the buzz log

Top Snub? Most Overlooked?

Whatever the category is called, there needs to be something to address grievous wrongs. Quality nominees did make this year's 60th Primetime Emmys, but voters didn't even look down when they walked over the corpse outline of "The Wire,"  possibly one of the finest shows in television history. By escaping Emmy notice for the fifth (and final) year in a row, the HBO drama may be one of the most wronged shows in tube times.

Yes, Buddy TV pointed out the show again got a well-deserved nomination for its writing, making for an interesting category. Still, amongst the annual handwringing over snubs, the New York Daily News called the show "bafflingly invisible" among the Emmy line-up, the San Francisco Chronicle deemed its absence "surrealy absurd," and The Hollywood Reporter called "a moment of silence" for the wholesale carnage, which included overlooking the actors. An infuriated MSNBC contributor compared the choice of a much-nominated "Boston Legal" over "The Wire" to lauding the Miami Dolphins over the New England Patriots. And Gawker put it plainly: The show that dared take on crime, poverty, public policy, government corruption, and media corporations "was robbed."

Not that critics didn't see this coming: Newsweek predicted snubs, among them young James Hector for best supporting actor (drama). But it's not too late. If one takes the cynical view of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award as a make-up award for dissing deserving personalities, why not one for a TV show? Or an outright "Do-Over" Award, so a program can have a chance beyond its run?

Glum fans will have to nurse their disappointment with the final DVD set due out August 12, which includes a retrospective of the first four years. Meanwhile, its creator and former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon may start another run for HBO: He moves from America's grimmest city to a post-Katrina New Orleans. That'll be one pair that will be hard to ignore.

Filed under: TV, Award Shows, Awards, Emmy Awards, The Wire, Emmy Awards 2008

It's the best show on TV —and chances are, you've never seen it. On Sunday, HBO's "The Wire" makes its fourth season debut. And though critics hail the Baltimore crime drama as a "masterpiece" and "the best work in television history," only the smallest sliver of the cable network's subscribers have tuned in.

But this year may be different. Last weekend, searches on the show edged upwards, maintaining a decent 16% climb over the rest of the week. Buzz on "hbo the wire" also rose, while states as far from Maryland's mean streets as California, Illinois, and Texas hit the Search box for more on the gritty tale of one rust belt city and its cops, drugs, and wartorn corners.

Of course, all this buzz merely bumps "The Wire" into our top 13,500 searches, while HBO's other series —"Entourage" (top 3,000 searches), "Deadwood" (also top 3,000), even "The Sopranos" (top 5,000)—all place much higher. But addicts never relinquish hope. And, yeah, we're addicted. Count us among the fanatical few nourishing the dream that this year "The Wire" taps into a wider audience. We can hope, right?

Filed under: TV, HBO, The Wire