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Moved Real Song Theme Tune from the main page. And now moving Reality Is Unrealistic to said main page.
Deleted line(s) 66,68 (click to see context) :
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Between David Simon's career in the Baltimore Sun's crime beat, Ed Burns' esperience on the police force, and consultants from ex-kingpin Melvin Williams and ex-stick up artist Donnie Andrews, many details of the story are based on real events that might seem fantastical to people removed from the world.
** Some fans complain about Brother Mouzone being unrealistic and out of place, but he, and the service he provides to Avon in season two is based on real life involvement of religious group Nation of Islam in both patrolling high-crime areas to prevent gang violence and open drug trade, as well as acting as hitmen for the underworld.
** In season five, Omar jumps four stories from a balcony, survives, and gets away before his pursuers manage to get down the stairs. This is something that actually happened with consultant and bit actor Donnie Andrews, but the show had to change one detail; Donnie jumped from six stories up.
** Some fans complain about Brother Mouzone being unrealistic and out of place, but he, and the service he provides to Avon in season two is based on real life involvement of religious group Nation of Islam in both patrolling high-crime areas to prevent gang violence and open drug trade, as well as acting as hitmen for the underworld.
** In season five, Omar jumps four stories from a balcony, survives, and gets away before his pursuers manage to get down the stairs. This is something that actually happened with consultant and bit actor Donnie Andrews, but the show had to change one detail; Donnie jumped from six stories up.
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* RealSongThemeTune: Music/TomWaits' "Way Down In The Hole" is the theme song, and is performed by a different artist each season (including Waits himself in Season 2).
** Season 1: The cover version by The Blind Boys of Alabama in a traditional blues/gospel style (note: this version is often considered [[CoveredUp the best]]).
** Season 2: Tom Waits' original rhythm & blues cover.
** Season 3: The Neville Brothers, which has distinct funk and reggae influences.
** Season 4: A contemporary R&B version by [=DoMaJe=], a vocal group brought together specifically for the purpose, consisting of actual Baltimore City public school kids.
** Season 5: A rock/alt-country version by Music/SteveEarle (who plays Bubbles' NA sponsor Walon and gets a substantial amount of screen time that season).
** Season 1: The cover version by The Blind Boys of Alabama in a traditional blues/gospel style (note: this version is often considered [[CoveredUp the best]]).
** Season 2: Tom Waits' original rhythm & blues cover.
** Season 3: The Neville Brothers, which has distinct funk and reggae influences.
** Season 4: A contemporary R&B version by [=DoMaJe=], a vocal group brought together specifically for the purpose, consisting of actual Baltimore City public school kids.
** Season 5: A rock/alt-country version by Music/SteveEarle (who plays Bubbles' NA sponsor Walon and gets a substantial amount of screen time that season).
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Crosswicking new trope.
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* WriteWhoYouHate:
** Writer and former newspaper reporter David Simon [[https://www.saratogian.com/2008/01/07/the-wire-gets-personal-in-its-final-season/ based two different characters]] on Bill Marrimow, his former [[DaEditor editor]] with whom he had a bitter feud while working for the ''Baltimore Sun'' newspaper. The first, Lt. Charles Marrimow, is an utterly incompetent and hardasss police lieutenant whose true purpose in being appointed the new commander of a special police unit is to disrupt the unit and make it so impossible for the unit to function that it disintegrates, thus quietly halting their investigations into various corrupt politicians and shady businessmen who are power players in the city. The second character, an editor at the fictional version of the ''Baltimore Sun'' within the show, is a stuck-up prig who protects a journalist who is fabricating stories and is noted to be engaging in [[HiredForTheirLooks hiring attractive young women for their looks]].
** The executive editor in charge of the fictional version of the ''Sun'', James Whiting, [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/exaxgz/david-simon-280-v16n12 is based]] on an executive editor from Simon's time at the real ''Sun'', John Carroll. Whiting is a PointyHairedBoss and UpperClassTwit who also goes out of his way to protect the reporter fabricating stories. Another character speculates that he does it purely in hopes that the sensationalist fabricated stories can win a Pulitzer Prize and raise Whiting's profile within the newspaper industry, so even if the ''Sun'' goes under, as many fear will happen, Whiting and company can easily secure their next job.
** Writer and former newspaper reporter David Simon [[https://www.saratogian.com/2008/01/07/the-wire-gets-personal-in-its-final-season/ based two different characters]] on Bill Marrimow, his former [[DaEditor editor]] with whom he had a bitter feud while working for the ''Baltimore Sun'' newspaper. The first, Lt. Charles Marrimow, is an utterly incompetent and hardasss police lieutenant whose true purpose in being appointed the new commander of a special police unit is to disrupt the unit and make it so impossible for the unit to function that it disintegrates, thus quietly halting their investigations into various corrupt politicians and shady businessmen who are power players in the city. The second character, an editor at the fictional version of the ''Baltimore Sun'' within the show, is a stuck-up prig who protects a journalist who is fabricating stories and is noted to be engaging in [[HiredForTheirLooks hiring attractive young women for their looks]].
** The executive editor in charge of the fictional version of the ''Sun'', James Whiting, [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/exaxgz/david-simon-280-v16n12 is based]] on an executive editor from Simon's time at the real ''Sun'', John Carroll. Whiting is a PointyHairedBoss and UpperClassTwit who also goes out of his way to protect the reporter fabricating stories. Another character speculates that he does it purely in hopes that the sensationalist fabricated stories can win a Pulitzer Prize and raise Whiting's profile within the newspaper industry, so even if the ''Sun'' goes under, as many fear will happen, Whiting and company can easily secure their next job.
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None
Changed line(s) 51 (click to see context) from:
** "The Greek" (who is not actually from Greece but is clearly not American yet not even be of Greek ethnicity) is played by American actor Bill Raymond.
to:
** "The Greek" (who is not actually from Greece Greek, nor even of Greek descent, but is clearly not isn't American yet not even be of Greek ethnicity) either) is played by American actor Bill Raymond.Creator/BillRaymond.
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None
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* RealityIsUnrealistic: Between David Simon's career in the Baltimore Sun's crime beat, Ed Burns' esperience on the police force, and consultants from ex-kingpin Melvin Williams and ex-stick up artist Donnie Andrews, many details of the story are based on real events that might seem fantastical to people removed from the world.
** Some fans complain about Brother Mouzone being unrealistic and out of place, but he, and the service he provides to Avon in season two is based on real life involvement of religious group Nation of Islam in both patrolling high-crime areas to prevent gang violence and open drug trade, as well as acting as hitmen for the underworld.
** In season five, Omar jumps four stories from a balcony, survives, and gets away before his pursuers manage to get down the stairs. This is something that actually happened with consultant and bit actor Donnie Andrews, but the show had to change one detail; Donnie jumped from six stories up.
** Some fans complain about Brother Mouzone being unrealistic and out of place, but he, and the service he provides to Avon in season two is based on real life involvement of religious group Nation of Islam in both patrolling high-crime areas to prevent gang violence and open drug trade, as well as acting as hitmen for the underworld.
** In season five, Omar jumps four stories from a balcony, survives, and gets away before his pursuers manage to get down the stairs. This is something that actually happened with consultant and bit actor Donnie Andrews, but the show had to change one detail; Donnie jumped from six stories up.
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None
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
** Former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke really did, when seeking re-election, use campaign graphics with "Schmoke Makes Us Proud!" on a black, red and green background (just ''coincidentally'' the same colors the African American flag uses), as a dogwhistle to black voters, much like Royce does as he gets more desperate to win the primary.
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** Former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke really did, when seeking re-election, use campaign graphics with "Schmoke Makes Us Proud!" on a black, red and green background (just ''coincidentally'' the same colors the African American flag uses), as a dogwhistle to black voters, much like Royce does as he gets more desperate to win the primary. Schmoke also did actually suggest decriminalizing drugs, which got him labelled as "the most dangerous man in America". Schmoke appears in a bit role as Royce's Health Commissioner, and warns Royce that is he tries to continue Colvin's Hamsterdam experiment, the papers would call him just that.
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None
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* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: While the show notoriously wasn't a hit for HBO and it mostly owes its reputation to word-of-mouth that hadn't started until around the latter half of its run, it saw huge success in the United Kingdom.
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now definition-only
Deleted line(s) 96 (click to see context) :
* TheWikiRule: Has a wiki [[http://thewire.wikia.com/wiki/The_Wire_on_HBO here.]]
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* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/DavidSimon cast Creator/JamieHector as Marlo Stanfield after seeing him in ''Five Deep Breaths''.
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case in point, they call him Boris as per Boris Yeltsin , (late 90s president)
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As you can read in the trope page , the Fake Russian trope extends the character's origins to the rest of the Soviet Union
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
** Ukrainian Sergei Malatov is played by American Chris Ashworth. "Malatov" is also not a Ukrainian name--however, it might be a fake name, made to conform to American stereotypes. He works for The Greek [[spoiler:(who isn't Greek)]].
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Ukraine and Russia are two different countries
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
* FakeRussian: Ukrainian Sergei Malatov is played by American Chris Ashworth. "Malatov" is also not a Ukrainian name--however, it might be a fake name, made to conform to American stereotypes. He works for The Greek [[spoiler:(who isn't Greek)]].
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Deleted line(s) 44 (click to see context) :
* DoingItForTheArt: The entire point of the show was to make the most realistic, intelligent, and well-researched PoliceProcedural ever seen, knowing full well that the show's brutal honesty and steadfast refusal to talk down to viewers would turn many away. Even as HBO grew restless with the low viewership of the series, the showrunners remained committed to their vision, ratings be damned.
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None
Changed line(s) 107 (click to see context) from:
** Jay Landsman was based on and named after a real homicide detective sergeant whom David Simon had met while researching the book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets''. He was often given dialogue that the writers recall the real Landsman using.
to:
** Jay Landsman was based on and named after a real homicide detective sergeant whom David Simon had met while researching the book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets''. He was often given dialogue that the writers recall the real Landsman using. The real Landsman would later be cast as an unrelated police officer, Dennis Mello.
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None
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* IAmNotSpock: Defied by Wendell Pierce: "If you see me on the street, feel free for the rest of my life to call me Bunk."
to:
* IAmNotSpock: Several of the actors had difficulty finding new roles after the show ended.
** Gbengga Akinagbe (Chris Partlow) remarked "It was so authentic, people thought we weren't actors. At industry events, people would ask 'What are you doing here?' And I'd say, 'What do you mean?' and they'd say 'What are you doing out of Baltimore?' ".
** Creator/MichaelKWilliams suffered an identity crisis because people on the street would always recognize him as [[KarmicThief Omar Little]] and expected him to live up to that part.
** Defied by Wendell Pierce: "If you see me on the street, feel free for the rest of my life to call me Bunk."
** Gbengga Akinagbe (Chris Partlow) remarked "It was so authentic, people thought we weren't actors. At industry events, people would ask 'What are you doing here?' And I'd say, 'What do you mean?' and they'd say 'What are you doing out of Baltimore?' ".
** Creator/MichaelKWilliams suffered an identity crisis because people on the street would always recognize him as [[KarmicThief Omar Little]] and expected him to live up to that part.
** Defied by Wendell Pierce: "If you see me on the street, feel free for the rest of my life to call me Bunk."
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Trivia cannot be played with
Deleted line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) :
* CaliforniaDoubling: {{Averted}}. The series was actually filmed in Baltimore, but used different sections of East Baltimore exclusively (obvious non-inclusions would be when they needed to film the ports or other locales not found in the inner city).
** Most of the high-rise housing projects in which the Barksdale crew operates in the early seasons were actually torn down before the start of the series (this is eventually shown in Season 3). During the first season digital fakery is used to put some high rises up in the background of scenes set in The Pit.
** Most of the high-rise housing projects in which the Barksdale crew operates in the early seasons were actually torn down before the start of the series (this is eventually shown in Season 3). During the first season digital fakery is used to put some high rises up in the background of scenes set in The Pit.
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Creator Chosen Casting is when the casting of an adaptation is influenced by the creator of the work being adapted; showrunners casting an original series isn't an example
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* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/DavidSimon cast Creator/JamieHector as Marlo Stanfield after seeing him in ''Five Deep Breaths''.
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None
Changed line(s) 78 (click to see context) from:
* StarMakingRole: For Creator/IdrisElba, Creator/DominicWest, Creator/AidanGillen, Creator/LanceReddick (coupled with ''Series/{{Fringe}}''), Andre Royo and Creator/ChadLColeman (coupled with ''Series/TheWalkingDead'').
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* StarMakingRole: For Creator/IdrisElba, Creator/DominicWest, Creator/AidanGillen, Creator/MichaelKWilliams, Creator/LanceReddick (coupled with ''Series/{{Fringe}}''), Andre Royo and Creator/ChadLColeman (coupled with ''Series/TheWalkingDead'').
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None
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
* CastTheExpert: A number of police officers and drug dealers in the series were played by actual former cops or criminals.
to:
* CastTheExpert: A number of police officers and drug dealers in the series were played by actual former cops or criminals.criminals, including Dennis Mello, who was played by the real Jay Landsman, and The Deacon, whose actor Melvin Williams was a former drug kingpin and one of the main inspirations for Avon Barksdale.
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No longer Trivia. See X Source Cleanup
.
.Deleted line(s) 65,74 (click to see context) :
* QuoteSource:
** AngryBlackMan
** AssassinationAttempt
** TheConscience
** JustAGangster
** MeddlesomePatrolman
** MobWar
** NeverSuicide
** PoisonousFriend
** WhiteGangbangers
** AngryBlackMan
** AssassinationAttempt
** TheConscience
** JustAGangster
** MeddlesomePatrolman
** MobWar
** NeverSuicide
** PoisonousFriend
** WhiteGangbangers
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None
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* QuoteSource:
** AngryBlackMan
** AssassinationAttempt
** TheConscience
** JustAGangster
** MeddlesomePatrolman
** MobWar
** NeverSuicide
** PoisonousFriend
** WhiteGangbangers
** AngryBlackMan
** AssassinationAttempt
** TheConscience
** JustAGangster
** MeddlesomePatrolman
** MobWar
** NeverSuicide
** PoisonousFriend
** WhiteGangbangers
