Author and producer David Simon created the HBO serial ‘The Wire’ about life in Baltimore that ran from 2002-2008, a total of sixty episodes that many critics claim was the best television series ever aired. His background was as a journalist covering the police beat of Baltimore, and his reportedly unerring eye looked into the depths of the personal lives of Baltimore’s residents as they interrelated with others and were bumped into the institutions and systems, both official and unofficial, of the city.
Simon said that the show was …"really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution they are committed to."