117 Fun Facts About The Wire

Which Baltimore police unit is Jimmy McNulty in when the series opens?

Homicide is McNulty's unit when the series opens; he and partner Bunk Moreland work under Sergeant Jay Landsman and Major William Rawls.

Who runs the Barksdale organisation as Avon's best friend and second-in-command until Avon's release from prison in season 3?

Stringer Bell, Avon's cunning second-in-command, keeps trying to legitimise the crew's business and runs the organisation until Avon is released from prison in season 3.

Which character is known for whistling 'The Farmer in the Dell' while on the prowl?

Omar Little whistles 'The Farmer in the Dell' as he stalks Baltimore's corners, and the cry 'Omar comin'!' sends the dealers scattering.

Season 2 of The Wire, while continuing the Barksdale story, widens its focus to which part of Baltimore life?

The docks: season two follows Frank Sobotka's dockworkers' union at the Port of Baltimore and the smuggling ring moving contraband through its shipping containers.

What was Major Howard 'Bunny' Colvin's Season 3 drug-toleration zone nicknamed?

Hamsterdam, a corner-boy mangling of Amsterdam, is the nickname for the free zones where Colvin lets dealers sell without arrest until City Hall shuts the experiment down.

Where had Lester Freamon spent 'thirteen years and four months' before Barksdale?

Lester Freamon spent thirteen years and four months in the Pawn Shop Unit, exiled there after angering a deputy commissioner, before joining the Barksdale detail.

What is the full first name of the character known as 'Bubbles'?

Reginald Cousins is the full name of Bubbles, the heroin addict and informant whose real name is rarely spoken on screen.

Who plays Avon Barksdale's business-minded lieutenant, Russell 'Stringer' Bell?

Idris Elba plays Stringer Bell; the London-born actor's Baltimore accent was convincing enough that many viewers assumed he was American.

Who rises from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner of the Baltimore police over the course of The Wire?

Ervin Burrell answers to Commissioner Warren Frazier in season 1 and inherits the top job on Frazier's retirement, caring more for headlines than cases.

What does Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski become after leaving the police?

Teacher is Prez's calling; after leaving the police he finds meaning teaching eighth-grade math at Edward Tilghman Middle School in season 4.

The Wire ran for how many episodes over its five seasons?

It premiered on HBO on June 2, 2002 and ended on March 9, 2008, without winning a single major television award while on air.

Which institution is the focus of The Wire's fifth and final season?

The print news media: season five is set largely in the Baltimore Sun newsroom, drawing on David Simon's years as a reporter there, with storylines about buyouts and a fabricating reporter.

Simon's year with Baltimore detectives produced which 1991 book?

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991) came from Simon's year shadowing the Baltimore homicide unit and became the series Homicide: Life on the Street; his 1997 book The Corner followed.

Simon's writing partner Ed Burns, whose experiences inspired the show, was a homicide detective and what else?

A public school teacher: after two decades as a Baltimore police officer, Ed Burns taught in a city public school, experience that shaped the school-centred fourth season.

The Wire's gospel-and-blues theme, 'Way Down in the Hole', was written by which singer-songwriter for his 1987 album Franks Wild Years?

Tom Waits wrote it, and each season used a different recording: the Blind Boys of Alabama, Waits himself, the Neville Brothers, DoMaJe and Steve Earle.

Who performed the season four version of 'Way Down in the Hole'?

Five Baltimore teenagers, credited as DoMaJe, recorded the season four version of 'Way Down in the Hole', matching that season's focus on the city's schools.

Which real Baltimore mayor was cited as one of the inspirations for Tommy Carcetti?

Martin O'Malley, the white councilman elected Baltimore mayor in 1999 who went on to become governor, was widely cited as a model for Carcetti, though Simon called the character a composite.

Omar's character was based on which real Baltimore stick-up man and hitman?

Donnie Andrews, a real Baltimore stick-up artist who turned his life around in prison, was the main model for Omar; he later married Fran Boyd and appeared in season five in a small role.

After the Barksdale detail is shut down, Rawls punishes McNulty by reassigning him where?

The marine unit: Rawls exiles McNulty to the police boat on the harbor at the end of season one, the one posting McNulty had admitted he would hate most.

How many dead women are found in a shipping container on the docks at the start of season two?

Thirteen dead women are found in the container by port officer Beadie Russell; the deaths become homicides once the container's air pipe proves to have been deliberately broken.

In season five, McNulty fabricates evidence of a serial killer preying on which group?

Homeless men: McNulty doctors the files of dead vagrants, adding bite marks and a red ribbon, to invent a serial killer and divert money back to the Stanfield investigation.

Which economics classic sits in Stringer Bell's personal library?

The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith's 1776 treatise, sits on Stringer Bell's shelf when McNulty searches his tidy apartment after his death, leaving McNulty wondering who he had really been chasing.

How long is Avon Barksdale's prison sentence after his season one arrest?

Seven years: with no prior record Avon Barksdale takes a plea for seven years in season one, while D'Angelo gets twenty and Wee-Bey takes life for multiple murders.

What hobby earns deskbound detective Lester Freamon a substantial supplemental income and an eccentric reputation in The Wire?

Making dollhouse furniture is Freamon's sideline; he is last seen in the finale montage building miniatures with Shardene, the former dancer he recruited as an informant.

Which HBO executive persuaded Simon to keep Kima Greggs alive after her season-one shooting?

Strauss argued that Greggs was too strong a character to lose so early.

Which Irish actor plays the ambitious councilman-turned-mayor Tommy Carcetti?

Aidan Gillen, the Dublin-born actor later known as Game of Thrones' Littlefinger, plays Tommy Carcetti, the councilman who beats incumbent Clarence Royce to become mayor.

Frank Sobotka is treasurer of a union with what name?

International Brotherhood of Stevedores Local 1514 is Sobotka's union; as its secretary-treasurer he lets smuggled containers through to bankroll lobbying for dredging the canal and reopening the grain pier.

After rising to police commissioner, Cedric Daniels resigns rather than do what?

Manipulate crime statistics: Daniels refuses to juke the numbers for Carcetti's run for governor, and when Nerese Campbell threatens him with his old file he resigns rather than comply.

Proposition Joe co-founds which drug-supply cartel with Stringer Bell?

The New Day Co-Op: Proposition Joe and Stringer Bell set up the cooperative in season three so Baltimore's dealers could share Joe's quality package and keep the peace.

Felicia Pearson, who plays Snoop, was convicted at 14 of what crime?

Second-degree murder: Pearson was convicted at 14 of killing another teenager in a fight and served about six years; she met Michael K. Williams in a Baltimore club after her release.

Chris Partlow and Snoop hide their victims' bodies where?

In vacant rowhouses: Chris and Snoop leave the bodies in boarded-up vacants, covered in quicklime and plastic, sealing each one shut with a nail gun until Freamon notices the fresh nails.

In his final scene, Michael Lee is shown doing what, implying he will take up Omar's mantle?

Robbing drug dealers: in his final scene Michael holds up Vinson and a dealer at their rim shop, shooting Vinson in the knee, echoing Omar's stick-up career.

How old is Bodie Broadus when he first appears working under D'Angelo in the low-rise 'Pit'?

16: Bodie is a juvenile in season one, which is why punching a police officer lands him in the Boys' Village youth facility, from which he simply walks away.

Which corrupt Maryland state senator is famous for his drawn-out pronunciation of a certain expletive?

Clay Davis, the state senator whose drawn-out 'sheeeeit' became a catchphrase, takes money from everyone and beats a corruption case in season five with a bravura turn on the stand.

Which magazines is the bow-tied New York hitman Brother Mouzone seen reading?

Harper's and The Atlantic are among the highbrow magazines Mouzone sends Lamar to fetch; the bow-tied, bespectacled hitman's look evokes the Nation of Islam's Fruit of Islam, though the show never says he belongs.

Which post-Wire HBO series set in New Orleans did David Simon create with Eric Overmyer?

Treme, which ran on HBO from 2010 to 2013, follows New Orleans musicians and residents rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina; Simon co-created it with Eric Overmyer.

Dominic West, who plays the Baltimore-born McNulty, was actually educated at which English school?

Eton College: West, an Old Etonian, went on to Trinity College Dublin and the Guildhall School before acting, which makes his Baltimore accent all the more of a feat.

Which HBO role did Michael K. Williams take on after The Wire, playing Chalky White?

Boardwalk Empire cast Williams as Chalky White, the boss of Atlantic City's Black community, from its 2010 debut to its 2014 finale.

In a nod to his Irish Catholic roots, McNulty jokingly calls Bushmills what?

Protestant whiskey: McNulty, from an Irish Catholic family, mocks Bushmills, the County Antrim distillery, as Protestant whiskey and orders Jameson instead.

What phrase is the season one finale's epigraph, one of only three not spoken by a character?

All in the game: the season one finale's epigraph '...all in the game' is credited to 'Traditional West Baltimore', a line Omar, D'Angelo and others use throughout the series.

On what date did The Wire premiere on HBO?

June 2, 2002: The Wire premiered on HBO on that Sunday night with the episode 'The Target', which opens with McNulty at the scene of Snot Boogie's killing.

How many episodes were in The Wire's first season?

13 episodes: season one, the longest alongside season four, follows the Barksdale detail from June to September 2002 and was released as a five-disc DVD set in October 2004.

Season two's international crime boss is known only by what name?

The Greek, played by Bill Raymond, is the only name the smuggler goes by; in season two he even remarks that he is not actually Greek.

Which broader theme did season two explore beyond the drug trade?

The decline of the American working class: Simon framed season two as being about the death of work, with the stevedores' shrinking port illustrating the shift to a post-industrial economy.

Which two groups did season three introduce?

Local politicians and the Stanfield organization: season three brings in councilman Tommy Carcetti and Mayor Royce at City Hall, and Marlo Stanfield's crew challenging the Barksdales for the west side.

Which institution did season four focus on through a group of eighth-graders?

It ran 13 episodes from September to December 2006.

How many episodes made season five the shortest of the series?

10 episodes: season five, airing from January 6 to March 9, 2008, was the shortest of the five; every other season had 12 or 13.

Which newspaper's newsroom is fictionalized in season five?

The Sun: season five fictionalizes The Baltimore Sun's newsroom, where David Simon had been a police reporter before leaving the paper in 1995.

Which morally challenged reporter does Tom McCarthy play in season five?

Scott Templeton is the ambitious Sun reporter who fabricates quotes and a serial-killer phone call and wins a Pulitzer; he is played by Tom McCarthy, later the director of Spotlight.

For how many years did David Simon work at The Baltimore Sun city desk?

Twelve: Simon joined The Baltimore Sun in 1982 and left in 1995, a stint he describes as twelve years as a police reporter on the city desk.

Which fellowship did David Simon receive in 2010?

MacArthur Fellowship: the MacArthur Foundation named Simon a 2010 fellow, the award nicknamed the genius grant, and he went on to make Show Me a Hero in 2015.

Which non-fiction book did Simon adapt into a miniseries about US Marines in Iraq?

Generation Kill, Evan Wright's account of riding with the Marines' First Reconnaissance Battalion during the 2003 invasion, became a seven-part HBO miniseries in 2008 written by Simon and Ed Burns.

What does Omar hide under his long duster coat?

He also carries a large-calibre handgun and wears a bulletproof vest.

On which real person is Jimmy McNulty loosely based?

Ed Burns, the Baltimore homicide detective whose dogged wiretap cases irritated his bosses, is the model usually cited for McNulty; Burns went on to co-write the series with Simon.

Where does Stringer Bell take macroeconomics classes?

Baltimore City Community College: in season one McNulty tails Stringer and finds him sitting in a macroeconomics class there, textbooks and all.

Who plays the West Baltimore kingpin Avon Barksdale?

Wood Harris plays Avon Barksdale; the Chicago-born actor is the younger brother of Steve Harris, best known for the legal drama The Practice.

On which retired Baltimore detective is Bunk Moreland based?

Requer's actual nickname was 'The Bunk'; Wendell Pierce was cast right after his audition.

Which actor plays Lester Freamon?

Clarke Peters plays Lester Freamon; the New York-born actor had spent decades in British theatre, and later starred in Simon's Treme as Big Chief Albert Lambreaux.

Which actress plays Kima Greggs?

Sohn later founded ReWired for Change, a Baltimore outreach programme for at-risk youth.

What is the name of the teenager Bubbles informally adopts?

Sherrod is the homeless teenager Bubbles takes under his wing in season four; he dies after taking the poisoned vial Bubbles had prepared for a tormentor, which drives Bubbles to try to hang himself.

Which actor plays Marlo Stanfield?

Jamie Hector plays Marlo Stanfield; the Brooklyn-born actor later appeared as detective Jerry Edgar in Bosch.

What political position does Tommy Carcetti hold when the series begins?

City council member is Carcetti's seat at the start; the ambitious and venal politician launches his mayoral campaign in season three.

Which agency investigated Cedric Daniels for corruption before the series began?

The FBI: in season one Agent Fitzhugh tells McNulty the Bureau once looked at Daniels over unexplained assets from his Eastern District days, a file Burrell and later Nerese Campbell hold over him.

What career does Cedric Daniels take up after leaving the police?

Criminal defense lawyer: the finale montage shows Daniels in court as a defense attorney, while his ex-wife Marla sits on the council and his partner Rhonda Pearlman becomes a judge.

Which actor plays Bodie Broadus?

J. D. Williams plays Bodie Broadus; he had earlier played Kenny Wangler in HBO's prison drama Oz.

Which fellow dealer does Bodie help kill on Stringer Bell's orders?

Wallace: Stringer orders the 16-year-old killed after he is found to have talked to police, and Bodie and Poot shoot him in the low-rise apartment in season one's penultimate episode.

Who orders the hit on Bodie after learning he has talked to McNulty?

Marlo orders Bodie killed after Monk spots him getting out of McNulty's car; Bodie is shot on his corner in the season four finale, refusing to run.

How is D'Angelo Barksdale related to Avon, the kingpin he works for?

He is Avon's nephew: D'Angelo is the son of Avon's sister Brianna, which is why the family's money and lawyer keep him in line after his season one arrest.

Which actor plays Frank Sobotka?

Chris Bauer plays Frank Sobotka; he went on to play Sheriff Andy Bellefleur on True Blood and Bobby Dwyer in Simon's The Deuce.

Who plays Frank Sobotka's troubled son Ziggy?

James Ransone plays Ziggy Sobotka, the hapless son who shoots the fence Glekas in season two; Ransone later played Corporal Ray Person in Simon's Generation Kill.

Which actress plays port police officer Beadie Russell?

Amy Ryan plays Beadie Russell, the port police officer who finds the dead women in the container and later becomes McNulty's partner; Ryan earned an Oscar nomination for Gone Baby Gone.

Which actor plays Major Howard 'Bunny' Colvin?

Robert Wisdom plays Bunny Colvin; he went on to play the prison boss Lechero in Prison Break.

How many drug-tolerance zones does Bunny Colvin set up in his district?

Three: Colvin picks three largely abandoned stretches of the Western District, including Vincent Street, and herds the corner crews into them so the rest of the district goes quiet.

Which role did Omar's actor play in the HBO series The Night Of?

Freddy Knight, the Rikers Island inmate who takes Naz under his wing, was Williams' role in The Night Of, earning him a 2017 Emmy nomination.

Omar's actor began his career as a dancer working with which pop stars?

George Michael and Madonna: Williams started as a backup dancer, touring and appearing in videos with both, before Tupac Shakur spotted his Polaroid and cast him in the 1996 film Bullet.

In which London borough was Idris Elba born?

Hackney: Elba was born in the London Borough of Hackney in 1972 to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother, and grew up in Canning Town in the East End.

Which BBC role earned Idris Elba a Golden Globe after The Wire?

Luther ran on BBC One from 2010 to 2019.

In which English city was Dominic West born?

He later played Prince Charles in The Crown and Noah Solloway in The Affair.

Which royal did Dominic West play in The Crown?

Charles, Prince of Wales: West took over the role from Josh O'Connor for The Crown's final two seasons in 2022 and 2023, playing Charles through the Diana years.

Which trombonist did Wendell Pierce play in Treme?

Antoine Batiste, the charming, perpetually broke trombonist, was Pierce's role in Treme; he later played Robert Zane in Suits and James Greer in Jack Ryan.

Which group performed the season one version of 'Way Down in the Hole'?

Blind Boys of Alabama: the gospel group's recording opened season one, and the series finale brings it back for the closing montage.

Who performed the season five version of the theme song?

Earle also acted in the show as recovering addict Walon.

Which season used Tom Waits' own recording of 'Way Down in the Hole' as its theme?

Season two used Tom Waits' own 1987 recording of 'Way Down in the Hole' as its title theme, the only season to feature the songwriter's original version.

Which John Wick character was played by Lance Reddick?

Charon, the unflappable concierge of the Continental hotel, was Reddick's role in all four John Wick films; the actor died in March 2023, shortly before Chapter 4's release.

Which Disney football film featured Avon's actor as Julius Campbell?

Remember the Titans (2000): Harris played Julius Campbell, the Black defensive star who befriends Gerry Bertier on Denzel Washington's T.C. Williams High team.

Which Fox drama featured Andre Royo as attorney Thirsty Rawlings?

Empire: Royo played Thirsty Rawlings, Lucious Lyon's scheming lawyer, on the Fox hip-hop drama from 2015 to 2020.

How much did Felicia Pearson weigh at birth?

3 pounds: Pearson was born prematurely in Baltimore weighing three pounds, was fed with an eyedropper, and was raised in an East Baltimore foster home, as she recounts in her memoir Grace After Midnight.

Which actor plays Chris Partlow?

Gbenga Akinnagbe plays Chris Partlow, Marlo's chief enforcer; the Washington, D.C.-born actor went on to Simon's The Deuce and Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird.

What is Proposition Joe's real name?

Joseph Stewart is Proposition Joe's name; Robert F. Chew played the Eastside boss who preferred deals to war until his nephew Cheese set him up for Marlo in season five.

What does Brother Mouzone's name mean in Arabic?

Balanced: Mouzone comes from the Arabic mawzun, meaning balanced or measured, fitting the meticulous New York hitman played by Michael Potts.

Which actor plays Ellis Carver?

Seth Gilliam plays Ellis Carver; he went on to play Father Gabriel Stokes on The Walking Dead.

For which drug-organisation lawyer does Herc work after leaving the force?

Maurice Levy, the defence lawyer for the Barksdale and then Stanfield organisations, hires Herc as an investigator after his dismissal; Herc nonetheless slips Marlo's cellphone number to Carver in season five.

Which actor plays Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski?

Jim True-Frost plays Prez; a longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, he was credited simply as Jim True earlier in his career, including in The Hudsucker Proxy.

What incident drives Prez out of the Baltimore Police Department?

Accidentally shooting a colleague: in season three Prez shoots and kills plainclothes officer Derrick Waggoner in the dark, mistaking him for a suspect, and resigns rather than return to the street.

What job does William Rawls hold at the end of season five?

Maryland State Police superintendent: the finale montage shows Rawls being sworn in as head of the state police, his reward from Governor Carcetti for going along with the juked stats.

Which actor plays Clay Davis?

The senator is protected by ranking politicians and Commissioner Ervin Burrell.

Which crime novelist wrote the season three episode 'Middle Ground'?

George Pelecanos wrote 'Middle Ground', the season three episode in which Stringer Bell is killed, earning The Wire's first Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.

How long is the season four finale 'Final Grades'?

Only the series finale is longer; Ernest Dickerson directed it.

How long is the series finale '-30-'?

93 minutes: '-30-', the series finale, is the longest episode of The Wire, closing with a montage that returns McNulty to the city with a new generation playing the old roles.

Who directed both the pilot 'The Target' and the finale '-30-'?

Johnson also acts in the show as Baltimore Sun city editor Gus Haynes.

Which real Baltimore drug kingpin, jailed after an Ed Burns wiretap case, plays the Deacon?

Melvin Williams, the West Baltimore heroin kingpin whom Ed Burns helped convict in the 1980s, plays the Deacon from season three onward, advising Colvin and Cutty.

In which season one episode do McNulty and Bunk work a crime scene using almost one word?

Old Cases, the fourth episode of season one, has McNulty and Bunk re-examine the Deirdre Kresson murder scene communicating almost entirely with variations of one expletive.

The episode 'Hamsterdam' is which episode overall in the series?

29th: 'Hamsterdam' is the fourth episode of season three, so after the 25 episodes of the first two seasons it is the 29th overall; George Pelecanos wrote it.

Which three crime novelists from outside Baltimore wrote for The Wire?

George Pelecanos, Richard Price and Dennis Lehane, the crime novelists of Washington, the Bronx and Boston respectively, each wrote episodes, with Pelecanos also producing.

Which Sopranos director worked on The Wire?

Tim Van Patten, a Sopranos regular who directed episodes in all six of its seasons, also directed The Wire, including the season one finale 'Sentencing'.

Which former Baltimore mayor appeared in a minor role on The Wire?

Kurt Schmoke, Baltimore's mayor from 1987 to 1999, appears in season three as the city health commissioner who advises Royce on Hamsterdam; ex-police commissioner Ed Norris also had a recurring role.

Which Homicide and The Corner writer joined The Wire's staff in season four?

David Mills, Simon's friend from the University of Maryland student paper and an Emmy winner for The Corner, wrote the season four episode 'Soft Eyes'; he died in 2010 while making Treme.

Which dealer does Brother Mouzone shoot as a warning in season two?

Cheese: Brother Mouzone shoots Proposition Joe's nephew Cheese Wagstaff when he finds him selling in the towers, a warning that sends Joe's crew back east and sets up Stringer's betrayal.

Where do Baltimore's detectives hold their wakes, laying the body on the pool table?

Kavanaugh's is the Irish pub where the department holds its wakes, the dead detective laid on the pool table as 'The Body of an American' plays, first for Ray Cole and later for McNulty's mock wake.

Which Fringe character did Lance Reddick play?

Phillip Broyles, the Fringe Division's steely head, was Reddick's role across all five seasons of Fringe; he also voiced Commander Zavala in the Destiny games and Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn.

Which 2002 crime film featured Avon's actor as dealer Ace, based on Azie Faison?

Paid in Full: Harris played Ace, the Harlem dealer modeled on Azie Faison, opposite Mekhi Phifer and Cam'ron; he later appeared in Creed and Blade Runner 2049.

Which university did Wendell Pierce train at?

Juilliard: Pierce, a New Orleans native, graduated from the Juilliard School's drama division in 1985 and made his Broadway debut that year in John Pielmeier's The Boys of Winter.

Which 1998 independent film did Kima's actress co-write and star in?

She later played GBI Chief Amanda Wagner in Will Trent.

What is the source of the series finale's title '-30-'?

Newspaper shorthand for the end of a story: '-30-' was typed at the foot of a finished piece in old newsrooms, a fitting title for the final episode of the season set in the Baltimore Sun.

Which Sun reporter is exiled to the Carroll County bureau in the finale?

Alma Gutierrez, the young reporter played by Michelle Paress, is sent to the Carroll County bureau in the finale after backing Gus Haynes's complaint about Templeton's fabrications.

On which network did the Simon-produced series Homicide: Life on the Street air?

It ran from 1993 to 1999 and gave many of The Wire's creators their start.

On which network did Kima's actress later star in Will Trent?

She plays GBI Chief Amanda Wagner in the series.