Earlier today I found an article by The Telegraph which reported that the Wire will be digitally remastered and replayed on HBO. The episodes will start to replay on September 8, which is perfect timing for all of us in ds106. I fully intend to watch, but to watch with a critical eye as I think the way the show plays now is more fitting to the era and the content.

The Telegraph article quotes Dave Insley, director of photography, saying, “The reason the show has stayed 4×3 is because [creator] David Simon thinks that [it] feels more like real life and real television.” I completely agree with this because the show itself took place in a past where technology was not so advanced. There were obviously changes in technology and even in the first episode there is discussion of when computers will replace the typewriters at the office. I think an update in how the show looks will deplete the sense of the era and changing technology of the show. It would be almost as bad if a black and white movie were put into color; it puts the production out of its own time and thus rids of the sense of time and place for the production.

I will watch with interest, but I do expect to feel some sort of displacement and detachment from the original show, which I feel perfectly represents the era and better shows the realism of the crime drama through its grainier look.

Here is the HBO trailer for the digitally remastered version of the Wire.