McSweeney’s today has a link to The Believer magazine’s repost of a Nick Hornby conversation with David Simon.

Here’s a quote in which David Simon attempts to explain the show’s departure from pure good and evil to more complex and realistic narratives:

“The Wire is a Greek tragedy in which the postmodern institutions are the Olympian forces. It’s the police department, or the drug economy, or the political structures, or the school administration, or the macroeconomic forces that are throwing the lightning bolts and hitting people in the ass for no decent reason.”

Here’s a preview clip from Season 5:

Also, the Season 5 trailer:

And, while I’m at it, I’ll link to the Wire with a laugh track, on YouTube.

Lastly, a link to a book written by Rafael Alvarez regarding the Wire, focusing on the first 2 seasons. I read it and its fascinating, so many of the characters and stories are based almost entirely on real events and memories of David Simon and Ed Burns. Hopefullyit will be re-published with updates for the last three seasons as well.