I don't want to write a long review for The Wire because nothing I could say would be adequate. Simply put: The Wire is the best police drama that I have seen in all my years of watching television. Set in a decaying Baltimore, the Wire explores the city's drug dealers and the police who investigate them. Each season profiles a different public institution: the police, the ports, the municipal government, the schools, and finally in the fifth season, local journalism. I discovered it on DVD and watched each season in long weekend marathons because I simply could not stop watching it. It is that compelling. See it.