There are good reasons for The Wire to be so ubiquitously lauded by critics, and those reasons definitely found their way into my own head as I came to experience the sheer heft of the thing. Reviews that refer to the show as "novelistic" aren't kidding; what starts out as a cop show quickly becomes much more. With every season the scope broadens, the relationships flourish, the politics fascinate. It took me a couple months to get through all 5 seasons, but boy am I glad I did. What a show!By the way, more Simpsonized treatments of The Wire drawn by Steve Lieber can be found at Periscope Studio. Love them!