A new trailer has dropped for an upcoming official podcast celebrating the 20th anniversary of HBO’s The Wire, considered by many as one of the very best TV shows of all time.
The podcast will be hosted by rapper and Wu-Tang Clan alum Method Man, interviewing the show’s cast, crew, and creators. The eight-episode podcast will feature a behind-the-scenes look into the series’ production and examine its lasting legacy as a cultural institution.
Spanning five seasons, from 2002 to 2008, each season focused on a different institution in Baltimore, Maryland, such as the open-air illicit drug trade, the port system, city government, education and schools, and the print news business. It was based on creator David Simon’s own experiences as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
Some have hailed the show as the Great American Novel in TV form, and it arguably helped launch the mainstream recognition of a number of top actors, such as Idris Elba, Lance Reddick, Dominic West, Seth Gilliam, and the late Michael K. Willaims.
As a testament to the show’s dedication to realism, Michael K. Williams’ Omar Little had survived a fall after jumping out of the fourth story of a building in the fifth season of the show. However, the real-life person on whom the character is based, Donnie Andrews, actually survived the leap in a similar situation from the sixth floor of a building, Simon claimed in a Vice interview.
The first episode of The Wire at 20 podcast releases this Thursday, June 2.