Business…here’s a defense of the BCS.
So I paid the $7 to watch the season finale of The Wire a few days early. Honestly, the waiting was killing me. I’ve never been this hooked on a television show.
It’s the smartest thing I’ve ever watched, and it’s also pulled off something that I’ve never seen–the optimal level of drama.
As an economist, I’m all about optimization. Every good thing comes with accompanying cost, so you’ve got to pick the right levels of everything. It’s a basic tenet of economics as they were taught to me–benefits increase at a decreasing rate and costs increase at an increasing rate. That means that after a certain point, adding additional units of something generates a cost that exceeds the benefit, thereby making it unnecessary to add more.
It’s part of the reason soap operas are hard to deal with on a consistent basis. All that drama is interesting, but the accompanying loss of realism messes up the party. That doesn’t apply when talking about The Young and the Restless, though, because there’s no such thing as too much Victor Newman. Am I right, WMD?
(Are you there, WMD?)
What David Simon, creater and writer for The Wire, has is a keen eye for natural drama, the things that force people to make fateful decisions. Because he has that, he can add drama without making the show foolish, sappy or sensationalist. The villains can be despicable in a natural, human way. The cops can make human mistakes and catch the same hell regular people catch for mistakes.
It’s intelligent writing, and it’s the kind of writing you can’t learn in a class.
It’s the kind of work that I wish I could do. I work hard to make sure that the humor and drama in my work is already out there. I’d rather point out those things than try to create it myself. People are so compelling on their own that they don’t need me to add too much. I just need to use my eye to find what’s worth talking about, what’s moving.
Watching The Wire has reminded me of the ways people respond to environmental stimuli and how interesting that can be. If you read my work, you’ll find it’s the sort of stuff that I try to point out. I’m not nearly as good at it as Simon, but I hope to get there.
And I hope they hurry up and put the new season on the air before the scheduled date of ’08.
I’ll talk more about The Wire after the finale airs on regular HBO. Cuz as anyone that watches can tell you, you can’t wait to talk about the show after you’ve seen it. Shouts to Mumba J., Simmons and Whitlock for turning me onto the show.
And thanks to steady employment for allowing me to afford premium cable!
10 thoughts on “Why I Love The Wire”
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I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and watch a full episode. But maybe one weekend I will get to catch up on this season’s episodes.
Have you had a chance to watch “Dexter” on Showtime?
here, here to the last line! ahhh… the days sans premium cable… i remember them like it were… two years ago at school…
Your article’s too logical to deal with the way I feel about BCS right now.
So I acknowledge that I’m riding on pure emotion when I say that there’s time for a 4-team playoff (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3) before the bowl games.
Won’t OSU have had like 50+ days of rest before they head down to Glendale? They could totally have had playoffs in there somewhere.
There’s something wrong with a system where Urban Meyer can lobby his way into the championship game, Jim Tressel can “abstain” from voting in the final round, and Lloyd Carr has to explain to his team that rematchphobia is the real reason they’re headed to Pasadena and not Arizona.
If someone’s getting screwed every year (for the last five years, right?), it’s a flawed system.
Just because something’s better than it used to be, or could be a whole lot worse, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need to get a whole lot better.
Like, say a person gives up crack and opts for straight cocaine instead. Sure, we’re happy he’s not a crackhead anymore, he’s still a drug addict. It’d be better to take that next step up and give it up entirely, don’t you think?
Preferably before next season.
I personally feel like the lack of a playoff in college football has to do with sheer economics in terms of the lost profits for sponsors of big bowl games etc. By going to a playoff, I feel like the NCAA would lost far too much revenue by sponsors of the bowls, such as the Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl. I think it has a lot to do with the monetary issue, not even just the scheduling and format.
I hate sports writing. You are writing some of the best writing of any kind lately. Unfucking beleiveable. Get some. ESPN is looking for on-air talent. How YOU doin’? Tall and lanky is in like a muthafucka. Please. Run. Get. That. Job.
And yeah, they do have a class that teaches that kind of writing; Journalism 101. See also Investigative Journalism, or Alt-Journalism.
Give it up for the thespian ability of Big Gee of the Backyard Band, and his compelling role as Slim Charles.
Why did it cost you $7 to see it early? I’ve been a Wire fan from day one. I didn’t think they could top season 3, but this season has been a sensational ride. My boys deconstruct each episode and the conversations have been insightful. The show is a great antidote to the mind numbing, brain cell killing Flavor of Love pablum that permeates. Hope BET doesn’t screw it up too much when they start airing The Wire in January with their edits. Who do you think is the breakout star from this season? Snoop, Colvin, the 4 boys, Bubbles or Prez? I vote Snoop because she has the most compelling story and just seems to eat up the screen. Her scene purchasing the nail gun was pure genuise as was her confrontation with the guy on the corner who she thought was from New York. Last episode was epic. Bodie ain’t no pawn and for my money was at least a rook or knight.
You have made my day. I coulda sworn that this was absolutely IT for the wire.
That this would be the LAST season. I have been sitting here thinking…but but ITS SO GOOD!!!!
I havent read the BCS piece…Ill get back on that one.
Cant wait to discuss the Wire on monday.
Now, I’m a fan of the BCS. How could I not be. Oklahoma has had a love affair with the BCS over the last six years. It ain’t been bad to us! But…
Under the scenario you laid out (if the old system were in place), Michigan and Florida and Oklahoma and LSU would ALL have a chance to win the national championship if OSU lost, then Michigan lost, then FLorida lost, etc. I kinda miss that scenario. The BCS makes it a “one or the other” scenario only.
Just something to think about. That’s my only caveat, but I still prefer the BCS.
Of course, we all know what REALLY needs to happen. Think we’ll see a playoff in the next ten years?