The Idea Blog

It’s beginning to look a lot like a new year.

And this will be the final year/season for The Wire, HBO’s exceptional series about Baltimore “po-lice.”

“This year The Wire is about the diminishing power of the press,” says one of the interviews in a promotional series about the season. (Find it “The Wire: The Last Word,” 26 minutes almost as good as one of the shows.)

And, finally, here’s a very good review and preview from the Wall Street Journal; it’s what got me thinking about it enough to post in the first place.

I’ve enjoyed HBO’s Sopranos, of course, also Rome and, especially, Deadwood. But “The Wire,” now beginning its fifth and final season, is the best. It’s not been connected to the show in any way, but Randy Newman’s “Baltimore” offers a perfect description: “Man, it’s hard just to live.”