“The Wire” replays on BET, so now what’s your excuse?
News that The Wire was going to be showing on BET hit sometime in the last two weeks. Initially I found this revelation somewhat problematic. BET? That’s basic cable. They’ll have to cut the all ready dense episodes down to fit into a commercial-packed hour and erase out all of the vivid –and real– dialogue (and violence) that makes the show like no other. Plus there’s the delicate situation of having a show with a primarily black cast, airing on a black television network and yet not being a “black show” (a pejorative assigned to programming by television executives who feel the need to write off large sections of the TV watching populace). The Wire is an American show, and in classic American shortsightedness could being on BET would actually draw fewer viewers than HBO? God that sounds horrible. It is horrible. It’s also (probably) true. Of course, if whitey is avoiding The Wire because the characters don’t look like him, that’s probably not the type of viewer they were seeking out in the first place.
Though as it turns out, BET might be precisely the location for potential Wire viewers who don’t have the luxury of HBO and Netflix. Most significant, episodes will run 90-minutes in order to cater to both the commercial restraints and the intricacy of the show itself. As for the violence and language, we won’t be able to see how it has been edited until it airs (I’m hoping for the tasteful “blank” spaces, opposed to the annoying bleep or the ridiculous overdub).
Season one, episode one airs this Wednesday at 9:00pm on BET with episodes two and three showing on Thursday and Friday. January 18th the series continues in its normal time slot for the following 47 weeks. If you wanted to see the show, but were too squeamish about jumping in mid-stream, this is your chance.
