Thursday, January 10, 2008

MUNCHING "THE WIRE"

The TV Universe legend that is John Munch continues to grow, as evidenced by this excerpt from a review of 'The Wire' by John Leonard for "New York" magazine:

"Forty or so minutes into the seventh hour of the fifth and final season of The Wire, who should walk into a tavern for a sit-down with a source but an agitated Clark Johnson? And who should be stuck at the end of the bar with nothing to say and less to do but a cadaverous Richard Belzer? This is an inside joke. Johnson has a major role to play in the last ten episodes of The Wire, as Augustus “Gus” Haynes, the city editor of the Baltimore Sun. Belzer, on temporary loan from Law & Order: SVU, is merely a sight gag."

I'm one of the many who doesn't watch 'The Wire'. Based on the ratings for the first episode of its return, neither are you. I guess I was still getting over the end of that particular season of 'The Sopranos' when 'The Wire' debuted; maybe that's why I didn't start watching it.
And it was kind of too late to pick up once I realized I was probably missing out on something phenomenal.

I'm too cheap to order it up on HBO On Demand, and my Netflix queue is crowded as it is. And I knew I didn't want to watch some bowdlerized version of BET. Someday I'll get around to watching this series, described as "Dickensian" and lauded as the greatest TV show ever. But in the meantime, I will be checking out that seventh episode, even if I don't know what's going on.

That's because I want to see the Belz rack up another appearance by his alter-ego John Munch in the TV Universe.

'The Wire' is theoretically linked to Toobworld in general due to Theory of Relateeveety concerning the "Bunks". But this appearance by the Munchkin will make it official.

BCnU!
Toby OB

Thanks for the heads-up from "JohnMunch" at the Tommy Westphall's Mind livejournal.

1 comment:

Terence Towles Canote said...

I love The Wire, although I have to get it on DVD through NetFlix because I don't get HBO. At any rate, it figures Munch would show up on the show sooner or later. I mean, he once worked in Baltimore! Now how many shows has he appeared in now? I know Homicide, nearly all the Law and Order shows, and The X Files...