Wireless

The drought of great hourlongs will end next Sunday with the start of the third season of Game Of Thrones. (Then in April we get new Mad Men and new Breaking Bad in the summer.) To help fill the lacuna I've been re-upping on The Wire.

I could go through a long review about how this is as good a show as TV has ever seen, but you already know that.  So I'll just note two entirely trivial things.

First, I haven't watched The Wire in years, and have since seen a number of the regulars in other roles.  The first time I saw it, I didn't know, for instance, that tough-talking Idris Elba and Dominic West as Stringer Bell and Jimmy McNulty were Britishers. But weirdest of all is another actor from across the pond, Aidan Gillen. After watching him for three seasons as Baltimore politician Tommy Carcetti it's going to be odd to see him once again on Game Of Thrones as the sly, soft-talking Littlefinger.

Second, I watch with the CC on--very helpful with all the street language.  In Season 5 there's a scene with Omar and old-schooler Donnie sitting in a car, casing an apartment.  Donnie listens to old-school soul music (of course) and Omar asks Is that Eddie Kendricks?  Donnie says no.

But the CC typist couldn't quite make out the name.  So it reads "Is that Eddie Cantor?"  Eddie Cantor?  That's a little too old-school even for Donnie.