I just finished watching the penultimate episode of a serious contender for Best TV Show Ever. But apparently now I have to wait two weeks to see the series finale, because HBO is giving the finger to On Demand subscribers (and, uh, their friends). I've also heard that reviewers are upset over not receiving copies of the entire season early, as with the fourth season. I guess this way the last episode becomes more of an "event." Hopefully not an event like the Sopranos finale, though. I keep trying to convince myself that the final anticlimax there was borne of true artistic integrity, but the soreness it left behind is a constant reminder a brutal gimmicky violation.

At any rate, the last few episodes of The Wire have been a treat as the many-threaded story lines finally come together in that final glorious knot. It's rare that a series forces me to pay attention as closely in order to keep up—Deadwood and The West Wing (Sorkin years at least) are two others that come to mind—and The Wire is the only one to have maintained such a high level throughout its run.

Unfortunately now I'm without quality television to savor each week. I've lately been tempted to dig out my DVDs of the first couple of seasons of The West Wing, and maybe I could even delude myself into believing that such a rosy political future is possible as my four year hangover is now more than three years complete.

On the moderately good TV front, has anyone been watching Breaking Bad? I just discovered this show a few days ago, and it's better than your average cable drama. The highest point of the show is the amazing acting of Bryan Cranston (Hal from Malcolm in the Middle). I know it's a hard sell when one actor is possibly carrying the entire show, but damn it he's just that good. Though, if you're not already watching it, you may want to hold out for the unrated DVD release which will almost certainly follow. A guy can only take so much silent bleeping and blurry boobies without becoming irrecoverably distracted.

Since I'm already wildly digressing from the original intent of this post... I watched my first movie in some months: Star Trek Nemesis. And it suuuuuucked! Not the least of which, the horrible action sequences... After exchanging shots for some time, The Beard asks for covering fire and Worf dives forward to shoot down all the enemy in an instant. Well why didn't you just do that in the first place? Also, the Remans are supposed to be some kind of super soldiers, but half a dozen or more of them are no match for a single 60-year-old archaeologist in a fire fight? Give me a fucking break.