I'm sure you know that some episodes of "The Wire" are written by guys who are not normally screenwriters but novelists, and among our best -- Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, and George Pelecanos. They have all covered similar ground in their books. They also readily concede that David Simon is the head honcho on the show, the one whose vision holds it all together. He will frequently change lines of dialogue or minor plot points to make them more true to the characters. What seems a little miraculous is that the writers don't mind. Given that a novelist has complete creative control, it's nice to see that they can leave their egos at the door.


>HSB was a real pioneer for that format. Haven't watched the show since original airing but remember it was a favorite ( Charlie Haid - Renko - became a very accomplished director as well )
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>If you haven't seen Homicide - Life on the Streets there are 7 seasons of that on DVD now too. A notch up from HSB IMO - building on the accomplishments of the former. ( and The Wire - same creative team as Homicide - builds on that. )
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>>>Well, just go to the library, get Arrested Development, The Wire, The Shield, Deadwood, Rome and Buffy on DVD and you should make it through the winter <s>
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>>We just finished watching the first two seasons of Northern Exposure. That was fun.
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>>I'm working my way through season 2 of Hill Street Blues right now. Watching one episode last night, I was really fascinated at thinking about the more than 25 years since this was made. All kinds of changes in the world, but so much of this show still works.
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>>Tamar