What's in your DVD player right now?

[East Bay Evans]

At my wife's constant prodding and insistence, I just watched the pilot episode of The Wire. AWFUL. I kept looking at the time and willing the hour to go by as soon as possible. Obviously enough people rate this show and say it's much better after a couple of episodes, but that was one of the worst episodes of TV I ever saw. And Dominic West trying to do an American accent - ugh.

I'm not a huge "The Wire" enthusiast, but it's worth bearing in mind that the show cannot and should not be judged based on one episode. Consider comparing it to a novel.

As wikipedia states:

Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the exceptions of two flashbacks – one at the end of the pilot episode that replays a moment from earlier in the same episode and one at the end of the fourth season finale that shows a short clip of a character tutoring his younger brother earlier in the season. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand the ongoing story arc and the relevance of each character to it. Salon.com has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows. Each season of The Wire consists of 10–13 full-hour episodes, which form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in, which then results in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.

Make what you will of that.

[Northern Star]

I'm not a huge "The Wire" enthusiast, but it's worth bearing in mind that the show cannot and should not be judged based on one episode. .

Totally. That's why I acknowledged the show is highly rated, but what I have heard is it starts slow. Well, that pilot episode hit all the wrong notes for me.

[East Bay Evans]

Totally. That's why I acknowledged the show is highly rated, but what I have heard is it starts slow. Well, that pilot episode hit all the wrong notes for me.

Well, with any luck it'll redeem itself then. Just give it a couple more chances and you might end up really digging it.