All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire

by Jonathan Abrams

He really understood that the audience was starting to change and the audience was starting to appreciate not being treated like they’re stupid. Nothing has to be spelled out. They can stick with a story even though it’s slow. They can stick with a story even though there’s forty characters. They appreciate being treated like they’re intelligent. All of a sudden, The Wire became that show where there was a hierarchy. If you say you like The Wire, that means you like reading books. That means you give a fuck about the human race. It made you feel like you bettered yourself in the crowd when you say, “My favorite show is The Wire.” All of a sudden, people look at you differently. It became a badge of honor to tell somebody, “Did you hear about The Wire? You got to watch The Wire.”