by Kimberly H. Smith

Created on: August 15, 2008

How many times have you missed an episode or two of your favorite program? How many times have you heard people rave about a TV series you've never watched? Whether it is life's everyday occurrences or you missed the boat on a critically acclaimed show, a DVD version can solve the dilemma. It solved mine. I highly recommend signing up for Blockbuster Online at www.blockbuster.com. You get up to three movies at a time mailed to you for a low monthly rate and in-store coupons for free rentals. Additionally, you can swap out a DVD in the store with a DVD that was mailed to you for no cost.

There's no doubt that HBO produces the best original series on television. The Sopranos is a given, but so are Oz and The Wire. Oz is one of the most exciting TV series that I've ever seen. It is a raw, racy, and even thought provoking account of incarcerated felons at a maximum security prison. It is not for the faint of heart. My husband and I watched every season of it on DVD after it went off the air. Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje (recently starred on ABC's Lost) is the standout. He is phenomenal as Simon Adebisi, a powerful inmate whose peers fear him. You love him as much as you hate him.

Lee Tergesen (recently starred on Desperate Housewives) as Tobias Beecher has the most extensive character transformation. Tergesen takes you through Beecher's emotions from a meek and mild rookie to an angry revenge seeker to a veteran inmate in love. The ride is incredible. Harold Perrineau Jr. (also recently starred on ABC's Lost) keeps your attention as the wheelchair bound narrator. It's no secret that Oz and the Law and Order franchise utilize many of the same actors, i.e. Christopher Meloni, J.K. Simmons and Dean Winters. One viewing of their excellent performances on either show and you'll understand why.

My husband got me hooked on The Wire because he had heard so much about it. At this time the series was well underway on HBO, so we ordered the DVDs to catch up. The first season introduces you to Idris Elba's Stringer Bell, Wood Harris' Avon Barksdale and Michael K. Williams' Omar Little. Their knack for business, albeit the Baltimore drug business, is intriguing. Elba, fabulously disguises his native British accent, and charms the masses as a slick entrepreneur. Harris, younger brother of The Practice's Steve Harris, is a natural at being a hardcore drug kingpin. And Williams gives us what I believe is television's first gay gangster. The residents of Baltimore, young and old, literally run and yell when Omar walks down the street. He almost always has a loaded shotgun under his trench coat as he makes a beeline for his next victim. Omar subsequently speaks of his next escapade while in bed with his male lover.

The Wire's second season was a disappointment to me centering around dock workers and unions. It didn't provide the entertainment that the first season did. However, I stuck it out and the third season had me loving the series again. My favorite season by far is the fourth. After many DVD viewing hours, my husband and I were ready for it when it premiered on HBO. Critics and viewers alike began to take real notice when the fourth season began airing. Its focus is a group of teenagers juggling drugs, violence, broken homes and junior high school. Tristan Wilds (scheduled to star in the new version of Beverly Hills 90210) shines as Michael Lee. He's a secure, clever teen who doesn't scare easily. The fifth and final season was bittersweet. Viewers felt the end of an era was premature, but The Wire went out on top like an exceptional show with low ratings should. The subplots were wrapped up in great fashion and you pine for the rich characters long after the series finale.

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