Sometimes a single word is enough

Since Josh Marshall is celebrating the holiday by writing about his favorite television show, Dexter, I thought I'd share a scene from mine, The Wire. It's a shame so few people watch it--it only has about 2 million regular viewers, a pittance for television audiences--I think a lot of you are missing the best series ever aired.

A reviewer for the Times called it "the closest that moving pictures have come so far to the depth and nuance of the novel," and I'd have to agree with that. I've never seen so many well developed characters and compelling storylines in a single television series.

I'm going to miss it dearly when it finishes its final season next year, and I'm already dreading the passing of this season's last two episodes. While the Sopranos and Deadwood are great series as well, they just aren't The Wire.

My inner Frenchman would even go a little further and call it an "important" series, one every American, and most certainly, every liberal should watch. It documents the deterioration of our institutions, focusing on a different aspect of this decline each season. First, it was the justice system. Then came labor, followed by politics. This year it's education and next year it'll be the press.

Anyway, I wanted to share one of my favorite scenes from the first season with you. It's a scene in which the viewer gets to share the joy of solving a puzzle with one of the shows detectives. They do scenes like this every once in a while (two this season, the second of which will air on Sunday; I saw it on VOD and it's great).

Elsewhere: I'll be talking about the War on Christmas with Goldy on KIRO at about 2PM Pacific today.