It’s been two years since HBO aired the final episode of The Wire. Critics praised the TV show for its realistic portrayal of drug culture and its far-reaching influence.
But now a handful of colleges across the country — including Harvard, Duke and the University of California, Berkeley — offer courses built around the show.
Jason Mittell teaches one of those classes, “Watching The Wire: Urban America in Serial Television,” at Middlebury College in Vermont. He’s an associate American studies professor, and he thinks the show’s creator, David Simon, tapped into a crucial American subculture.
Simon is exploring another subculture, post-Katrina New Orleans, in his latest series, Treme, which just debuted on HBO.
Great show. I missed the debut of David Simon’s “Treme” last Sunday on HBO which features several actors from “The Wire” but hope to catch the rerun tonight (Sat) before seeing the second episode tomorrow.