If breaking bad is 9.5. Then The Wire is 95. On a scale of 100 I meant. Nothing that you'll ever see on television will compare to this. Its the equivalent of a 60 hour movie. Only its greater than the 30 greatest movies of all time put together. The Wire is the greatest thing on motion picture. Ever.

This is simply artistic television at its best. The city of Baltimore serves as the series main character that is constant throughout all five seasons. The combination of David Simon and HBO were absolutely necessary for this to have worked as well as it did, as well as the impeccably selected cast. The story consists of following the lives and points of view of the participants of drug world in the inner city Baltimore. Sadly, this situation most likely occurs in most if not all the major cities of the United States. While most shows or movies typically present the points of view of the cops, the lawyers and the "criminals". The Wire takes it several steps further utilizing points of view of several levels of the police department, several levels of the local judicial system, the mayor's office, the city council, the state senator's office, the local newspaper, the school system and the shipping docks that are such an important part of the country's system of transporting goods. The beauty of the show is that it is all believable, especially if you studied this sort of thing in school, are in the news business or involved in civics in some sort of fashion. The show is so well written and acted out you often find yourself not knowing who to root for and root against. Sometimes you love the cops, sometimes you hate them. You definitely hate the politicians. A lot of the times you are conflicted as you find yourself rooting for the criminals as what they do seems to be their only mode of survival. I won't go into specifics of any of the stories as I don't want to give anything away. In all honesty, this is just simply top 10 of all time television shows, over the air or cable. Really nothing over the air can rival The Wire except maybe MASH or Hill Street Blues and they are still a far cry. I went out and bought the DVD set and still rewatch this a couple times a year and I STILL notice new things. LOVE it and I promise you will too.

This is the best I've ever seen not only in this genre. These are the realities of life, the righteous truth. So beautifully presented both "good" and "bad" uncles (sides) that you are attached to the heroes very quickly. There is no big action here, but it is not needed. The series taught me a lot of things, and I hope that it will come to your senses too. This is a masterpiece!

If you haven't seen the wire yet you are in for a treat. One of the best TV shows ever made.