All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire

by Jonathan Abrams

VINCENT PERANIO (PRODUCTION DESIGNER): The strip club [filmed in Season One], I have to say is a real strip club about two blocks from my house, but I never really frequented. We scouted for that. We found the most urban one, on Eastern Avenue, what is called the Ritz in reality, and we really liked it. They were really game to let us film there, and the thing is, we knew we would be filming there several times. So, it’s different than just a one-time thing. They really have to want to put up with you. And part of it was we were going to spiff it up a little, add some lights and decorate it a little. So, we filmed at the strip club. While we were filming at the strip club, the owner got charged federally with money laundering and was put in jail, and the FBI took over the strip club. So, for the next six months—because of course we weren’t finished with the season—we had to deal with the FBI as our landlords.