HBO Will Re-Realease The Wire in HD Starting Dec. 26th

When it comes to TV shows whether from premium channels or basic cable The Wire is usually always mentioned as one of the top series of all time. In fact even Mayor Nutter held a Wire party at city hall for the series’ finale.

Although never winning an Emmy or any other big time award for that matter, the Wire was still able to attract a cult-like following and receive overwhelming positive reviews from critics.  With such a loyal fan base HBO looks to cash in once again by re-releasing the series in HD. HBO plans to release the full series for purchase January 5th on iTunes, Google Play. X-Box Video and Vudu.  For those that don’t want to wait that long to get their Wire fix, there’s great news.

As a hangover Christmas present, the digitally enhanced Wire will begin to be aired in a marathon format on HBO Signature starting December 26th at noon up until December 30th when the last episode of season 5 is complete.  For those that are looking to binge there’s even better news.  The entire Wire series will be available on HBO Go starting December 26 and will also be in its new HD format.

So what is the HD fuss all about you may ask?  Well it’s sort of difficult to explain without the nerd jargon.  When The Wire was originally shot by creator David Simon, it was done so with a 4:3 aspect ratio even though executive producer Robert Colesberry urged Simon to shoot the series in 16:9.  Colesberry  predicted that TV would follow in the footsteps of the silver screen in regards to widescreen aka 16:9.  However, due to budget constraints the series was shot in 4:3.

With the fan’s demands for a high definition release, HBO had no choice but to go back and remaster the series.  A crew then painstakingly edited and reformatted he videos.  Some of the problems that occurred included equipment and film crews showing up in frames, close ups not fitting the screen, as well as issues with spacing. Luckily for the editing team, Simon predicted a remastering of the series and mad a conscious effort to avoid using too many close-ups as well as relying heavily on mid-shots.

Overall viewers will be presented with an incredible touch-up job.  Although, David Simon feels the audience will receive a series that is cinematically different the same feeling and quality show remains.