The Wire
Created by David Simon
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated. From TMDB
292 reactions from 4 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews, Lemmy) · newest Oct 18, 2026 · last updated Oct 19, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 84 | 6 | 160 |
| Mastodon * | 4 | 0 | 18 |
| TMDB reviews * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
18 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
62 archived X posts (Mar–Apr 2026) are kept for the record and not used.
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Critics, per Wikipedia
All seasons of The Wire have received positive reviews from major television critics, with seasons two through five in particular receiving near universal acclaim, with several naming it the best contemporary show and one of the best drama series of all time. The first season received mainly positive reviews from critics, some even calling it superior to HBO's better-known "flagship" drama series such as The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. On the review aggregator Metacritic, the first season scored 79 out of 100 based on 22 reviews. One reviewer pointed to the retread of some themes from HBO and David Simon's earlier works, but still found it valuable viewing and particularly resonant because…
From the “Reception and legacy” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 292 · most liked firstI'm rewatching The Wire. A character in the episode I'm watching says, "A lie ain't a side of the story. It's just a lie." For some reason, that speaks to me these days (as do a million other lines from the show.)
positive · AI labelView post →i have been rewatching THE WIRE for the first time in like 15 years and one thing i am struck by in the first few episodes is how theater-like the show is. each scene plays like it could be on the stage, right down to the blocking and movement. but it’s not at all distracting! it works, in fact.
positive · AI labelView post →watching THE WIRE series finale in 4:3 like god intended
positive · AI labelView post →GUY WHO PLAYED THE LIEUTENANT ON SEASON ONE OF THE WIRE: good evening mr wick JOHN WICK: hello [tips him a single pirate coin] I have an ‘appointment’ for some ‘business’ and I need some ‘guns’ to ‘shoot people with’ WIRE GUY: very good mr wick. let me show you to our gunsman
neutral · AI labelView post →I was just at the gym watching a The Wire s2 episode, and came back to this awful news. Ransone was incredible in that season — so believable as the screw-up determined to live down to everyone's low opinion of him. And great in almost everything else I saw him do. RIP.
positive · AI labelView post →Been rewatching The Wire S1. Just did the “You come at the king, you best not miss” episode. Goddamn this is a great show.
positive · AI labelView post →Take away all the GOAT candidates: The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Lost. What’s the best show outside of that group?
neutral · AI labelView post →Just finished watching The Wire again. A good TV show!
positive · AI labelView post →It's missing The Expanse, and "TV show" makes no sense. You can't lump together The Wire (tv show), Chernobyl (miniseries), and The Great British Bake Off (single-episode competitions). If you do, then might as well include the MCU and NFL too, because the criteria is "you can watch it on a screen."
neutral · AI labelView post →Bunny Colvin in The Wire, like most of the characters in the series he ends up spat out by the system when he pushed against it but he genuinely tried to improve people's lives
neutral · AI labelView post →While y'all are sharing that NYT list, just a friendly reminder that "The Wire" is a queer show and arguably one of the most impactful for LGBTQ visibility in the 21st century. If you're confused as to how it's a queer show, just sit with it for a while. It'll come to you. I promise.
neutral · AI labelView post →Fun fact: In France 🇫🇷, the HBO series The Wire is promoted with the tagline, “The series that Obama is a fan of.” Having served between two U.S. presidents deeply unpopular in France (Bush and Trump), Obama is especially admired and often regarded as the epitome of American cool.
neutral · AI labelView post →No particular order personal top ten The Wire Andor Battlestar Watchmen The Bear The Americans Shogun parks and rec Chappelle show Severance
positive · AI labelView post →The Wire was not a tremendously funny show, as a rule, but the bit where the kid gets sent outside of Baltimore to hide out and ends up listening to Prarie Home Companion for days on end was pretty good
positive · AI labelView post →Isiah Whitlock Jr., a character actor best known for his scene-stealing role as a smooth-talking, corrupt politician in the widely acclaimed HBO show “The Wire,” died on Tuesday. He was 71.
neutral · AI labelView post →anyway my hot take is that while I adored Breaking Bad and am okay seeing it on top of the list (though The Wire should have been #1), Better Call Saul is a better show also Deadwood should be in the top 10
positive · AI labelView post →About to start a new tv show, I heard that HBO had this show called The Wire that was a good lighthearted watch. Anyway, there’s a bunch of seasons, here’s hoping it’s good!
neutral · AI labelView post →BETTER CALL SAUL has officially entered the vaunted “too good for Emmys” pantheon, alongside THE WIRE, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY, THE LEFTOVERS, BOJACK HORSEMAN, and plenty more of the greatest TV series ever
neutral · AI labelView post →I just assume everyone wants to see this ranking: 8. We Own This City 7. The Plot Against America 6. The Deuce 5. The Corner 4. Show Me a Hero 3. Treme 2. Generation Kill 1. The Wire
neutral · AI labelView post →Watching The Wire for the first time, and I like how the show is incredibly grounded, until suddenly they add this guy who feels like he’s from a comic book. Like, this is a guy Batman would have interactions with.
positive · AI labelView post →Hold on. Hold on. Did ... did the Trump Administration get this whole thing about prosecuting people for mortgage fraud from The Wire? They did, didn't they. Because the show called it "the headshot." Jesus fucking Christ.
neutral · AI labelView post →it's almost certainly just cope in response to the show's creator regularly being a dipshit on socials, but i think there's an argument to made that The Wire was a 3.5 star show that was elevated to 5 stars primarily thanks to its casting and performances.
neutral · AI labelView post →The Wire is the only television series that’s ever mattered.
positive · AI labelView post →and in that sense among a few others THE WIRE, while clearly a better show imo, would’ve been discordant. that may be who we want to tell ourselves we are. but we are not that. we are heisenberg saying “you’re goddamn right” and everyone whooping and hollering
positive · AI labelView post →Been rewatching the X Files series, and it's cool seeing actors who are more well known now than they were then. Seth Green is one episode. Wendell Pierce is in one. I love Pierce in the Wire, and he's been great in Elsbeth too.
neutral · AI labelView post →I've never watched a show that did this. You can make The Wire Season 5 and it's not going to harm my appreciation of The Wire Season 4. I feel a lot of people are just waiting to dislike art, and the outsize reactions to "bad" final seasons are a collective performance.
neutral · AI labelView post →Recently finished the Wire for the first time, and I have no idea how someone could watch that show and not come out an abolitionist.
positive · AI labelView post →I've been watching The Wire, it's pretty alright so far! I get the sense this series was the game of thrones of its time
neutral · AI labelView post →In my rewatch of The Wire, I’ve got to S5. I’d never watched it before. Christ the drop in quality is instantaneous. Was prepared to keep going, but McNulty doing the serial killer fake has lost me. I’ll pretend the series ended with s4.
negative · AI labelView post →Almost finished the UK series Our Friends in the North. So, so good. Sort of the Brits version of The Wire when it comes to its scope and ambition. It’s amazing how the Reagan and Thatcher administrations mirrored each other almost exactly.
neutral · AI labelView post →I’ll bite. Breaking Bad was a fine and totally forgettable show. Veep should easily be top three. 30 Rock is too low. The Wire should be No. 1.
positive · AI labelView post →Actor James Ransone, known for his role in ‘The Wire,’ dead at 46
neutral · AI labelView post →Scientists believe they are getting closer to discovering whether giraffes also think The Wire is the greatest TV show ever.
neutral · AI labelView post →A story I heard him tell: He was at the end of a long series of auditions for The Wire, which he did in his flawless American accent, when David Simon asked him.... So, where are you from? And he thinks, that's it, they figured it out, I'm a fake and I'm out. And he says, "East London."
neutral · AI labelView post →the next Zootopia should be like The Wire where they move away from the cops and show a different aspect of the city, like the newsroom of the Zoo York Times or something
neutral · AI labelView post →Crazy how it's been nearly 20 years since The Wire ended and no other TV show has come remotely close to beating it since.
positive · AI labelView post →And if it isn’t that good? I’m going to blame all the people who made it! No excuses! The second season of any show is the best, True Detective, The Wire, etc
neutral · AI labelView post →June 2, 2002, THE WIRE premiered on HBO. It ran for 5 seasons. A powerful series with multiple lessons that are still applicable today. #TheWire
neutral · AI labelView post →The Canadian tv series Slings & Arrows is WILDLY under-discussed. It’s an all-time great, right up there with shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, I Claudius, Better Call Saul, and The Good Place.
positive · AI labelView post →James Ransone, the actor who played Ziggy Sobotka in the HBO series “The Wire” and appeared in many other TV shows and movies, has died. He was 46.
neutral · AI labelView post →Sesame Street is Law & Order for kids. Muppet Show is The Wire. The Electric Company is Oz.
neutral · AI labelView post →Name your top 15 TV shows ever, gut insticts only: Santa Clarita Diet Monty Python The Wire The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show Project Runway Sesame Street Muppet Show Counterpart 60s Batman Dark Matter Penny Dreadful LastWeekTonight Great British Bake Off Star Trek (TOS) Channel Zero
neutral · AI labelView post →Incredibly sad to hear about James Ransone, an extremely talented actor who made every film and TV series more beautiful, from THE WIRE to SINISTER and beyond.
neutral · AI labelView post →James Ransone, the actor who played Ziggy Sobotka in the HBO series “The Wire” and appeared in many other TV shows and movies, has died. He was 46. https://cnn.it/4q0AJp2
neutral · AI labelView post →Now would be a good time to announce new series of The Wire and The Good Fight
neutral · AI labelView post →I've discovered this show called The Wire. I can't believe nobody else has watched it, it's really good!
positive · AI labelView post →The Wire - The Complete Series (HD Digital) is $19.99 on DOTD Apple TV/iTunes https://apple.co/4ez5QS6 Fandango at Home https://buff.ly/4fyaukY MS Store https://buff.ly/3O7p6eO It's a TV show, so no it's not Movies Anywhere eligible
neutral · AI labelView post →Looking for a show that’s Cheers but more like the Wire. Here’s the cast…
neutral · AI labelView post →The Wire: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) is $46.99 on Amazon buff.ly/3CDk2MG
neutral · AI labelView post →Bobby J Brown, US actor known for The Wire, dies aged 62
neutral · AI labelView post →Actors from the Wire and the Sopranos are ALL over the Law & Order series. There's one episode where weebay gets caught shooting someone, but then implicates Clay Davis who hires Bunk to represent him in court
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a classic exchange, right up there with the time that somebody asked David Simon if he was familiar with a show called The Wire
neutral · AI labelView post →Did you all know this show The Wire is like really really... really frickin good?
positive · AI labelView post →I just finished watching 'The Wire' and it's probably the best TV show I've seen. I wish I hadn't postponed it for 15+ years. In a world of Marlos, be a Bubs.
positive · AI labelView post →What’s an HBO Series (that’s not 'The Wire', 'The Sopranos', or 'Game Of Thrones') that You would Recommend? 📺 Our Flag Means Death
neutral · AI labelView post →Greatest Show From The 2000s: Breaking Bad: 23% Sopranos: 17% Office: 16% Lost: 8% 24: 6% Mad Men: 4% The Wire: 4% Overton Insights / March 28, 2025 / n=1200
neutral · AI labelView post →Gabby & Jaden (ret) Wire Factory Series Ft Lauderdale, FL Literally the 1st two models I shot within minutes of each other @ the Wire Factory starting my series. I had just discovered the location days before! Still love these! 👍 #artisticnude #artnude #nude #Gabby #Jaden #rickgordonphotography
neutral · AI labelView post →Even The Wire is to some extent copaganda yet compared to almost every other show about law enforcement it got the most about it right, especially the utter dysfunction.
neutral · AI labelView post →Out of focus in the background of an advert? Very cool. Let her know I was out of focus in the background of two episodes of HBO’s The Wire, series 5, episodes 4 and 5
neutral · AI labelView post →Some of you said "West Wing" -- honestly, how dare you? Have we met? Many others guessed Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, etc. -- seen 'em all multiple times. So, which show is it?
neutral · AI labelView post →
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