car full of donated computer equipment to a city recreation center.

The Wire hopes you will join us at this exciting event to support Ella Thompson's legacy and the children of Baltimore.

01.20.2006 | BUILDING A BETTER BALTIMORE
A BENEFIT FOR PAUL'S PLACE
WITH HBO'S THE WIRE
Sunday, March 5th
2:00- 5:00 p.m.
Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College

See an episode of HBO's The Wire; hear about the actor's experiences filming the show; learn from Ed Burns, producer, about the real stories behind the show; meet producers and actors from The Wire; and win a day on the set of The Wire while helping to improve the quality of life in our Southwest Baltimore community.

Learn more about the event and register on-line at www.paulsplaceoutreach.org or call 410-625-0775

01.04.06 | Actor De Angelis of 'The Wire' Dies at 73
Actor and comedian Richard De Angelis, who played Baltimore police Col. Raymond Foerster on the HBO crime drama "The Wire," has died. He was 73.

De Angelis died of congestive heart failure Dec. 28 at his home in Silver Spring, said his son, Richard M. De Angelis. He also had complications from prostate cancer.

In addition to his recurring role on "The Wire," De Angelis appeared in "Homicide: The Movie" and the John Waters films "A Dirty Shame" and "Cecil B. Demented."

De Angelis also appeared in plays, TV commercials, radio spots and print advertisements in an acting career that spanned four decades. He performed standup comedy for many years under the name Ricky Roach.

Born in Boston, De Angelis served in the Navy during the Korean conflict and worked as an accountant for 14 years. At 38, he quit smoking, became a vegetarian and enrolled in acting school. He received a master's degree in 1983 from the University of Maryland's theater arts program.

11.02.05 | THE WIRE's Celebrity Bartenders
They're back in Baltimore and ready to serve: join THE WIRE's celebrity bartenders on November 17 (7-11PM) at Little Havana (1325 Key Hwy, Baltimore). The $10 cover & all tips will benefit the Ella Thompson Fund of the Parks & People Foundation.

Ella Thompson's story was chronicled in David Simon's and Ed Burns' The Corner, and the fund supports recreation and youth programming in West Baltimore. For more information on the Ella Thompson Fund see the Parks and People Foundation website.

10.21.05 | Cast and Crew Will Participate in Hurricane Katrina Benefit
THE WIRE and Associated Black Charities present Fat Tuesday Hoodoo Throwdown, a Hurricane Katrina benefit hosted by Wendell "The Bunk" Pierce, Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 at Sonar in Baltimore, Maryland (www.sonarbaltimore.com).

The evening will feature cast and crew of THE WIRE, as well as performances by New Orleans greats: The Subdudes, The Rebirth Brass Band, and The Iguanas. Doors open at 6pm and tickets are $50. All Ages! Available through all TicketMaster outlets or at the Sonar box office. The event is made possible by the cast and crew of THE WIRE, in conjunction with Associated Black Charities and Sonar. All proceeds from the event will benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

10.14.05 | Michael Kostroff publishes Letters from Backstage: The Adventures of a Touring Stage Actor
Michael Kostroff (Maurice "Maury" Levy) recently published Letters from Backstage: The Adventures of a Touring Stage Actor. The book recounts his adventures on two different road tours, part backstage tour, part travelogue, part social commentary, all funny and insightful. Letters From Backstage will be available at bookstores and online at Allworth Press (www.allworth.com) or at Amazon.com in October 2005.

08.24.05 | Idris Elba Joins Hilary Swank in "The Reaping"
Idris Elba is set to join Hilary Swank in "The Reaping," from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. Swank stars as a university professor who spends her spare time debunking alleged miracles. Elba will play her partner, a scientist.

07.14.05 | Emmy® Nominations: The Wire nominated for Outstanding Writing
The Wire received an Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for Episode 36: Middle Ground, story by George Pelecanos and David Simon.

04.06.05 | Chris Bauer and Amy Ryan in A Street Car Named Desire
Amy Ryan stars as Stella Kowalski and Chris Bauer stars as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell in the upcoming Roundabout Theatre Company production of A Street Car Named Desire. Also starring Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly, the production is in previews now and opens at Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street) in New York on April 26.

03.18.05 | baltimoresun.com: Show gets in under 'The Wire'
After three months in limbo, HBO's urban drama The Wire was renewed yesterday for a fourth season — one that promises a hard-hitting look inside Baltimore's troubled school system.

"This is basically going to be the beginning of a new arc," executive producer David Simon said yesterday. "The thing that we tried to convince HBO was that there was more to be said about the American city. It's gratifying to have the opportunity to continue to explore this urban universe that we created."

03.17.05 | HBO RENEWS THE WIRE WITH FOURTH SEASON TO AIR IN 2006
LOS ANGELES, March 17, 2005 - The critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning HBO drama series THE WIRE has been renewed for a fourth season, it was announced today by Carolyn Strauss, president, HBO Entertainment. The 12-episode fourth season will begin shooting in late 2005, with debut set for 2006.

Read the full press release >>

03.08.05 | Idris Elba in HBO Films' Sometimes in April
Don't miss Idris Elba in the harrowing story of genocide in Rwanda in HBO Films' Sometimes in April. Premiering Saturday, March 19 at 8 pm, Sometimes in April also stars Debra Winger. For more information on the film and an interview with Idris Elba on the film, see the Sometimes in April website.

02.25.05 | NPR.org - The DVD Room: 'The Wire: Complete Second Season'
People tend to reflexively deplore the state of television these days -- but for the aficionado, it's a golden age. Granted, HBO is a premium pay cable service, but shouldn't we be grateful that we can now spend our time pondering this pressing question: "Which is better -- The Wire or The Sopranos?

The second season of The Wire, just out on DVD, gives viewers the opportunity to consider differences and similarities between both those great dramas.

Read the review >>

02.09.05 | Wendell Pierce in "The Cherry Orchard"
Wendell Pierce stars as the former serf Lopakhin in Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard" at the HSA Theater, in Harlem, New York, through Feb 27. The New York Times called it a "stunningly powerful production" by the Classical Theater of Harlem.

12.27.04 | Entertainment Weekly: The Best of 2004
TV's 10 Best ranks THE WIRE as #1! "...The smartest, deepest, and most resonant drama on TV, The Wire spent its third season dredging the murky perversities of the drug underworld, and its foul reflection of capitalism as a whole..."

12.13.04 | The New York Times: Whacked! Another HBO Main Player Meets His End
Fans of HBO's hit crime series "The Wire" may have been shocked off their couches last night when one of the show's main characters, the calculating drug dealer Stringer Bell, was gunned down in a gruesome ambush.

10.28.04 | Season Two of The Wire Available on DVD January 25, 2005
This January, an all-new suspense-filled season of the critically acclaimed drama series that "demands repeat viewing" (New York Post) arrives on DVD with the release of The Wire: The Complete Second Season. Chronicling the steady decline of America's working class, focusing on Baltimore's waterfront and its unions, the second season of THE WIRE was hailed as "a rare series that demands your full attention and then rewards it" (Newark Star-Ledger) and "more honestly gritty than any series on TV" (Newsday). The four-disc DVD set, in stores January 25th, features 12 action-packed, hour-long episodes and commentaries with the cast and crew.

More details are available >>

10.24.04 | NYNewsday.com: 'The Wire' goes out on a limb
HBO's intense, Baltimore-set drama has a cast of 40 - and 27 are African-American...

10.15.04 | Entertainment Weekly: Screen Saviors — Fall's Best Shows
...Because The Wire is the most demanding, intelligent hour on television right now. Because the series recounts the truths of urban life. Because unlike CSI and its knockoffs, The Wire shows what real cops, criminals, and police work are like. Because the acting is superb and the writing even better...

10.12.04 | DVD Box Set of THE WIRE Available Now!
The "gripping" (Washington Post) and "scorching" (TV Guide) series THE WIRE makes its highly anticipated DVD debut with the release The Wire: The Complete First Season. Exposing the endless war on drugs in the streets of Baltimore, The Wire: The Complete First Season will be available exclusively on DVD and features 13 episodes packaged in a five-disc set, arriving in video stores nationwide today.

More details are available >>

10.01.04 | Salon.com: Everything you were afraid to ask about "The Wire" — Need a primer for quite possibly the best show on television?
"It's a novel," David Simon likes to say about the show he created, HBO's "The Wire." Which is a good way of explaining the show's distinctively long plot arcs, dense webs of characters and grand scope — but an intimidating message to new viewers who, tempted by the show's wild critical acclaim, are trying to tune in now, early into the program's third season. After all, you wouldn't start reading a novel on page 201, would you?

But getting a handle on the third season of "The Wire" doesn't necessarily require watching 25 hours of back story. Though I heartily recommend the Season 1 DVD set (out Oct. 12), I'm happy to present a guide to HBO's acclaimed, and extremely intricate, series...

09.30.04 | Just Some of What Is Being Said About THE WIRE
"THE BEST SHOW ON TV"
-San Francisco Chronicle

"TV'S RICHEST, MOST SATISFYING EXPERIENCE"
-Entertainment Weekly

"BREATHTAKING EXCELLENCE"
-Newsday

"POWERFUL... TRANSCENDANT... GRIPPING"
-The Baltimore Sun

" — IMPECCABLE"
-San Jose Mercury News

" — UNFLINCHING"
-Los Angeles Daily News

" — EXPLOSIVE"
-Detroit Free Press

"ADDICTIVE"
-New York Post

09.24.04 | Dominic West in "The Forgotten"
Dominic West stars with Julianne Moore in the thriller "The Forgotten." Currently in theaters.

09.19.04 | The New York Times: The Television Show That Thinks It's a Novel
At one of the least likely business meetings ever, a dignified man holding a mug of tea addresses his sales staff, gathered in a funeral parlor. The employees are guys with names like Poot, Bodie and Shamrock; the funeral home is a front (their business only indirectly involves death). Their boss, the upwardly mobile, tea-sipping Stringer Bell, is telling them that although they have lost territory (that is, street corners), they can offset the loss with improved product (better drugs). At the same time, he insists on running the meeting according to Robert's Rules of Order. This results in lines like, "Yo, yo, String — Poot did have the floor," and other far less polite interjections.

The bizarrely funny scene, in tonight's third-season opener of "The Wire" on HBO, says a lot about the show's sporadic, off-kilter humor and its consistently expansive vision...



09.18.04 | Baltimore Sun: New 'Wire' season opens with a boom
...TV dramatist David Simon does it again: In the space of a perfectly distilled, five-minute overture, he not only sounds the major themes of the new season -- politics, hope, despair and the possibility (or impossibility) of reform in post-industrial urban America -- he brilliantly offers his largely upper-middle-class HBO audience a new way of seeing, and feeling, an unfamiliar part of the world. He humanizes the steel and concrete and makes us care about one of the denizens, figures consistently treated only as symbols of danger and decay in urban America. And he shows us we are all washed in the grime of the great cloud enveloping those onscreen.

... the Peabody Award-winning series is not only back, it's better than ever...

09.17.04 | Newsday Review: "The Wire" on HBO
Because I am one of those upbeat people who tries hard to see the glass as half full, I am telling myself that "The Wire" was completely ignored in the Emmy nominations this year because it had so many great performances, writers, directors, etc., that they canceled each other out.

I'd hate to think it was because the intricately plotted crime drama, a cinematic novel, is filmed in off-the-radar Baltimore, rather than Los Angeles or New York, or because most TV academy members still haven't gotten around to seeing it or because they don't know quality from kumquats...

09.17.04 | SFGate.com: Never mind who'll win the Emmys. Here's who deserves recognition.
The Emmys are wrong, period... That ends now. Here's a list of the actors most deserving of an Emmy. It's not about the shows. This is about the people who help elevate television...

-- Dominic West, "The Wire," HBO: This is a beautifully nuanced turn for West, who plays Detective Jimmy McNulty as dogged truth-seeker, egotist, drunk, scoundrel and some kind of last honest man. A virtuoso portrayal.

-- Idris Elba, "The Wire," HBO: As Stringer Bell, Elba's subtle portrayal of the education-seeking, capitalistic drug lord puts a deft spin on TV's caricature of African American criminals.

-- Sonja Sohn, "The Wire," HBO: It's rare when a woman gets a role where she can be both tough and tender, conflicted and moody, without seeming either ditzy or some kind of superhero. As Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs, Sohn gets to be "good po-lice" as they say on this series, but is forever battling for respect. Her character is a lesbian and the home-life scenes are probably the best on television, as true as Falco's Carmela.

-- Larry Gilliard Jr., "The Wire," HBO: Truth be told, he should have two Emmys. As D'Angelo Barksdale, the conflicted and connected foot soldier in the drug trade, Gilliard Jr. was the stand-out performer in the debut season of this series and he resonated equally as strong in a reduced role last season. Heart and conscience in character, heart and soul in the series. Just phenomenal.

-- Michael K. Williams, "The Wire," HBO: You don't see many gay black thugs on television and Williams has transformed this character into one of the series' fan-favorites. The introspective, extremely dangerous (and surprisingly funny) Omar is a complicated role that Williams resonates in every time he pops up.

-- Andre Royo, "The Wire," HBO: Junkies get played almost uniformly on television, turning the dramatic staple into a cliche. But Royo has managed to make his Bubbles character a thoughtful, funny, clever and heartbreaking addict, parsing out each emotion the writers need. Masterful and overlooked.

-- Clarke Peters, "The Wire," HBO: You sense a trend here? The modern-day equivalent to this cast was probably NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street," where any number of actors could have made the list. And this one is better. As Detective Lester Freamon, Peters gets at the man's inherent, mostly untapped genius. He's a detective who's been held down and overlooked and finally catches a break. He even got the girl. Older, wiser, cooler, smarter. A gem of a role.



09.16.04 | SFGate.com: Fine, don't watch 'The Wire.' But that would be a big mistake.
During its first two seasons, "The Wire" has been HBO's best series. That's saying something because HBO is the home of a good chunk of any credible critic's top 10 list and is, in case you need to be reminded, home of "The Sopranos..."