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Interesting note on The Wire (BET version)

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From Wikipedia

HBO aired the five seasons of the show in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008, respectively. New episodes were shown once a week, occasionally skipping one or two weeks in favor of other programming. Starting with the fourth season, subscribers to the HBO On Demand service were able to see each episode of the season six days earlier.

American basic cable network BET also airs the show.[283] BET adds commercial breaks, blurs some nudity, and mutes the word fuck and its derivatives. Much of the waterfront storyline from the second season is edited out from the BET broadcasts.[284]
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I guess it wasn't black enough?

Has anyone seen these versions of the episodes? What exactly happened to them?






Haven't finished S1 yet. So keep spoilers to a minimum.
 
:lol @ BET

on one hand, I've heard that a lot of people (at least on initial viewings) didn't like all the Docks stuff in comparison to the rest of the series. It fights in well with the larger context of the show though, imo.

I guess it's sort of the issue with other serialized dramas...on a week to week basis, seemingly changing the setting/tone of the show will seem a bit boring and tedious...but if you stick with it (or watch straight through on DVD) it makes more sense and ties in better.

I could never watch that type of show edited on a basic cable or network station though. It's like watching a fullscreen dvd x10000 or something :lol
 
Oddly enough, I liked the second season more than the prior season when I first watched it. In fact, it was a pattern that held until the fifth season. But it's all just splitting hairs really, every season of the show is awesome and a cut above most anything televised.

Now that I'm re-watching the entire series again for the first time, I'm marveling anew at how amazing the first season is, and I'm just in raw disbelief that the next season is going to better. Damn, I love The Wire.
 
That's too bad, the waterfront story added a whole extra layer of texture to the overall story. It provides a huge frame of reference for McNulty's story too.
 
Haven't seen the show in a while, if memory serves correct, the scenes involving the docks don't really move the main story forward all that much.
 
harSon said:
Haven't seen the show in a while, if memory serves correct, the scenes involving the docks don't really move the main story forward all that much.
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The entire series is the "main story." There's character development on the law side while they're investigating the dock stuff. There's also lots of characters introduced that impact stuff later on.

How exactly does this work? Like they just take a seasons worth of Barksdale organization scenes and cut them in to an episode and that's it?
 
Borgnine said:
How exactly does this work? Like they just take a seasons worth of Barksdale organization scenes and cut them in to an episode and that's it?
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every white person gets pixelated and their voice is re-dubbed by a rapper.
 
D4Danger said:
every white person gets pixelated and their voice is re-dubbed by a rapper.
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1186176601437.jpg
 
Very stupid decision. The waterfront plot and characters at the start of Season 2 tie in beautifully with the Season 1 stuff later on in the season.
 
Eh, BET needs to edit the show to fit into the time slot, so a lot more than bits of the waterfront storyline have surely been cut.
 
Borgnine said:
The entire series is the "main story." There's character development on the law side while they're investigating the dock stuff. There's also lots of characters introduced that impact stuff later on. ?
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It really doesn't. The police major's feud with Sobotka, the introduction of The Greek, Sobotka's son and Ziggy, the docks, etc. Pretty much everything having to do with the dock characters in particular is useless to the later seasons of the show. I personally loved the season though...
 
Borgnine said:
The entire series is the "main story." There's character development on the law side while they're investigating the dock stuff. There's also lots of characters introduced that impact stuff later on.

How exactly does this work? Like they just take a seasons worth of Barksdale organization scenes and cut them in to an episode and that's it?
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It's not just "character development," since character development in and of itself might not move the story forward.

The docks story does fit within the picture of the decline of the American city, though, from a socioeconomic point of view. I wasn't a fan of it when I watched it for the first time, but season 2 makes so much sense looking back on it.
 
when they first put the wire on BET each ep was like an hr and half or two hrs. I don't know if people were actually watching it.

but if you read the article he doesn't mention season 3 or 4. I don't think this has to do with race at all. They probably edited down the other seasons as well.
 
Karakand said:
Then why does it feel like you're apologizing for its removal?
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I simply said I can understand why it'd be among the things chosen to be cut for the shows shortening, doesn't change the fact that I liked the season.
 
Mr.City said:
Why the fuck would you even try to watch this show on network television?
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It used to be on super late at night and I have chronic insomnia. Better than religious nuts spouting bullshit, ads for some shite or doing something productive.
 
Fucking retarded. In The Wire, you cannot remove any element. Every aspect contributes to fleshing out the main character of the story, which is Baltimore. I've never seen a show with less filler in my life. Sometimes I imagine removing this person or that story arc, and it really ends up ruining some other part of the show. Those who say the docks arc didn't move the main story forward are factually wrong, and miss the entire point of the fucking show.

The Wire has one of the most complex portraits of a city ever on any medium. I don't know the idea behind BET's decision, but nobody should be watching the show on that shitty channel anyway. Go buy the DVD set or netflix it.
 
harSon said:
Haven't seen the show in a while, if memory serves correct, the scenes involving the docks don't really move the main story forward all that much.
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You need to re-watch it then. It fit in with the "main story" of that season, and elements of the crime structures involved with the docks appear in the following seasons as well.

I thought it was an amazing look at the slow death of an industry, and its devastating impact on a community. That type of story has relevance regardless of color, especially given our current economic situation

Fuck BET
 
BET is such a missed opportunity/worthless station. I have it right next to the history channel and it was funny going from the history channel which was showing some trek across Africa with great locals and culture to some gangster laced love story showing on BET. They really should have made that station in the vain of Telemundo.
 
LQX said:
BET is such a missed opportunity/worthless station. I have it right next to the history channel and it was funny going from the history channel which was showing some trek across Africa with great locals and culture to some gangster laced love story showing on BET. They really should have made that station in the vain of Telemundo.
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This is how I feel about BET, its a missed opportunity at having MTV like crowds watching this channel. The quality in picture of the shows on the channel reminds me of 80's televison programming.

At times im disgraced of even having a channel called Black Entertainment when there's none there at all or its chopped and screwed so badly you end up picking up the DVD of the shows they do show that uncut.
 
Surprised to see so much love for these episodes. Season 2 in general was my least favorite season, though I still enjoyed it. I don't see how they could just cut all this stuff out. Some of the elements they introduce do come into play later and are pretty significant.
 
Amir0x said:
Fucking retarded. In The Wire, you cannot remove any element. Every aspect contributes to fleshing out the main character of the story, which is Baltimore. I've never seen a show with less filler in my life. Sometimes I imagine removing this person or that story arc, and it really ends up ruining some other part of the show. Those who say the docks arc didn't move the main story forward are factually wrong, and miss the entire point of the fucking show.

The Wire has one of the most complex portraits of a city ever on any medium. I don't know the idea behind BET's decision, but nobody should be watching the show on that shitty channel anyway. Go buy the DVD set or netflix it.
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Let me reword my statement, if there's a substantial arc that could be removed without completely fucking up the show, it's definitely that arc. Does it take away from the show? Yes. Is it a better show without it? Hell no. But it can be effectively removed. I personally found The Baltimore Sun portions of the show to be a lot worse than those on the dock, and i'd consider it more dispensable if it weren't for the whole
serial killer
tidbit. I agree with the notion that it shouldn't be on network television in the first place, the show's raw edge is vital to its realistic depiction of societal life in Baltimore. Hopefully DirecTV picks it up for their TV101 channel like they did with Oz and Deadwood.
 
harSon said:
Let me reword my statement, if there's a substantial arc that could be removed without completely fucking up the show, it's definitely that arc. Does it take away from the show? Yes. Is it a better show without it? Hell no. But it can be effectively removed. I personally found The Baltimore Sun portions of the show to be a lot worse than those on the dock, and i'd consider it more dispensable if it weren't for the whole
serial killer
tidbit. I agree with the notion that it shouldn't be on network television in the first place, the show's raw edge is vital to its realistic depiction of societal life in Baltimore. Hopefully DirecTV picks it up for their TV101 channel like they did with Oz and Deadwood.
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I think it's necessary for the development for the players on the cops side of the line.
 
Amir0x said:
Fucking retarded. In The Wire, you cannot remove any element. Every aspect contributes to fleshing out the main character of the story, which is Baltimore. I've never seen a show with less filler in my life. Sometimes I imagine removing this person or that story arc, and it really ends up ruining some other part of the show. Those who say the docks arc didn't move the main story forward are factually wrong, and miss the entire point of the fucking show.

The Wire has one of the most complex portraits of a city ever on any medium. I don't know the idea behind BET's decision, but nobody should be watching the show on that shitty channel anyway. Go buy the DVD set or netflix it.
Click to expand...


As much as I love the second season, I think that arc is there to patch up a major time hole (that has to be there) between the events of the first and third seasons. It provides some interesting character development, particularly for McNulty, but the main story has no bearing on what I've seen of the show (up to mid 4th season.)

Not to say I'd ever remove it for any reason...
 
Door2Dawn said:
I remember watching a preview of this. What happend to it?
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i think they replayed it to death until the mtv movie/music awards took that spot.
 
Although most of season 2 are some of my least favorite parts of the wire, removing any part of the show is just silly. The show is meant to be viewed in its entirety, it is one cohesive story that looks at many aspects of the city. This has to be one of the silliest decisions I've ever seen.
 
Well, let's be honest. The sanitized version of The Wire on BET is probably lacking in a lot of other ways. The best way to watch it is to get the DVD. It's a complex show so it's good to watch the episodes in order and within a short time span.
 
PhoenixDark said:
You need to re-watch it then. It fit in with the "main story" of that season, and elements of the crime structures involved with the docks appear in the following seasons as well.

I thought it was an amazing look at the slow death of an industry, and its devastating impact on a community. That type of story has relevance regardless of color, especially given our current economic situation

Fuck BET
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Also, Nico's baby's mamma's titties are fucking perfect.
 
SnakeswithLasers said:
Also, Nico's baby's mamma's titties are fucking perfect.
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Might be season 2 as well but I remember the waitress Mcnulty bangs while drunk being pretty hot as well
 
SnakeswithLasers said:
Also, Nico's baby's mamma's titties are fucking perfect.
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Dominic West and Michael Williams talked quite extensively about them in the commentaries. :lol
 
Calcaneus said:
1186176601437.jpg
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Lord why did you have to remind me?!?!?! Thank God I own and watched the original before this one was released.... I watched this one too.... surprisingly I don't remember any footage getting edited out... the dub though... wow....
 
Good Lord people - why would anyone watch this masterpiece butchered (Or so it would seem) on BET? Word to the wise - Do it right with Netflix
 
harSon said:
It really doesn't. The police major's feud with Sobotka, the introduction of The Greek, Sobotka's son and Ziggy, the docks, etc. Pretty much everything having to do with the dock characters in particular is useless to the later seasons of the show. I personally loved the season though...
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Except without the feud, the task force never gets assembled again. That's one of the major points they were trying to make. Petty bullshit police politics, and how good police officers can navigate it to get real work done.

BET viewers would watch the Season 1 finale, then in the next episode, what, everyone is magically back together? It's stupid, and ironically, just as ridiculous as the feud they cut out.
 
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