Ed Burns, the series "script consultant" (if that's the right term) was a Baltimore cop, and David Simon spent many, many hours hanging out on street corners wi

Ed Burns, the series "script consultant" (if that's the right term) was a Baltimore cop, and David Simon spent many, many hours hanging out on street corners with Baltimore corner boys, first convincing them he wasn't a cop, then getting them to talk to him. The Homicide book is an excellent start to his writing about Baltimore, and led to the series Homicide: Life on the Street, which paved the way for The Wire. Apart from the research, he has such a fantastic ear for dialogue - I can hear real voices when his characters talk, not least because many of them are based on real people (for example, both Jay Landsman [The Wire] and John Munch [Homicide] are based on the same real-life person). It's so good in so many ways, but ultimately for me it shows its characters as rational and understandable, whichever side of the law they are on. Series 4 and 5 are not as strong as the first three, but still head-and-shoulders above most other shows. I know some people will prefer Breaking Bad and The Sopranos, but (good as those shows are) The Wire is peak TV imo.