I found out The Wire only had 13 episodes in season 5 because of budget cuts

Was reading an interview with David Simon last night and he said HBO basically told them they had to wrap it up. Season 5 feels rushed but now I get why. Has anyone else dug into production details that changed how they saw a show?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.felix22d ago

@stella_foster nailed it about the newspaper angle. I remember reading that Simon wanted to cover the media decline in Baltimore from the start, but HBO's budget forced his hand. The serial killer fakeout felt rushed, yeah, but the whole season actually ties back to "the game is the game" better than people realize.

stella_foster23d ago

Interesting take! I actually think season 5 works better than people give it credit for. The newspaper stuff with McNulty faking the serial killer felt really true to how real investigations get messed up. Plus the budget forced them to focus on the media angle, which was always part of Simon's plan anyway. Those 13 episodes are tight but they hit hard.