All in the game: The Wire, serial storytelling, and procedural logic

Abstract

In this paper, Jason Mittell reflects about one of the most

common claims about the television series The Wire (David

Simon, HBO: 2002-2008): that it is a “televised novel,” and not

so much a traditional television show. Using this example, the

author wonders about what conclusions we get from analyzing

the productions made in and for a specific medium —in

this case, television— while applying the characteristics of

other very different media. After examining The Wire from

another cross-media analogy (comparing it to the narrative

structure of video games), Jason Mittell finally defends the

need to understand the series in its own medium: television.