TV

Earlier this year HBO announced that The Wire was being remastered in HD. I had just started watching the show and was about 4 episodes in. I decided that I’d already prolonged my viewing of the one constant that came up in almost every conversation I’d ever had when discussing my admiration for Breaking Bad and so I kept watching The Wire in it’s gritty1 4:3 standard definition. I’d done the same thing with The Sopranos and thought that it probably didn’t make that big of a difference. The thing is that The Wire gains something from the way it was filmed and the quality contributes to the aura of the show in a way that it doesn’t with The Sopranos. Fans of the show are aware of this and the idea that HBO would be touching what is widely considered to be one of the best shows ever created brings pause to it’s admirers. This makes David Simon’s exquisite elaboration2 on his involvement in the remastering process calm many nerves and generate excitement from the scrupulous afficionados of the show.