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Joe Otterson TV ReporterWhen Jamie Hector heard the true story of the dirty cops at the heart of the new HBO limited series “We Own This City,” it wasn’t the corruption that surprised him.“What surprised me was how well-documented it was,” Hector told Variety.“We Own This City” is based on Justin Fenton’s book of the same name. It tells the true story of the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force, who routinely robbed drug dealers and citizens alike while also re-selling drugs they confiscated on the job.

Joshua Alston Scripted limited-run dramas inspired by recent, buzzy true-crime tales have recently oversaturated the market. And yet for as many as there are, notably few have drawn from what is arguably America’s most consequential (and most intractable) criminal justice phenomenon.

It’s disappointing to report that, contrary to its IMDb page, Treat Williams does not appear in all six episodes of “We Own This City,” George Pelecanos and David Simon’s new HBO miniseries, adapted from the book by Justin Fenton. But the good news is that when he finally does turn up in the penultimate episode, the show has generated such weight that his appearance has the proper power; for an epic saga of police corruption, nothing could feel more like the Pope giving his blessing than a cameo by the star of “Prince of the City.” READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2022 And that 1981 Sidney Lumet film really does feel like the template for “We Own This City,” perhaps more than Simon’s previous work – even “The Wire,” its most obvious point of comparison, to say nothing of the cops-and-dealers angles of “The Corner” or the knotty politics of “Show Me a Hero.” Lumet’s film told the true story of an elite unit of hotshot cops that helped themselves to copious money and contraband in ‘70s-era New York City; this miniseries tells the true story of similar unit, the Gun Trace Task Force, engaging in similar activities in Baltimore in the early 2000s.

Helen Mirren has paid tribute to her stepson Rio Hackford, who has died aged 51. Hackford was the son of film director Taylor, whom Mirren has been married to since 1997. He died from an unspecified illness on Thursday 14 April.

Rio Hackford, an actor whose credits include The Mandalorian, Swingers and Treme who also owned a popular club in New Orleans and was Taylor Hackford’s son, has died. He was 51.

Jon Bernthal, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Hector and Josh Charles star in the debut trailer for We Own This City, coming later this month to HBO Max.

“The Wire” is widely regarded as one of the best shows on television and certainly one of the best shows HBO has ever produced. So fans of that show will want to catch “We Own The City,” a new series from “The Wire” creator and writer David Simon, his producing partner George Pelecanos (who co-created the HBO series “The Deuce” with Simon) and director by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who is coming off the success and Best Actor win of his most recent film, “King Richard.” The three of them have teamed up for “We Own This City’ which is a series about Baltimore Cops, specifically Baltimore’s failed Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force.

“The Flight Attendant,” which returns for its second season on April 21. Then there’s the long-awaited return of Bill Hader’s “Barry” on April 24 on HBO and HBO Max, as well as Season 3 of “The Black Lady Sketch Show” on April 8.In terms of new originals, “The Wire” and “The Deuce” creator David Simon is back with the new series “We Own This City” on April 25, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force.

Marta Balaga Just in time for the 20th anniversary of “The Wire,” celebrated during the opening of French TV festival Series Mania currently unspooling in Lille, David Simon returns to Baltimore with HBO’s miniseries “We Own This City.”Co-created with George Pelecanos and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, it focuses on true events described in Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton’s nonfiction book, chronicling the inner workings of the Gun Trace Task Force: the Baltimore Police Department unit charged with racketeering, robbery, extortion and overtime fraud in 2017.Jon Bernthal and Baltimore native Josh Charles star – as disgraced Sgt. Wayne Jenkins and GTTF detective Daniel Hersl respectively – as well as “Succession’s” Dagmara Domińczyk, McKinley Belcher III, Jamie Hector and Wunmi Mosaku.

Marta Balaga Returning barely six months after its 2021 edition, which wrapped in September, French TV festival Series Mania welcomed Jury President Julia Sinkevych,who arrived in Lille from war-torn Ukraine.“I didn’t know if I would be lucky enough to be here tonight,” said Sinkevych to a standing ovation, with Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania general director, observing that culture cannot be insensitive to what is happening.“The whole world is now admiring our resistance, the resistance of the Ukrainian people. But there is another battlefield, which is culture, and I want us to be noticed, recognized and admired on the cultural battlefield, too,” added Sinkevych.“This [conflict] has been going on for a long time and there have been many episodes in this TV series.

Series Mania boasts a plethora of riches, including, just for starters, the latest series from “The Wire’s” David Simon, and “Vikings’” Michael Hirst and “The Responder,” starring Martin Freeman, which is already being talked up as the European series of the year. And it bowed on BBC One in January. The following selection may well not rep the best 10 titles at this year’s Series Mania. Some of those will only be revealed in a final jury verdict, if then.

“The Wire” wrapped up almost a decade-and-a-half ago, but it’s still one of HBO‘s most beloved shows. A lot of that comes from showrunner David Simon.

EXCLUSIVE: The Deuce and Sopranos alum Michael Rispoli and Paloma Guzman (Roswell, New Mexico, The Deuce) are set for heavily recurring roles in Starz/Lionsgate’s Power prequel series, Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

HBO and HBO Max are gearing up for a must-see spring TV schedule, with a number of new, star-studded series slated to premiere in the next few months. During the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, the networks shared new images for the biographical series  , an adaptation of the popular true-crime docuseries; the series adaptation of David Simon's return to Baltimore with  and more.Get your first look at what's to come:Starring Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, is the anticipated limited series recounting the events surrounding the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette).

The Wire was almost made using a different opening theme song, according to the show’s creator David Simon.Each of the five seasons of the acclaimed HBO crime drama opened with a different version of Tom Waits‘ 1987 track ‘Way Down In The Hole’, taken from his 10th studio album, ‘Franks Wild Years’.The five versions were sung by The Blind Boys Of Alabama (season one), Tom Waits (season two), The Neville Brothers (season three), DoMaJe (season four), and Steve Earle (season five).However, the show’s creator has now revealed that the opening theme could have been very different had it not been for some serious last minute chasing and help from Waits’ wife Kathleen Brennan.Simon, a longtime fan of Waits, first used music by the US singer-songwriter in a fifth season episode of Homicide: Life On The Street titled ‘Bad Medicine’. When it came time to make The Wire, he dipped back into Waits discography to find something suitable for his new show.“The first [song] I found was ‘Get Behind The Mule,'” Simon told Entertainment Weekly. “And it didn’t quite work, lyrically.

The Wire has been named the greatest TV series of the 21st century in a new poll.The critically acclaimed drama ranked first in a new BBC list ranking the best shows of the last 21 years, based on an aggregate poll of TV critics.“We hope you are as inspired and exhilarated by reading the results as we are – as collectively, they not only offer a celebration of TV itself, but a view of the modern era like few others,” the BBC wrote.Reacting to the win, The Wire creator David Simon said: “I’m glad

Production on HBO’s upcoming limited series We Own This City has been temporarily suspended after a “Covid event” on-set, Details are not known. Filming has been underway in Baltimore, MD.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterProduction on David Simon and George Pelecanos’ new HBO series, “We Own This City,” has been temporarily shut down due to a COVID-19 case onset, Variety has learned.“Production will be paused on ‘We Own The City’ this week due to a COVID event and is scheduled to resume with the usual shooting cadence next week,” HBO said in a statement to Variety.“We Own This City” is currently shooting in Baltimore, Maryland.

Earlier this week, Simon announced his decision in protest of a new law passed in the state that bans abortions after six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant. Though Simon says the nonfiction miniseries he is working on is based on events in Texas, he “can’t and won’t ask female cast/crew to forgo civil liberties to film there” and asked followers to suggest film sites that look like the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

The Wire creator David Simon has defended his decision not to shoot his forthcoming series in Texas in protest against the state’s new abortion laws.The US Supreme Court refused to block the bill before its enactment on September 1, which, according to the New York Times, now makes Texas the most restrictive US state in terms of access to abortion services.It makes no exception for victims of rape or incest, and authorises citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone involved in facilitating an

David Simon isn’t messing with Texas, he’s done with the place.

The Wire creator David Simon has said he won’t shoot his new HBO series in Texas due to the recent abortion laws.The new legislation, Senate Bill 8, prohibits the abortion of a foetus once cardiac activity can be detected, which is generally around six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant.It makes no exception for victims of rape or incest, and authorises citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone involved in facilitating an abortion.The US Supreme Court refused to block the

EXCLUSIVE: HBO is rounding out cast for We Own This City, its upcoming limited series from The Wire’s executive producers David Simon and George Pelecanos. Joining in recurring roles are The Wire alums Thaddeus Street, Tray Chaney and Chris Clanton. Additionally, Jermaine Crawford and Nathan E. Corbett are set to guest star.

The Wire creator David Simon has penned a tribute in an open essay to the show’s late actor Michael K Williams.Simon took to Twitter to post a tribute in the New York Times after the actor was found dead in his home in Brooklyn, New York, last week (September 6). He was 54.“A short remembrance for a talent, a genuine collaborator and a true friend.

The Sopranos and Deadwood – it was the Baltimore-set crime series The Wire, broadcast on HBO between 2002 and 2008, that was the most innovative and highly regarded. Its creator, David Simon, conceived it as “Greek tragedy for the new millennium”.

Tributes have been pouring in Monday for Michael K Williams, the Emmy-nominated actor best known for playing Omar Little on The Wire. Williams died Monday at his Brooklyn home, his family said. He was 54.

David Simon, creator of The Wire and The Plot Against America, has weighed in on an issue that threatens to tear the WGA East apart: what to do about the guild’s rapidly growing contingent of digital news writers?

EXCLUSIVE: Dagmara Domińczyk (Succession) and Don Harvey (The Deuce) are set as series regulars in We Own This City, HBO’s upcoming limited series from The Wire’s executive producers David Simon and George Pelecanos.

EXCLUSIVE: Wunmi Mosaku is set to join the growing ensemble of HBO’s We Own This City limited series, from The Wire’s EP David Simon and producer George Pelecanos. Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector are also on board. Reinaldo Marcus Green is set to direct and executive produce the series, based on Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton’s book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption. Production is set to begin in July.

EXCLUSIVE: Darrell Britt-Gibson, Rob Brown, McKinley Belcher III and Larry Mitchell have been cast as leads in We Own This City, HBO’s upcoming limited series from The Wire’s executive producer David Simon and producer George Pelecanos. They will star alongside previously cast Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector in the project, which will kick off production in July.

Honestly, how many times have you talked with someone about the best TV shows of all time, and “The Wire” gets mentioned? Yes, the show is incredible, but it’s almost a cliche at this point to put it up there with the “BeSt Tv EvEr.” That said, it doesn’t matter who’s in the cast and what the story is about, but if you tell me that the team behind “The Wire,” David Simon, Ed Burns, and George Pelecanos are reteaming for a new show, I’m there.

Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector have been tapped as the leads of HBO’s We Own This City limited series, from The Wire’s EP David Simon and producer George Pelecanos. Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) is set to direct and executive produce the series, based on Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton’s book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption. Production is set to begin in July.

told Fox 5 Baltimore.“A shot rang out, and before I knew it I was blown up against a car,” the actor told the station, insisting he feared he would die.A bullet pierced his ear and fragments lodged into his head, said the actor — whose character was shot in the head by Omar Little in Season 5 of the David Simon show.“Now I can’t really hear out of this ear,” he told the station.Clanton admitted he has had previous run-ins with the law, but believes he was an unintended victim of the shooting.“I

The Wire creator David Simon has called Piers Morgan an “empty parasite” in a recent Twitter feud.After Piers Morgan commented on the observations he made about Duchess Meghan Markle before his departure from Good Morning Britain, Simon replied: “In an ocean of talking-head sewage, what are the chances that the two most pouty and puckered assholes in broadcast television would ever swim through the brown, find each other, and discuss the events of the day?”Morgan responded by saying that Simon

Piers Morgan may be off of Good Morning Britain, but he’s certainly not silenced.

The Wire creator David Simon is set to share a new limited series for HBO, tackling police corruption in Baltimore.We Own This City is based on the book A True Story Of Crime, Cops And Corruption by investigative journalist Justin Fenton.