things we will probably like

The Wire's David Simon To Further Depress Us With New Iraq War Series

In one month's time, David Simon will (hopefully) dazzle and depress us all over again. The mastermind behind The Wire, HBO's stunning and somber study of urban decay, has created a seven-part miniseries called Generation Kill, once again for HBO. The series, based on the Evan Wright book, depicts a group of Marines during the first forty days of the current clusterfuck debacle in Iraq. While we've not seen a screener or anything, we can certainly hope that Simon's ultra-realistic, carefully worded style will make the series as icky, uncomfortable, and thoroughly fascinating as The Wire. Above find a trailer for the series, below a brief clip of cast and crew talking about the project. More »

television

The Hubris of David Simon

Credit where it is due: after a mid-season wobble, which shook my devotion to the foundation, The Wire has come together for the conclusion. David Simon's incredibly ambitious drama of crime and corruption in a decaying Baltimore has been compared by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, among others, to the sprawling novels of the 19th century. Most creators would be flattered to be mentioned in the same sentence as Charles Dickens. Simon, who combines cynicism about the possibility of social change with complete faith in the importance of his art, makes grander literary references in a recent radio interview on NPR's Fresh Air. "We've been stealing from a lot of the Greek tragedies... Hubris, a willingness to challenge the gods, a willingness to engage in an argument against one's fate: the same things that Antigone or Oedipus struggled with we gave the same sort of dynamic to our characters... The gods are the post-industrial institutions of modern life. Whoever you serve. Wherever your paycheck comes from. Whatever calling you thought you had. On The Wire, there is every possibility it will betray you." Talk about hubris: such a claim would normally invite ridicule. But Simon, a frustrated former journalist, has defied the fate he's assigned to The Wire's heroes: the former journalist challenged the gods of television with a show that shouldn't have worked, and they let him succeed. After the jump, a clip from the interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross. More »

backlash

Why David Simon Should Shut Down The Wire

Devotees of The Wire, myself among them, should be delighted by this hint given by one of the HBO drama's actors. Dominic West, who plays the increasingly manic police detective, Jimmy McNulty, tells the Los Angeles Times some of his colleagues are lobbying David Simon for a movie spinoff, and the show's creator is indeed considering a prequel. But here's the sacrilegious thought, which I can't suppress: the final season is not the triumph that fans had hoped for; and it's time for Simon to let go. More »

The creator of The Wire, HBO's crime-and-politics drama, used to work at the Baltimore Sun. Here's his press pass, from a recent memoir of his newspaper days, in Esquire. Funniest story: when Simon, as a newbie reporter, thought that oral sex had been legalized in Maryland. Simon is less amused by the transgressions of some former colleagues, portraying them variously as corporate stooges, buffoons and fabricators.

the wire

The Writers Always Have The Last Say

John Carroll (pictured speaking) became a newspaper martyr when in 2005 he resigned as editor of the Los Angeles Times rather than implement budget cuts demanded by the penny-pinching corporate overlords. But that wasn't enough for David Simon, creator of The Wire, the HBO drama about crime, politics and the media in Baltimore. Simon, a former reporter at the Baltimore Sun, still blames Carroll for "single-handedly destroying" the newspaper; he's the model for the bland manager of Simon's television show who urges staff to do "more with less". [Baltimore Sun via Fimoculous]