The Wire.. and HBO

When watching The Wire for this weeks classes I did not find myself to be entirely thrilled with what was going on. I couldn't figure out what made this show successful enough to have more than one season, well to have four! This was then emphasized by Tyree's article, saying that HBO was able to take risks with what they provided their viewers with because of subscriptions. This also reemphasizes what we had spoken about early, in that HBO appeals to a certain audience - one show that is not a big hit will not ruin them, but will show them that this genre is not going to be a great success (at least not in this form). So, after reading this I still wondered how they let it continue for as long as they did. AND there was reason  number two, the episodes played multiple times a day, this allowing people to just catch it when they turned the T.V. on throughout the day, this did not force people to be available at a continuous, specific time - allowing the show to experience the success it did.

It was interesting to read about the use of camera, because I have found that the reaction of the scene, and opinion of what is going on usually relies on the why the shot is framed. As Tyree points out there are a lot of wide shots where we see the whole group. This allows me as a viewer to see how closely related the characters are to their environment - the importance of sticking with those who are close to you. Not only this, but the reality of the show, the need for one another. This also may create sympathy, I know it did for me. They are all fighting for the same thing, sometimes getting caught up in the wrong thing, but everyone is looking out for them in hope to turn this part of the city around.

I really think sympathy is an important issue here, essentially because it draws the viewer in to the drama of the show itself... maybe allowing the viewer to feel the need to be more involved in the viewing process.

I want to go back to the idea that HBO can be risky with new shows because people subscribe to the channel not a certain series. This really calls to me, because I think that it supplies such a niche market that individuals will try out a new show because they know that HBO has some idea of what they are interested in/attracted to. However, it puts the other broadcast networks at a severe disadvantage because people don't give new shows they dislike much of a chance, and therefore may lose viewers to these "niche networks" similar to HBO. Therefore we can see why The Wire was able to make it through four seasons.