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Joe and Mark invite Tony Schwartz, a veteran freelance first assistant director and line producer for film and television, to make the case for why everyone should watch The Wire.

Tony is currently producing his own projects. He’s also on the faculty of the New York Film Academy, in Burbank.

Because Joe and Mark are huge nerds, they ask Tony to talk about two of their favorite shows: Freaks and Geeks and the cult favorite, Firefly. He talks about the heartbreak of working on such fabulous shows that fell to the whims of how the industry sometimes works.

Then they move into discussing the show that continues to inspire Tony, The Wire, which first aired in 2002.

“It has often been described as the greatest show that nobody saw,” Tony says.

It was only ever nominated for two Emmys but that doesn’t reflect the quality and depth of the show.

“To me The Wire has always stood out for a number of reasons. First and foremost it has a richness of characters. It’s incredible writing,” Tony says.

He also loves that the TV show is so dense and novelistic in approach. During the first three episodes he was almost lost in the storytelling. But by the fourth episode it coalesced, and he couldn’t stop watching.

Tony makes his case so well that Mark bought the complete DVD collection while they’re still recording the podcast!