'THE WIRE' GETS DOWN AND DIRTY WITH DRUG WAR

HBO's The Wire is the riskiest police show since men in blue broke into
song on Steven Bochco's quickly canceled 1990 show Cop Rock. The Wire asks
us for something we have little of: patience.

Rather than a paint-by-numbers version of every other TV show, The Wire (9
p.m. Sunday) works its own rhythms. It steers clear of providing answers
viewers have come to expect: This is the hero, there's the villain, here's
the case, and this is how it's solved. Rock 'em, sock 'em, next case,
please. Heck, it's not clear just what "the wire" is for four or five shows.

Instead, The Wire is more interested in showing a bigger picture.
Essentially, it is a 13-part series about the drug war as seen through its
principal warriors: the police, the suppliers and, to a lesser degree, the
users.

The beauty is in the details. The homicide and narcotics detectives are
unknowingly working without the full support of the powers that be. The
dealers are more in danger from competing suppliers than from the cops.

Set in Baltimore, The Wire features a terrific ensemble cast that includes
Dominic West (28 Days), Lance Reddick (Oz), Larry Gilliard Jr. (The
Waterboy), Wood Harris (Remember the Titans) and Wendell Pierce (Law &
Order). One of the show's oddities is that it's not clear which of these
characters we should root for.

"We looked at the drug war as this consuming institution," said David
Simon, an executive producer and writer for the show. "That's sort of the
theme of this thing. The cops are working for Enron, and the drug dealers
are working for Enron.

"If I could argue it's not a cop show, I would. Three or four or five
episodes in, it becomes less about whether or not they're going to catch a
bad guy than about what defines a bad guy, and whether the people in middle
management -- the sergeants, detectives, the guys running the drug crew on
the street level -- are going to endure. That's where I want viewer
interest to be."

For 13 years, Simon covered the police beat for the Baltimore Sun. He was a
contributor to the NBC drama Homicide: Life on the Street and was a
co-creator of HBO's Emmy-winning, drug-wise series The Corner. For The
Wire, he has teamed with Edward Burns, a retired Baltimore homicide detective.

Their ear for dialogue is exceptional, and there's no doubt they know their
characters. HBO is well aware, too, which is why the network left the
authors to their work.

"I have to say they have not" offered directions, Simon said. This is in
contrast to reports that HBO asked creator Alan Ball to make Six Feet Under
weirder and more profane than he originally intended.

"There have been moments where I basically have to follow my own
conscience," Simon said. "They have not faulted any scene or urged anything
on. They didn't ask for a sex scene, and we didn't give them one until we
felt like the story deserved it, until we felt like the character had
earned it. They didn't ask for more sex, more profanity.

"In fact, there was an instance when HBO wondered whether one of the
characters should curse during one scene, whether it would be in his
character. I thought that was telling. They are not urging me anything
except to stay in character."

In Sunday's Episode 1, Detective James McNulty (West) seemingly makes the
mistake of telling a judge that a drug gang has intimidated a witness in
his courtroom. Instead of protecting his source, the judge comes down on
the police for mishandling the case. McNulty's resentful superiors blame
him for this blowup and banish him and a ragtag team of detectives to
pursue the drug gang.

Among the dealers, D'Angelo Barksdale (Gilliard) is the guy who was sprung
from jail when the intimidated witness recanted. He's a nephew of Avon
Barksdale (Harris), who runs the show. Avon demotes D'Angelo to a project
neighborhood. But Avon better watch his back: A rival dealer has his eyes
on Avon's piece of the drug pie.

Simon hopes that from the series comes enlightened self-interest.

"I thought Homicide was a great show," said Simon. "The people were flawed,
the institution is flawed but, hey, they were still doing God's work.

"I think that if you're paying attention to the world, post 9/11 and post
Enron, I think you've got to look at this and say, what has that level of
belief -- that the system may be flawed but inherently good -- cost you? I
don't know if I'm arguing for a solution; I'm just arguing for a certain
wariness, a certain intelligence at how to look at the world."