[!@#$%!]

i was the one making big claims though--about the place of the wire in the "tv as great literature" camp, and i'll stand by those.

but yes, about ideological preferences, i suppose there is a divide.

the wire if anything shows that most if not all problems in life *cannot* be solved by a cowboy with a gun--which is another of those nasty fantasies that inform american ideology. so much of hollywood was built around that. just shoot the right people! and all will be well. fans of ronnie raygun cleaning up cities and shooting drug dealers (just say no!) will be disappointed here.

the wire takes a tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity that is more often found in left/liberal types. no easy answers to difficult problems in it. no happy endings. no real endings, even-- just cycle upon cycle of repetition.

it makes you think and it gives you headaches.

fans of cop shows that wrap crimes neatly at the conclusion with the triumph of good over evil, like so many copshows that reinforce the notion that all is well with the world except for a few "bad apples" will hate the wire.

so... you're probably right there. the wire breaks a lot of conventions people are accustomed to. yes, there will be boos from the audience. "you mean they worked so hard... for nothing??"

as for fans of sopranos i imagine the base to be broader, sure, and the reasons to like it more varied, including "wrong reasons" like the glorification of wealth and violence and power. back in the early 2000 you had business types going "badabing, badaboom" at the office. sure. it was a big deal. huge ratings. unlike the wire, which struggled.

sopranos is a great drama, but it makes fewer demands, and stays within the confines of what drama does--- except for putting an antihero at the center of it, which admittedly was huge at the time. without it we wouldnt have had breaking bad or mad men.