Talk:The Wire

Poor organization

I wanted to know the name of the actor who played Omar Little.

(1) I clicked on The Wire, then clicked on Main_cast, couldn't find what I wanted easily so clicked over to

(2) List of The Wire characters

If I were designing the "List of the Wire characters" page, I'd start with a ... [wait for it] ... List! But maybe that's just me. Still couldn't find what I wanted so clicked from there to

(3) Street-level_characters_of_The_Wire

then clicked to Omar's_crew; then to yet another page

(4) Omar Little and associates

By this time the click-click-click was getting amusing :-) But still no Omar. From there I clicked to

(5) Omar Little

Even there, the actor's name wasn't in the opening paragraph, where it should be IMO.

Yes, I see that there were ways to find cleverer, less obvious, places to click to short-circuit this chain somewhat. I see this sort of anal retentive re-directions a lot at Wikipedia lately. If all y'all don't see the problem, I'm afraid I can't edify y'all Jamesdowallen (talk) 11:13, 7 July 2018 (UTC)

So fix it... The time it took you to write this comment, you could have instead been correcting the article. That, or perhaps by visiting a website that is actually designed to provide television/movie, cast/crew/characters, film, trivia, etc. and such information with vast databases filled with such data. Wikipedia is plagued with problems, never mind the overall leftist mindset, censorship, political affiliations/biases/agendas issues; If it can be fixed, it certainly isn't going to fix itself... Wendy-p-marshall (talk) 07:19, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

Be WP:BOLD. Kire1975 (talk) 08:55, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

Missing cast member

Michael B. Jordan needs to be added 2600:1700:2FC0:54D0:7C3C:B6B4:B16D:29AB (talk) 04:13, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Paragraph 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Main_cast

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Wire_characters Kire1975 (talk) 06:16, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Adding "ensemble cast" to the lead with awards won

The Wire has a huge cast, but not even one is mentioned by name. See series like Friends, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory. All have names of main characters in lead and a brief description of awards won, also in lead. This article has nothing of that in lead, it should be rewritten by experienced editors. SeanBeans1981 (talk) 06:35, 21 December 2024 (UTC)

The Wire is a comedy

https://hbowatch.com/story/the-wires-best-comedy-moments-when-baltimore-got-funny/

"While the show is renowned for its unflinching look at institutional dysfunction, it’s the clever humor and witty exchanges that make its characters deeply human and relatable. Even years after its finale, fans continue to quote and share these moments, proving that great comedy can emerge from the darkest corners of television drama."

Please discuss here if you disagree. Strongwranglers (talk) 16:19, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Looks like you did not even bother to read MOS:TVGENRE. It would have to be described as a comedy by the majority of reliable mainstream sources to be included in the lead. I see no evidence that is the case. StephenMacky1 (talk) 16:39, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I think you could feasibly list comedy after drama. Strongwranglers (talk) 16:48, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2008/01/analyzing-the-wire-the-best-show-on-television.html

"The Wire does this by painting with brighter colors on a wider canvas and by leavening its pain with humor."

? Strongwranglers (talk) 16:54, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

That source does not refer to the show as a comedy. To be honest, even the previous source you cited did not even refer to it as a comedy, yet the Slate source explicitly refers to it as a drama. Those sources simply support the fact that the show has some humor and comedic moments. It is not unusual for dramas to have such moments too. However, like I've said, unless the genre is explicitly supported by a majority of reliable mainstream sources, it cannot be restored. StephenMacky1 (talk) 17:17, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I would be inclined to agree with you. It does have many comedy moments but I'm not seeing in further sources where that would be supported.

This topic can be closed. Strongwranglers (talk) 17:18, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for your understanding. I would advise you to use this approach for other articles too. Discuss first anywhere if you have any concerns and familiarize yourself with the manual of styles about films and TV shows. StephenMacky1 (talk) 17:22, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

No problem, that's why I opened the talk page discussion. Glad we could get this resolved amicably.

I'll keep that advice in mind, specifically as Stranger Things s5 comes out since I'm working with the team on that article as it rolls out.

Have a great day, StephenMacky1 (talk · contribs)! Strongwranglers (talk) 17:25, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Why was the list of characters page removed?

It existed for 20 years without issue. Plenty of other shows have lists of characters, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_the_Breaking_Bad_franchise

The individual characters still have pages. If this is "not wikia" then surely https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_characters should get removed too. I would have reverted this change myself if I had the permissions.

What changed since yesterday to get it removed? 108.52.102.112 (talk) 04:12, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

The visual novel section is overtly biased

Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the exceptions of two flashbacks – one at the end of the pilot episode that replays a moment from earlier in the same episode and one at the end of the fourth season finale that shows a short clip of a character tutoring his younger brother earlier in the season. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand the ongoing story arc and the relevance of each character to it. Salon has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.

Original Text of the visual novel section

This section is not neutral in tone and includes many of the biases of its previous author, i.e. voice overs or flashbacks being considered 'artificial' exposition. The conclusion in the middle of the first paragraph (Thus, the viewer needs to...) does not follow from the first statement. Removing the biased parts, it seems like these paragraphs better belong in the Critical Response section. ~2026-37243-02 (talk) 10:13, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Biased against whom? Kire1975 (talk) 11:18, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

(OP here, different machine) Biased towards the author's own perspective. Whether voice overs or flashbacks are 'artificial' or 'geniune' exposition isn't something a Wikipedia article about a TV show is meant to tell you, much less give one objective perspective. ~2026-38455-96 (talk) 08:24, 7 July 2026 (UTC)