A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR... (UPDATED)

(NEW CONTEST RULES BELOW...)



We (okay--I) love television as much as we love books, the Internets, music, spirit photography and Buffalo sports teams. And there is no better realization of the formal possibilites of television than HBO's The Wire. It has been described by experts as "an American War and Peace," "a postindustrial riff on Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy" and "a reason for living." S4 just began last week (10pm, Sundays, HBO) and it's shaping up to be, oh, the greatest thing ever.

This is why, after much serve-and-volley, I have convinced our fearless leader Ed to host a Wire trivia contest on The Dizzies, in the hopes of both drumming up some interest in this severely underwatched show and rewarding you, faithful Dizzyheads, with the chance to win some free Wire-related merchandise. Up for grabs: a limited edition Akademiks hoodie, a copy of The Wire s3 on DVD and beautiful posters (see above) from the new season.

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"You either real or you ain't..."

1> In January 2005, the NYPD broke up a drug ring that had adopted a strategy from The Wire for their own operation. What did they do?

2> What is the relevance of this picture to fans of the Barksdale gang?



3> What is the relationship between Mystic River, Clockers and The Wire?

4> Starting in season three, a retired police officer joined the cast, but not to play himself--someone else was already doing that. What is his/their name?

5> What is the relationship between P. Diddy and George Pelecanos' King Suckerman?

Tiebreaker #1: In return for his confession for multiple murders, what meal does Wee-Bey request while he's in the interrogation room?

Tiebreaker #2: In return for his aid in a drug trafficking case, what drink does White Mike request while he's in the interrogation room?

Bonus Tiebreaker: Is there any other show in the history of television as good as The Wire?

Email your answers to tercentary at gmail dot com.

UPDATE: Just answer as many as you can and we'll see what happens. You no longer have to get all five questions correct!

Contest ends Sunday at 10pm, when the new episode airs on HBO.

This is the last time we'll be using this space for vaguely commercial purposes, at least until s5 of The Wire.