Attorney General Demands More Episodes of "The Wire"

If you’re the co-creators of The Wire, perhaps the greatest television series ever made, you’d think you might be allowed to rest on your laurels. But what do you do if you are ordered by the Attorney General of the United States to make another season of the show?

With good humor, Attorney General Eric Holder participated in a panel with Wire cast members as part of an initiative aimed at highlighting the plight of “drug-endangered children,” and after watching a series of clips from the show, said he wanted to speak directly to the show’s creators, David Simon and Ed Burns. As New York magazine reported, Holder said: “Do another season of The Wire. That’s actually at a minimum…. this is a series that deserves a movie. I want another season or I want a movie. I have a lot of power, Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon.”

David Simon emailed his response: "I've spoken to Ed Burns and we are prepared to go to work on season six of The Wire if the Department of Justice is equally ready to reconsider and address its continuing prosecution of our misguided, destructive and dehumanizing drug prohibition. The exchange has at least clarified one thing: the chances of another season of The Wire are now exactly the same as America having a rational dialogue about drug law reform.”