A real scoop – according to this post, somebody has posted some of the early Wire production docs to the web. So I repost them here (with the caveat that they might be totally fake, but I buy it):
A draft of the bible – bibles are outlines of television shows, with character bios, plot threads, etc. This one is early, with different names & personas for some of the characters. But quite interesting to see how the show developed from this 9-episode plan.
Draft of “The Target” (pilot) – again, some things changed, but you can get a clear sense of the core thread.
Shooting script of “Game Day” (season 1, ep. 9) – this seems to be an accurate script of what was shot, with some overruns.
Shooting script of “- 30 -“ (series finale) – obviously, huge spoiler warnings for anyone who hasn’t seen the whole series, but download for future reference…
Enjoy!
This is great stuff, thanks!
Assuming this stuff is real, it’s fascinating to see how things have developed from the initial outlines to the actual show. I’m surprised that the show bible contains such detailed outlines of the whole season (as initially conceived) – basically every scene is flushed out, almost beat-for-beat, and a substantial amount of dialog made it from the outline all the way to the final show. Obviously there’s a lot that changed, plot-wise, but some of the more significant differences are about character. Perhaps because Carver is the front-runner for my favorite Wire character these days, I was particularly struck by how the bible describes Herc and Carver versus what they later become. In the show bible character descriptions and outlines they are purely thugs. Even though the best developments with these characters are yet to come by the end of season one, they come off much better in the final version of the show. I’m really glad Herc is not a steroid user/dealer (at least that we know about…) – he might be a little dim, but he’s ultimately likeable in a way that would be undermined by stuff like the gym scene. Carver is also more distinct from Herc as we move from outline to final version. Surely casting and performance have a huge influence here – Carver, played by the ideally-proportioned and attractive Seth Gilliam, in no way resembles a fire-hydrant, as the description of his short, stocky build would suggest. Dominic Lombardozzi, while certainly burly, doesn’t quite seem to fit the ‘roid rage profile.
Also, it’s really fun to read these scripts and just relish the dialog in all its beautiful, profane glory. I geeked-out and found myself reading it aloud to my computer screen – some of it is pretty fun to say.
“Shit rolls, piss trickles.”
“Downhill, though.”