The Wire- TV as Literature

Long before Breaking Bad there was The Wire, a crime drama set in Baltimore, Maryland, that ran for five seasons from 2002-2008 on HBO. Co-creator David Simon called it the “visual equivalent to a novel” and it became a watershed event for television. It fascinated viewers with a depth of character and political and social themes that had been sorely lacking from TV. For many critics this marked the time when TV came of age and suddenly became a medium to be reckoned with for challenging drama. The class will analyze Season One of the show very closely and put it into the bigger context of what critics sometimes called a “renaissance” of TV. The course will also examine writing for TV and how it can imitate the possibilities of the novel. It is aimed at filmmakers, playwrights, screenwriters and film devotees who want to take a closer look at what TV Guide once called “TV as great modern literature.”