Why I haven't seen The Wire (yet)

Everyone agrees that The Wire is The best Show Ever Made™.

I haven't seen it. I haven't seen it despite knowing a keen Guardian promoter of The Wire for three years. Despite having access to illegal streaming of it online, despite it being on Virgin's amazing On Demand service. And now, as it starts on BBC2, I still won't be watching it.

The reason is simple really. Time. Finding the time to commit properly to a show that everyone, everyone, has said is the most layered, in-depth, detailed, realistic show ever made means the idea of watching a poor quality downloaded version on suspect stream websites is not for me. The On Demand service means I have to find an hour a day to have the front room to myself to watch it while the BBC's screening starts at 11.20 and finishes at 12.20 - far too late! Plus it runs every night of the week - what if you miss a night?

So really my reasons are not because I don't want to watch the show, but because I want to appreciate at it for the genius it must be, by watching it at leisure, and really taking in every aspect of the show. I've always watched shows like this. Arrested Development, Seinfeld, Lost, Band of Brothers and so forth. I want to do the same with The Wire (and Mad Men, and Battlestar Galactica but that's another issue again), but unless I can get the perfect conditions, I don't want to start.

Perhaps this is stupid though. One thing I've learnt from my marathon training (yes I've really learnt a "life lesson" from the training) is that there is no such thing as a 'perfect time'. Running has to be done whether it's raining, snowing, is windy or the sun is blazing. The perfect time is now. So maybe I should just bite the bullet and watch the first episode and go from there. Or maybe I'll wait until...