The Wire

Submission 3,359

About

The Wire is an American crime drama television series created by journalist David Simon that aired on HBO from 2002 to 2008. The show follows a large number of interconnected narratives involving crime in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The series has been frequently cited as one of the greatest shows in TV history and has inspired several persistent memes.

History

The Wire was inspired by creator David Simon's experience as a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper, as well as by the experience of his writing partner Ed Burns, who was a police detective in Baltimore.^[1]

The show's first episode aired on June 2nd, 2002. The series featured a majority black cast, a rarity at the time. The series was not picked up for a sixth season after ratings for its fifth declined, and the series was canceled, airing its last episode on March 9th, 2008.^[1]

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Reception

The Wire received universal critical acclaim while it was on the air, but relatively poor ratings. Critics appreciated its complexity, moral complicated and wide range of stories and characters, but cited all of these factors as reasons it failed to capture a wider audience.

Although the show never won any Emmy awards, it was cited by several sources, including the New York Times, Slate and President Obama, as one of the greatest shows of all time.^[2]

Online Presence

The show's critical popularity also gave it a small but devoted online fanbase across multiple sites and platforms.

Omar / Omar Coming

One of the show's most popular characters was Omar Little. Omar, played by actor Michael K. Williams, was a lone criminal and gay man who fought drug dealers and operated by a strict moral code. Several phrases associated with him, such as "A man's got to have a code," "You come at the king, you best not miss," and "Omar coming!" grew into memes.^[3]

Following Williams' death from a drug overdose in September 2021, there was a renewed level of interest in the character, resulting in an influx of memes and tributes (examples seen below).

Sheeeeee-it

Sheeeeee-it, an elongation of the word "shit," was a catchphrase of the character Clay Davis, played by actor Isaiah Whitlock Jr. (see below). The catchphrase became a meme separate from the show. Beginning in roughly 2012, the same phrase became associated with a meme involving racist stereotypes of African-Americans through /pol/.