April 13, 2007

Cutting "The Wire"

I became of this crime against humanity (or at least, against the greatest TV program of the decade) from Andy Vineberg of the Bucks County Courier Times, and I officially have nothing to add:

Late-arriving fans of HBO's “The Wire” (such as myself) hoping to catch up on past seasons on BET can forget about it.

The cable channel recently aired the standout drama's first season in its entirety. The muted profanity and nonstop commercials were annoying, but you could almost tolerate them because the hour-long program was aired over 90 minutes, meaning no content was trimmed.

For the second season, however, which debuted last Thursday and continues tonight at 10, BET is only devoting an hour of airtime per episode. But no less commercials. Which means about 20 minutes of content is cut from each episode.

No thanks. Such slicing and dicing would make almost any show unwatchable. But on a program as detailed as “The Wire,” when every line, every nuance matters, it's unthinkable.

Rent, buy or borrow past seasons on DVD. Or hope HBO gets around to repeating them. Just don't try to follow the series on BET. Not Season 2 at least.

It can't be done.

How dare they. They wouldn't cut out 20 minutes of "106th and Park."

Posted by Stephen Silver at April 13, 2007 05:20 PM
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