They’re Back!

The 2004 Peabody-winning HBO drama series THE WIRE, currently in production for a 12-episode third season, will return to the cablewaves Sunday, September 19 at 9:00-p.m. ET.

THE WIRE wrapped its second season last September. The first season depicted the national drug war through the microcosm of a West Baltimore housing project. Last season chronicled the de-industrialization of America, focusing on the travails of a longshoremen's union to survive in a changing economic landscape. In its third season, the drama will continue to expand its sociopolitical description of a fictional Baltimore by examining the city's political component and its relevance to the problems confronting a post-industrial city.

Observes David Simon, "More than characters or criminal procedure or even the drug culture, we are trying to write about the city itself, with Baltimore standing in for any number of American cities sharing the same hopes and fears and contradictions."

Actors returning from the first two seasons include Dominic West (Det. Jimmy McNulty), Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima Greggs), Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels), Wendell Pierce (Det. William “Bunk” Moreland), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), Idris Elba (Stringer Bell), Deirdre Lovejoy (Asst. State Atty Rhonda Pearlman), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Domenick Lombardozzi (Det. Thomas “Herc” Hauk), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Jim True-Frost (Det. Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski), Michael K. Williams (Omar), John Doman (Col. William Rawls), Frankie R. Faison (Comm. Ervin Burrell), Andre Royo (Bubbles), JD Williams (Bodie) and Corey Parker-Robinson (Det. Sydnor).

New cast regulars this season will include Chad L. Coleman ("Brother to Brother") as Dennis"Cutty" Wise, a recently paroled felon returning to a drug culture that has changed dramatically; Robert Wisdom ("Barber Shop 2: Back in Business") as Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin, a police boss frustrated with the futility of the drug war and willing to try something new; Aidan Gillen ("Shanghai Knights") as Councilman Thomas Carcetti, an ambitious and charismatic city councilman on the the rise; Jamie Hector (HBO's "Everyday People") as Marlo, a young street dealer protecting his turf from the encroaching Barksdale crew; Glynn Turman ("The Bernie Mac Show") as incumbent Mayor Clarence Royce, whose grip on municipal power seems assured, despite rising crime rates; and Isiah Whitlock ("Pieces of April") as Senator R. Clayton Davis, returning in his role as state Senator Clay Davis, a politician with surprising connections, not all of them legitimate.

The second season of THE WIRE generated wide critical praise. It was named Best Show on Television by Television Week's semi-annual poll of 50 television critics. The New York Times called it, "one of the best shows on television," while Time wrote, "irresistible... [David] Simon is a poet." TV Guide observed, "You won't find anything better all summer." Entertainment Weekly hailed THE WIRE as "[Grade:] A...it's a contender - for one of the year's best series... get hooked now," while the Chicago Tribune proclaimed, "HBO's 'The Wire' is the best show on TV," and the San Francisco Chronicle observed that THE WIRE was "the best show on television, period."

Posted by bernie at August 4, 2004 12:19 PM | TrackBack