Category: Movies/TV Shows

Beowulf
Bēowulf
First page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius A. xv. Beginning: HWÆT. WE GARDE / na in geardagum, þeodcyninga / þrym gefrunon... (Translation: How much we of Spear-Da/nes, in days gone by, of kings / the glory have heard...)
Author(s)	Unknown
Language	West Saxon dialect of Old English
Date	Disputed (c. 700–1000 AD)
State of existence	Manuscript suffered damage from fire in 1731
Manuscript(s)	Cotton Vitellius A. xv (c. 975–1025 AD)
First printed edition	Thorkelin (1815)
Genre	Epic heroic writing
Verse form	Alliterative verse
Length	c. 3182 lines
Subject	The battles of Beowulf, the Geatish hero, in youth and old age
Personages	Beowulf, Hygelac, Hrothgar, Wealhtheow, Hrothulf, Æschere, Unferth, Grendel, Grendel's mother, Wiglaf, Hildeburh. Full list of characters.
Text	Beowulf at Wikisource

Beowulf (/ˈbeɪəwʊlf/;^[1] Old English: Bēowulf [ˈbeːowuɫf]) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025 AD.^[2] Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet".^[3] The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 5th and 6th centuries. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel for twelve years. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother takes revenge and is in turn defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a barrow on a headland in his memory.

Scholars have debated whether Beowulf was transmitted orally, affecting its interpretation: if it was composed early, in pagan times, then the paganism is central and the Christian elements were added later, whereas if it was composed later, in writing, by a Christian, then the pagan elements could be decorative archaising; some scholars also hold an intermediate position. Beowulf is written mostly in the Late West Saxon dialect of Old English, but many other dialectal forms are present, suggesting that the poem may have had a long and complex transmission throughout the dialect areas of England.

There has long been research into similarities with other traditions and accounts, including the Icelandic Grettis saga, the Norse story of Hrolf Kraki and his bear-shapeshifting servant Bodvar Bjarki, the international folktale the Bear's Son Tale, and the Irish folktale of the Hand and the Child. Persistent attempts have been made to link Beowulf to tales from Homer's Odyssey or Virgil's Aeneid. More definite are biblical parallels, with clear allusions to the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel.

The poem survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. It has no title in the original manuscript, but has become known by the name of the story's protagonist.^[3] In 1731, the manuscript was damaged by a fire that swept through Ashburnham House in London, which was housing Sir Robert Cotton's collection of medieval manuscripts. It survived, but the margins were charred, and some readings were lost.^[4] The Nowell Codex is housed in the British Library. The poem was first transcribed in 1786; some verses were first translated into modern English in 1805, and nine complete translations were made in the 19th century, including those by John Mitchell Kemble and William Morris. After 1900, hundreds of translations, whether into prose, rhyming verse, or alliterative verse were made, some relatively faithful, some archaising, some attempting to domesticate the work. Among the best-known modern translations are those of Edwin Morgan, Burton Raffel, Michael J. Alexander, Roy Liuzza, and Seamus Heaney. The difficulty of translating Beowulf has been explored by scholars including J. R. R. Tolkien (in his essay "On Translating Beowulf"), who worked on a verse and a prose translation of his own.

Historical background[edit]

The events in the poem take place over the 5th and 6th centuries, and feature predominantly non-English characters. Some suggest that Beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at Rendlesham in East Anglia, as the Sutton Hoo ship-burial shows close connections with Scandinavia, and the East Anglian royal dynasty, the Wuffingas, may have been descendants of the Geatish Wulfings.^[6][5] Others have associated this poem with the court of King Alfred the Great or with the court of King Cnut the Great.^[7]

The poem blends fictional, legendary, mythic and historical elements. Although Beowulf himself is not mentioned in any other Old English manuscript,^[8] many of the other figures named in Beowulf appear in Scandinavian sources.^[9] This concerns not only individuals (e.g., Healfdene, Hroðgar, Halga, Hroðulf, Eadgils and Ohthere), but also clans (e.g., Scyldings, Scylfings and Wulfings) and certain events (e.g., the battle between Eadgils and Onela). The raid by King Hygelac into Frisia is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in his History of the Franks and can be dated to around 521.^[10]

The majority view appears to be that figures such as King Hrothgar and the Scyldings in Beowulf are based on historical people from 6th-century Scandinavia. Like the Finnesburg Fragment and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian figures such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic figures such as Offa, king of the continental Angles.^[11] However, the scholar Roy Liuzza argues that the poem is "frustratingly ambivalent", neither myth nor folktale, but is set "against a complex background of legendary history ... on a roughly recognizable map of Scandinavia", and comments that the Geats of the poem may correspond with the Gautar (of modern Götaland); or perhaps the legendary Getae.^[12]

19th-century archaeological evidence may confirm elements of the Beowulf story. Eadgils was buried at Uppsala (Gamla Uppsala, Sweden) according to Snorri Sturluson. When the western mound (to the left in the photo) was excavated in 1874, the finds showed that a powerful man was buried in a large barrow, c. 575, on a bear skin with two dogs and rich grave offerings. The eastern mound was excavated in 1854, and contained the remains of a woman, or a woman and a young man. The middle barrow has not been excavated.^[14][13]

In Denmark, recent (1986-88, 2004-05)^[15] archaeological excavations at Lejre, where Scandinavian tradition located the seat of the Scyldings, Heorot, have revealed that a hall was built in the mid-6th century, matching the period described in Beowulf, some centuries before the poem was composed.^[16] Three halls, each about 50 metres (160 ft) long, were found during the excavation.^[16]

Summary[edit]

The protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands, then kills Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.

Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon, some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon to its lair at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf, whose name means "remnant of valour",^[a] dares to join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded in the struggle. He is cremated and a burial mound by the sea is erected in his honour.

Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. The poem begins in medias res or simply, "in the middle of things", a characteristic of the epics of antiquity. Although the poem begins with Beowulf's arrival, Grendel's attacks have been ongoing. An elaborate history of characters and their lineages is spoken of, as well as their interactions with each other, debts owed and repaid, and deeds of valour. The warriors form a brotherhood linked by loyalty to their lord. The poem begins and ends with funerals: at the beginning of the poem for Scyld Scefing^[20] and at the end for Beowulf.^[21]

The poem is tightly structured. E. Carrigan shows the symmetry of its design in a model of its major components, with for instance the account of the killing of Grendel matching that of the killing of the dragon, the glory of the Danes matching the accounts of the Danish and Geatish courts.^[17] Other analyses are possible as well; Gale Owen-Crocker, for instance, sees the poem as structured by the four funerals it describes.^[22] For J. R. R. Tolkien, the primary division in the poem was between young and old Beowulf.^[23]

First battle: Grendel[edit]

Beowulf begins with the story of Hrothgar, who constructed the great hall, Heorot, for himself and his warriors. In it, he, his wife Wealhtheow, and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating. Grendel, a troll-like monster said to be descended from the biblical Cain, is pained by the sounds of joy.^[24] Grendel attacks the hall and kills and devours many of Hrothgar's warriors while they sleep. Hrothgar and his people, helpless against Grendel, abandon Heorot.

Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar's troubles and with his king's permission leaves his homeland to assist Hrothgar.^[25]

Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. Beowulf refuses to use any weapon because he holds himself to be Grendel's equal.^[26] When Grendel enters the hall, Beowulf, who has been feigning sleep, leaps up to clench Grendel's hand.^[27] Grendel and Beowulf battle each other violently.^[28] Beowulf's retainers draw their swords and rush to his aid, but their blades cannot pierce Grendel's skin.^[29] Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel's arm from his body at the shoulder and Grendel runs to his home in the marshes where he dies.^[30] Beowulf displays "the whole of Grendel's shoulder and arm, his awesome grasp" for all to see at Heorot. This display would fuel Grendel's mother's anger in revenge.^[31]

Second battle: Grendel's mother[edit]

The next night, after celebrating Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot. Grendel's mother, angry that her son has been killed, sets out to get revenge. "Beowulf was elsewhere. Earlier, after the award of treasure, The Geat had been given another lodging"; his assistance would be absent in this battle.^[32] Grendel's mother violently kills Æschere, who is Hrothgar's most loyal fighter, and escapes.

Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Unferð, a warrior who had earlier challenged him, presents Beowulf with his sword Hrunting. After stipulating a number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estate), Beowulf jumps into the lake and, while harassed by water monsters, gets to the bottom, where he finds a cavern. Grendel's mother pulls him in, and she and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.

At first, Grendel's mother prevails, and Hrunting proves incapable of hurting her; she throws Beowulf to the ground and, sitting astride him, tries to kill him with a short sword, but Beowulf is saved by his armour. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall and apparently made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Travelling further into Grendel's mother's lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head with the sword. Its blade melts because of the monster's "hot blood", leaving only the hilt. Beowulf swims back up to the edge of the lake where his men wait. Carrying the hilt of the sword and Grendel's head, he presents them to Hrothgar upon his return to Heorot. Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, including the sword Nægling, his family's heirloom. The events prompt a long reflection by the king, sometimes referred to as "Hrothgar's sermon", in which he urges Beowulf to be wary of pride and to reward his thegns.^[33]

Final battle: The dragon[edit]

Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, fifty years after Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of a dragon at Earnanæs. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning everything in sight. Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to do battle with the dragon, but finds himself outmatched. His men, upon seeing this and fearing for their lives, retreat into the woods. One of his men, Wiglaf, however, in great distress at Beowulf's plight, comes to his aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded. After Beowulf dies, Wiglaf remains by his side, grief-stricken. When the rest of the men finally return, Wiglaf bitterly admonishes them, blaming their cowardice for Beowulf's death. Beowulf is ritually burned on a great pyre in Geatland while his people wail and mourn him, fearing that without him, the Geats are defenceless against attacks from surrounding tribes. Afterwards, a barrow, visible from the sea, is built in his memory.^[34][35]

Digressions[edit]

The poem contains many apparent digressions from the main story. These were found troublesome by early Beowulf scholars such as Frederick Klaeber, who wrote that they "interrupt the story",^[36] W. W. Lawrence, who stated that they "clog the action and distract attention from it",^[36] and W. P. Ker who found some "irrelevant ... possibly ... interpolations".^[36] More recent scholars from Adrien Bonjour onwards note that the digressions can all be explained as introductions or comparisons with elements of the main story;^[37][38] for instance, Beowulf's swimming home across the sea from Frisia carrying thirty sets of armour^[39] emphasises his heroic strength.^[38] The digressions can be divided into four groups, namely the Scyld narrative at the start;^[40] many descriptions of the Geats, including the Swedish–Geatish wars,^[41] the "Lay of the Last Survivor"^[42] in the style of another Old English poem, "The Wanderer", and Beowulf's dealings with the Geats such as his verbal contest with Unferth and his swimming duel with Breca,^[43] and the tale of Sigemund and the dragon;^[44] history and legend, including the fight at Finnsburg^[45] and the tale of Freawaru and Ingeld;^[46] and biblical tales such as the creation myth and Cain as ancestor of all monsters.^[47][38] The digressions provide a powerful impression of historical depth, imitated by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings, a work that embodies many other elements from the poem.^[48]

Authorship and date[edit]

The dating of Beowulf has attracted considerable scholarly attention; opinion differs as to whether it was first written in the 8th century, whether it was nearly contemporary with its 11th-century manuscript, and whether a proto-version (possibly a version of the "Bear's Son Tale") was orally transmitted before being transcribed in its present form.^[49] Albert Lord felt strongly that the manuscript represents the transcription of a performance, though likely taken at more than one sitting.^[50] J. R. R. Tolkien believed that the poem retains too genuine a memory of Anglo-Saxon paganism to have been composed more than a few generations after the completion of the Christianisation of England around AD 700,^[51] and Tolkien's conviction that the poem dates to the 8th century has been defended by scholars including Tom Shippey, Leonard Neidorf, Rafael J. Pascual, and Robert D. Fulk.^[52][53][54] An analysis of several Old English poems by a team including Neidorf suggests that Beowulf is the work of a single author, though other scholars disagree.^[55]

The claim to an early 11th-century date depends in part on scholars who argue that, rather than the transcription of a tale from the oral tradition by an earlier literate monk, Beowulf reflects an original interpretation of an earlier version of the story by the manuscript's two scribes. On the other hand, some scholars argue that linguistic, palaeographical (handwriting), metrical (poetic structure), and onomastic (naming) considerations align to support a date of composition in the first half of the 8th century;^[56][57][58] in particular, the poem's apparent observation of etymological vowel-length distinctions in unstressed syllables (described by Kaluza's law) has been thought to demonstrate a date of composition prior to the earlier ninth century.^[53][54] However, scholars disagree about whether the metrical phenomena described by Kaluza's law prove an early date of composition or are evidence of a longer prehistory of the Beowulf metre;^[59] B.R. Hutcheson, for instance, does not believe Kaluza's law can be used to date the poem, while claiming that "the weight of all the evidence Fulk presents in his book^[b] tells strongly in favour of an eighth-century date."^[60]

From an analysis of creative genealogy and ethnicity, Craig R. Davis suggests a composition date in the AD 890s, when King Alfred of England had secured the submission of Guthrum, leader of a division of the Great Heathen Army of the Danes, and of Aethelred, ealdorman of Mercia. In this thesis, the trend of appropriating Gothic royal ancestry, established in Francia during Charlemagne's reign, influenced the Anglian kingdoms of Britain to attribute to themselves a Geatish descent. The composition of Beowulf was the fruit of the later adaptation of this trend in Alfred's policy of asserting authority over the Angelcynn, in which Scyldic descent was attributed to the West-Saxon royal pedigree. This date of composition largely agrees with Lapidge's positing of a West-Saxon exemplar c. 900.^[61]

The location of the poem's composition is intensely disputed. In 1914, F.W. Moorman, the first professor of English Language at University of Leeds, claimed that Beowulf was composed in Yorkshire,^[62] but E. Talbot Donaldson claims that it was probably composed during the first half of the eighth century, and that the writer was a native of what was then called West Mercia, located in the Western Midlands of England. However, the late tenth-century manuscript "which alone preserves the poem" originated in the kingdom of the West Saxons – as it is more commonly known.^[63]

Manuscript[edit]

Beowulf survived to modern times in a single manuscript, written in ink on parchment, later damaged by fire. The manuscript measures 245 × 185 mm.^[64]

Provenance[edit]

The poem is known only from a single manuscript, estimated to date from around 975–1025, in which it appears with other works.^[2] The manuscript therefore dates either to the reign of Æthelred the Unready, characterised by strife with the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, or to the beginning of the reign of Sweyn's son Cnut the Great from 1016. The Beowulf manuscript is known as the Nowell Codex, gaining its name from 16th-century scholar Laurence Nowell. The official designation is "British Library, Cotton Vitellius A.XV" because it was one of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton's holdings in the Cotton library in the middle of the 17th century. Many private antiquarians and book collectors, such as Sir Robert Cotton, used their own library classification systems. "Cotton Vitellius A.XV" translates as: the 15th book from the left on shelf A (the top shelf) of the bookcase with the bust of Roman Emperor Vitellius standing on top of it, in Cotton's collection. Kevin Kiernan argues that Nowell most likely acquired it through William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, in 1563, when Nowell entered Cecil's household as a tutor to his ward, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.^[65]

The earliest extant reference to the first foliation of the Nowell Codex was made sometime between 1628 and 1650 by Franciscus Junius (the younger). The ownership of the codex before Nowell remains a mystery.^[66]

The Reverend Thomas Smith (1638–1710) and Humfrey Wanley (1672–1726) both catalogued the Cotton library (in which the Nowell Codex was held). Smith's catalogue appeared in 1696, and Wanley's in 1705.^[67] The Beowulf manuscript itself is identified by name for the first time in an exchange of letters in 1700 between George Hickes, Wanley's assistant, and Wanley. In the letter to Wanley, Hickes responds to an apparent charge against Smith, made by Wanley, that Smith had failed to mention the Beowulf script when cataloguing Cotton MS. Vitellius A. XV. Hickes replies to Wanley "I can find nothing yet of Beowulph."^[68] Kiernan theorised that Smith failed to mention the Beowulf manuscript because of his reliance on previous catalogues or because either he had no idea how to describe it or because it was temporarily out of the codex.^[69]

The manuscript passed to Crown ownership in 1702, on the death of its then owner, Sir John Cotton, who had inherited it from his grandfather, Robert Cotton. It suffered damage in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731, in which around a quarter of the manuscripts bequeathed by Cotton were destroyed.^[70] Since then, parts of the manuscript have crumbled along with many of the letters. Rebinding efforts, though saving the manuscript from much degeneration, have nonetheless covered up other letters of the poem, causing further loss. Kiernan, in preparing his electronic edition of the manuscript, used fibre-optic backlighting and ultraviolet lighting to reveal letters in the manuscript lost from binding, erasure, or ink blotting.^[71]

Writing[edit]

The Beowulf manuscript was transcribed from an original by two scribes, one of whom wrote the prose at the beginning of the manuscript and the first 1939 lines, before breaking off in mid-sentence. The first scribe made a point of carefully regularizing the spelling of the original document into the common West Saxon, removing any archaic or dialectical features. The second scribe, who wrote the remainder, with a difference in handwriting noticeable after line 1939, seems to have written more vigorously and with less interest. As a result, the second scribe's script retains more archaic dialectic features, which allow modern scholars to ascribe the poem a cultural context.^[72] While both scribes appear to have proofread their work, there are nevertheless many errors.^[73] The second scribe was ultimately the more conservative copyist as he did not modify the spelling of the text as he wrote, but copied what he saw in front of him. In the way that it is currently bound, the Beowulf manuscript is followed by the Old English poem Judith. Judith was

Pirates of the Caribbean
Created by	Walt Disney (attraction) Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (films)
Original work	Pirates of the Caribbean (1967)
Owner	The Walt Disney Company
Years	1967–present
Print publications
Novel(s)	See Books
Comics	See Comic books
Films and television
Film(s)	List The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Dead Man's Chest (2006) At World's End (2007) On Stranger Tides (2011) Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Games
Video game(s)	List of video games
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	Pirates of the Caribbean (since 1967) Battle for the Sunken Treasure (since 2016) The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (2012–14)
a Crossover work where characters and settings from this franchise appear.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disneyland attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends, folklore and novels, such as those by Italian writer Emilio Salgari.

Pirates of the Caribbean became a media franchise in the 2000s with the release of The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003; it was followed by four sequels. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and originally written by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the films have grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide by 2019,^[1] putting the film franchise 16th in the list of all-time highest-grossing franchises and film series. The rides can be found at five Disney theme park resorts.

Rides and attractions[edit]

Pirates of the Caribbean[edit]

Pirates of the Caribbean is a dark ride at Disneyland, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. Opening on March 18, 1967, the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean was the last ride that Walt Disney himself participated in designing, debuting three months after his death.^[2] The ride gave rise to the song "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" written by George Bruns and Xavier Atencio, and performed on the ride's recording by The Mellomen.^[3]

Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island[edit]

Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island is a rebranding of Tom Sawyer Island, an artificial island surrounded by the Rivers of America at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. It contains structures and caves with references to Mark Twain characters from the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and provides interactive, climbing, and scenic opportunities. At Disneyland in 2007, Disney added references to the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure[edit]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure is a magnetic powered dark ride at Shanghai Disneyland. It uses a storyline based on the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. It blends digital large-screen projection technology with traditional set pieces and audio animatronics. Walt Disney Imagineering designed the ride and Industrial Light & Magic created the computer-generated visual effects.^[4]

Film series[edit]

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
6. Untitled Pirates of the Caribbean sixth film (TBA)^[5][6]
7. Untitled spin-off film (TBA)^[7]

Video games[edit]

• Pirates of the Caribbean (originally entitled Sea Dogs II) was released in 2003 by Bethesda Softworks to coincide with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Although it had no relation to the characters, it features the film's storyline about cursed Aztec gold and undead pirates, and it was the first of several games to be based on the franchise.
• The Kingdom Hearts video game series includes Port Royal as a world in Kingdom Hearts II, adapting the story of The Curse of the Black Pearl. The world returns as The Caribbean in Kingdom Hearts III, this time adapting the story of At World's End. In both games Jack Sparrow appears as a party member of the protagonist, Sora.
• Pirates of the Caribbean Multiplayer Mobile for mobile phones.
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online a massively multiplayer online role-playing game which was released in October 2007.^[8]
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for Game Boy Advance (Nintendo) and a few others. This game is based on Captain Jack Sparrow's misadventures in the pursuit of saving Ria Anasagasti with his shipmate Will Turner.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow was released for the PlayStation 2 console and for PC.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was released for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance and others.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was released on May 22, 2007, and was based on the film of the same name which was released on May 25. It was the first game in the series to be released for a seventh generation console.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, an action and role playing video game, was being developed by Propaganda Games but was cancelled in October 2010.
• Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, released in May 2011, covers the first four films, featuring over 70 characters and over 21 levels.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas, a gaming app available on Android and iOS.^[9]
• Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, and Davy Jones are playable characters in Disney Infinity and other entries in its series. A playset themed after the franchise was included with the starter pack.
• Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Captain Barbossa, Davy Jones and Tia Dalma appear as playable characters in the world builder game Disney Magic Kingdoms. In the game the characters and other elements are focused on the first three films.^[10][11]
• As part of a crossover collaboration with the pirate setting video game Sea of Thieves, a free expansion titled A Pirate's Life was released on June 22, 2021, featuring a new original story along with characters such as Jack Sparrow, Joshamee Gibbs, and Davy Jones.

Books[edit]

Two series of young reader books have been released as prequels to the first film:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow written under the shared pseudonym of Rob Kidd (13 books, 2006 - 2009)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Legends of the Brethren Court written by Tui T. Sutherland writing under the pseudonym of Rob Kidd (5 books, 2008–2010)

In addition there is a novel taking place between the two series:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom by Ann C. Crispin

Novelizations

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) by Irene Trimble
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Swann Song
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: The Chase is On
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: The Curse of Davy Jones
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization, 2006) by Irene Trimble
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization, 2007) by Tui T. Sutherland
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Singapore!
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: The Mystic's Journey
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization, 2011) by James Ponti
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (novelization, 2017) by Elizabeth Rudnick

Further fictional books

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth by Meredith Rusu (2017)
• The Pirates' Code Guidelines: A Booke for Those Who Desire to Keep to the Code and Live a Pirate's Life written under the pseudonym of Joshamee Gibbs (2017)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: A Storm at Sea
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Escape from Davy Jones
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Ghost Ship
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Missing Pirate

Reference books

• Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean
• Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector's Anthology
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Official Strategy Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
• The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World

German novelizations

• Fluch der Karibik (2006) by Rebecca Hohlbein and Wolfgang Hohlbein
• Pirates of the Caribbean - Fluch der Karibik 2 (2006) by Rebecca Hohlbein and Wolfgang Hohlbein
• Pirates of the Caribbean - Am Ende der Welt (2007) by Rebecca Hohlbein and Wolfgang Hohlbein

Comic books[edit]

The Pirates of the Caribbean comic series by Joe Books Ltd:

• The Guardians of Windward Cove
• Smoke on the Water
• Banshee's Boon
• Mother of Water
• Beyond Port Royal

Comic book adaptions:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (comic)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)

Comics have also been published in the Disney Adventures and Pirati dei Caraibi magazines.

Adaptations[edit]

Several additional works have been derived from the franchise:

• In 2000, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, opened at DisneyQuest at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort. The ride allows up to five players to board a virtual pirate ship and attempt to sink other ships with water cannons.^[12]
• A Pirates of the Caribbean board game Monopoly is manufactured by USAopoly.^[13]
• A Pirates of the Caribbean version of the board game The Game of Life was developed.^{[citation needed]}
• A Pirates of the Caribbean version of the board game Battleship is produced by Hasbro under the title of Battleship Command.^{[citation needed]}
• Pirates of the Caribbean was the name of a team participating in the 2005–2006 Volvo Ocean Race. Their boat was named the Black Pearl.^[14]
• The British melodic hard rock band Ten released an album entitled Isla de Muerta, the title of which is about the legendary island of the series.^{[citation needed]}

Characters[edit]

See also[edit]

• List of locations in Pirates of the Caribbean

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Pirates of the Caribbean.

• Media related to Pirates of the Caribbean at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

This article is about the animated comedy television series. For other uses, see Futurama (disambiguation).

Futurama
Genre	Adult animation[1] Animated sitcom Science fiction Comedy drama
Created by	Matt Groening
Developed by	Matt Groening David X. Cohen
Voices of	Billy West Katey Sagal John DiMaggio Tress MacNeille Maurice LaMarche Phil LaMarr Lauren Tom David Herman
Opening theme	"Theme from Futurama"
Composer	Christopher Tyng
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	150 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Matt Groening David X. Cohen Ken Keeler Claudia Katz
Producers	Lew Morton J. Stewart Burns Patric M. Verrone Bill Odenkirk Eric Kaplan Michael Rowe Brian J. Cowan Jason Grode Jane O'Brien Lee Supercinski
Editors	Paul D. Calder Danik Thomas Chris Vallance
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	The Curiosity Company 20th Television[a] (seasons 1–7) 20th Television Animation[b] (season 8–present)
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	March 28, 1999 (1999-03-28) – August 10, 2003 (2003-08-10)
Network	Comedy Central
Release	March 23, 2008 (2008-03-23) – September 4, 2013 (2013-09-04)
Network	Hulu
Release	July 24, 2023 (2023-07-24) – present (present)
Related
The Simpsons Disenchantment

Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows the adventures of slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1,000 years and revived on December 31, 2999. Fry finds work at the interplanetary delivery company Planet Express, working alongside one-eyed mutant Leela and robot Bender. The series was envisioned by Groening in the mid-1990s while working on The Simpsons; he brought David X. Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.^[2]

Following its initial cancellation by Fox, Futurama began airing reruns on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, which lasted from 2003 to 2007. It was revived in 2007 as four direct-to-video films, the last of which was released in early 2009. Comedy Central entered into an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television to syndicate the existing episodes and air the films as 16 new, half-hour episodes, constituting a fifth season.^[3][4]

In June 2009, Comedy Central picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes, which began airing in 2010 and 2011.^[5][6] The show was renewed for a seventh season, with the first half airing in 2012 and the second in 2013.^[7][8][9] An audio-only episode featuring the original cast members was released in 2017 as an episode of The Nerdist Podcast.^[10] On February 9, 2022, Hulu revived the series with a 20-episode order, which premiered on July 24, 2023.^[11][12] In November 2023, the show was renewed by Hulu for two more broadcast seasons, which will air through 2026.^[13][14]

Futurama received critical acclaim throughout its run and was nominated for 17 Annie Awards, winning nine of them, and 12 Emmy Awards, winning six. It was nominated four times for a Writers Guild of America Award, winning for the episodes "Godfellas" and "The Prisoner of Benda". It was nominated for a Nebula Award and received Environmental Media Awards for the episodes "The Problem with Popplers" and "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular".^[15] Merchandise includes a tie-in comic book series, video games, calendars, clothes, and action figures. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Futurama one of the top 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time.^[16]

Premise[edit]

Characters[edit]

Main article: List of Futurama characters

Futurama is essentially a workplace sitcom, the plot of which revolves around the Planet Express interplanetary delivery company and its employees,^[17] a small group that largely fails to conform to future society.^[18] Episodes usually feature the central trio of Fry, Leela, and Bender, though occasional storylines center on the other main characters.

• Philip J. Fry (voiced by Billy West) – Fry is an immature, slovenly, yet good-hearted and sensitive pizza delivery boy who falls into a cryogenic pod, causing it to activate and freeze him just after midnight on January 1, 2000. He reawakens on New Year's Eve of 2999 and gets a job as a cargo delivery boy at Planet Express, a company owned by his only living relative, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Fry's love for Leela is a recurring theme throughout the series.
• Turanga Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal) – Leela is the competent, one-eyed captain of the Planet Express Ship.^[17] Abandoned as a baby, she grows up in the Cookieville Minimum Security Orphanarium believing herself to be an alien from another planet, but learns that she is actually a mutant from the sewers in the episode "Leela's Homeworld".^[19] Prior to becoming the ship's captain, Leela works as a career assignment officer at the cryogenics lab where she first meets Fry. She is Fry's primary love interest and eventually becomes his wife. Her name is a reference to the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen.^[20]
• Bender Bending Rodriguez (voiced by John DiMaggio) – Bender is a foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking, cigar-smoking, kleptomaniacal, misanthropic, egocentric, ill-tempered robot manufactured by Mom's Friendly Robot Company. He is originally programmed to bend girders for suicide booths, and is later designated as assistant sales manager and cook at Planet Express, despite lacking a sense of taste. He is Fry's best friend and roommate. He must drink heavily to power his fuel cells and becomes the robot equivalent of drunk when low on alcohol.^[21]
• Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (voiced by Billy West) – Professor Farnsworth, also known simply as "the Professor", is Fry's distant nephew, and technically descendant.^[22] Farnsworth founds Planet Express Inc. to fund his work as a mad scientist. Although he is depicted as a brilliant scientist and inventor, at more than 160 years old he is extremely prone to age-related forgetfulness and fits of temper. In the episode "A Clone of My Own", the Professor clones himself to produce a successor, Cubert Farnsworth (voiced by Kath Soucie), whom he treats like a son.
• Hermes Conrad (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – Hermes is the Jamaican accountant of Planet Express. A 36th-level bureaucrat (demoted to level 37 during the series) and proud of it, he is a stickler for regulation and enamored of the tedium of paperwork and bureaucracy. Hermes is also a former champion in Olympic Limbo, a sport derived from the popular party activity. He gave up limbo after the 2980 Olympics when a young fan, imitating him, broke his back and died. Hermes has a wife, LaBarbara, and a 12-year-old son, Dwight.
• Dr. John A. Zoidberg (voiced by Billy West) – Zoidberg is a Decapodian, a lobster-like alien from the planet Decapod 10, and the neurotic staff physician of Planet Express. Although he claims to be an expert on humans, his knowledge of human anatomy and physiology is woefully inaccurate (at one point, he states that his doctorate is actually in art history). Zoidberg's expertise seems to be with extra-terrestrial creatures. Homeless and penniless, he lives in the dumpster behind Planet Express. Although Zoidberg is depicted as being Professor Farnsworth's long-time friend, he is held in contempt by everyone on the crew.
• Amy Wong (voiced by Lauren Tom) – Amy is an incredibly rich, blunt, ditzy, and accident-prone yet sweet-hearted long-term intern at Planet Express. She is an astrophysics student at Mars University and heiress to the western hemisphere of Mars. In the second episode of season one, the Professor states that he likes having Amy around because she has the same bloodtype as him. Born on Mars, she is ethnically Chinese and is prone to cursing in Cantonese and using 31st-century slang. Her parents are the wealthy ranchers Leo and Inez Wong. She is promiscuous in the beginning of the series, but eventually enters a monogamous relationship with Kif Kroker. In the show's sixth season, she acquires her doctorate, and in the eighth season, she and Kif become parents.

Setting[edit]

Futurama is set in New New York at the turn of the 31st century, in a time filled with technological wonders. The city of New New York has been built over the ruins of present-day New York City, which has become a catacomb-like space that acts as New New York's sewer, referred to as "Old New York". Parts of the sewers are inhabited by mutants. Various devices and architecture are similar to the Populuxe style. Global warming, inflexible bureaucracy, and substance abuse are a few of the subjects given a 31st-century exaggeration in a world where the problems have become both more extreme and more common. Just as New York has become a more extreme version of itself in the future, other Earth locations are given the same treatment; Los Angeles, for example, is depicted as a smog-filled apocalyptic wasteland.

Numerous technological advances have been made between the present day and the 31st century. The Head Museum, which keeps a collection of heads alive in jars thanks to technology invented by Ron Popeil (who has a guest cameo in "A Big Piece of Garbage"), has resulted in many historical figures and current celebrities being present, including Groening himself; this became the writers' device to feature and poke fun at contemporary celebrities in the show. Several of the preserved heads shown are those of people who were already dead well before the advent of this technology; one of the most prominent examples of this anomaly is former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who died in 1994 and appears in numerous episodes. The Internet, while being fully immersive and encompassing all senses—even featuring its own digital world (similar to Tron or The Matrix)—is slow and largely consists of pornography, pop-up ads, and "filthy" (or Filthy Filthy) chat rooms. Some of it is edited to include educational material ostensibly for youth. Television is still a primary form of entertainment. Self-aware robots are a common sight, and are the main cause of global warming due to the exhaust from their alcohol-powered systems. The wheel is obsolete (no one but Fry even seems to recognize the design),^[23] having been forgotten and replaced by hover cars and a network of large, clear pneumatic transportation tubes.

Environmentally, common animals still remain, alongside mutated, cross-bred (sometimes with humans) and extraterrestrial animals. Ironically, spotted owls are often shown to have replaced rats as common household pests. Although rats still exist, sometimes rats act like pigeons, though pigeons still exist, as well. Anchovies have been extinct for 800 years because of the Decapodians. Earth still suffers the effects of greenhouse gases, although in one episode Leela states that its effects have been counteracted by nuclear winter. In another episode, the effects of global warming have been somewhat mitigated by the dropping of a giant ice cube into the ocean, and later by pushing Earth farther away from the sun, which also extended the year by one week.

Religion is a prominent part of society, although the dominant religions have evolved. A merging of the major religious groups of the 20th century has resulted in the First Amalgamated Church,^[24] while Voodoo is now mainstream. New religions include Oprahism, Robotology, and the banned religion of Star Trek fandom. Religious figures include Father Changstein-El-Gamal, the Robot Devil, Reverend Lionel Preacherbot, and passing references to the Space Pope, who appears to be a large crocodile-like creature. Several major holidays have robots associated with them, including the murderous Robot Santa and Kwanzaa-bot. While very few episodes focus exclusively on religion within the Futurama universe, they do cover a wide variety of subjects including predestination, prayer, the nature of salvation, and religious conversion.^[24]

Futurama's setting is a backdrop, and the writers are not above committing continuity errors if they serve to further the gags. For example, while the pilot episode implies that the previous Planet Express crew was killed by a space wasp, the later episode "The Sting" is based on the crew having been killed by space bees instead.^[25] The "world of tomorrow" setting is used to highlight and lampoon issues of today and to parody the science-fiction genre.^[26]

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Futurama episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired	Network
1	13		March 28, 1999 (1999-03-28)	November 14, 1999 (1999-11-14)	Fox
2	19		November 21, 1999 (1999-11-21)	December 3, 2000 (2000-12-03)
3	22		January 21, 2001 (2001-01-21)	December 8, 2002 (2002-12-08)
4	18		February 10, 2002 (2002-02-10)	August 10, 2003 (2003-08-10)
5	16		March 23, 2008 (2008-03-23)	August 30, 2009 (2009-08-30)	Comedy Central
6	26	13	June 24, 2010 (2010-06-24)	November 21, 2010 (2010-11-21)
		13	June 23, 2011 (2011-06-23)	September 8, 2011 (2011-09-08)
7	26	13	June 20, 2012 (2012-06-20)	August 29, 2012 (2012-08-29)
		13	June 19, 2013 (2013-06-19)	September 4, 2013 (2013-09-04)
8[27]	20	10	July 24, 2023 (2023-07-24)	September 25, 2023 (2023-09-25)	Hulu
		10	July 29, 2024 (2024-07-29)[27]	TBA

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

The television network Fox expressed a strong desire in the mid-1990s for Matt Groening to create a new series after the success of his previous series, The Simpsons, and began conceiving Futurama during this period. In 1995, he enlisted David X. Cohen, then a writer and producer for The Simpsons, to assist in developing the show. The two spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films. When they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions.^[28] Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of my grown-up life".^[29]

Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Immediately after, however, Fox feared the themes of the show were not suitable for the network and Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.^[28] With The Simpsons, the network has no input.^[30] Fox was particularly disturbed by the concept of suicide booths, Doctor Zoidberg, and Bender's anti-social behavior.^[31] Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes on Futurama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did Simpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"^[32] The episode "I, Roommate" was produced to address Fox's concerns, with the script written to their specifications.^[31][33] Fox strongly disliked the episode, but after negotiations, Groening received the same independence with Futurama.^[34]

The name Futurama comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted how he imagined the world would look in 1959.^[35] Many other titles were considered for the series, including Aloha, Mars! and Doomsville, which Groening notes were "resoundly rejected, by everyone concerned with it".^[36][37] It takes approximately six to nine months to produce an episode of Futurama.^[38][39] The long production time results in several episodes being worked on simultaneously.^[40]

Writing[edit]

The planning for each episode began with a table meeting of writers, who discussed the plot ideas as a group. The writers are given index cards with plot points that they are required to use as the center of activity in each episode. A single staff writer wrote an outline and then produced a script. Once the first draft of a script was finished, the writers and executive producers called in the actors for a table read.^[41] After this script reading, the writers collaborated to rewrite the script as a group before sending it to the animation team.^[42] At this point the voice recording was also started and the script was out of the writers' hands.^[39]

The writing staff held three Ph.D.s, seven master's degrees, and cumulatively had more than 50 years at Harvard University. Series writer Patric M. Verrone stated, "we were easily the most overeducated cartoon writers in history".^[43]

Voice actors[edit]

See also: List of Futurama guest stars

Futurama had eight main cast members. Billy West performed the voices of Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Doctor Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, and many other incidental characters. West auditioned for "just about every part", landing the roles of the Professor and Doctor Zoidberg.^[44] Although West read for Fry, his friend Charlie Schlatter was initially given the role.^[44] Due to a casting change, West was called back to audition again and was given the role. West claims that the voice of Fry is deliberately modeled on his own, so as to make it difficult for another person to replicate the voice.^[44] Doctor Zoidberg's voice was based on Lou Jacobi and George Jessel.^[45] The character of Zapp Brannigan was originally created for and intended to be performed by Phil Hartman.^[44][45] Hartman insisted on auditioning for the role, and "just nailed it" according to Groening. Due to Hartman's death, West was given the role. West states that his version of Zapp Brannigan was an imitation of Hartman and also "modeled after a couple of big dumb announcers I knew".^[44][45]

Katey Sagal voiced Leela, and is the only member of the main cast to voice only one character. The role of Leela was originally assigned to Nicole Sullivan.^[44] In an interview in June 2010, Sagal remarked that she did not know that another person was to originally voice Leela until many years after the show first began.^[46]

John DiMaggio performed the voice of the robot

Halloween
Carving a jack-o'-lantern is a common Halloween tradition.
Also called	Hallowe'en All Hallowe'en All Hallows' Eve All Saints' Eve
Observed by	Western Christians and many non-Christians around the world[1]
Type	Christian, cultural
Significance	First day of Allhallowtide[2][3]
Celebrations	Trick-or-treating, costume parties, making jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, divination, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions
Observances	Church services,[4] prayer,[5] fasting,[1] vigil[6]
Date	31 October
Related to	Samhain, Hop-tu-Naa, Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, Day of the Dead, Reformation Day, All Saints' Day, Mischief Night (cf. vigil)

Halloween or Hallowe'en^[7][8] (less commonly known as Allhalloween,^[9] All Hallows' Eve,^[10] or All Saints' Eve)^[11] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide,^[12] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.^{[3][13][14][15]} In popular culture, the day has become a celebration of horror, being associated with the macabre and supernatural.^[16]

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.^{[17][18][19][20]} Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.^[21] Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.^{[22][23][24][25]} Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century,^[26][27] and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.^[16][28]

Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.^[29] Some people practice the Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead,^[30][31][32] although it is a secular celebration for others.^[33][34][35] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.^{[36][37][38][39]}

Etymology[edit]

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"^[40]) is of Christian origin;^[41][42] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in Old English.^[43] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day):^[44] even is the Scots term for "eve" or "evening",^[45] and is contracted to e'en or een;^[46] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en.

History[edit]

Christian origins and historic customs[edit]

Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices.^[47][23] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows' Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November.^[48] Since the time of the early Church,^[49] major feasts in Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.^[50][47] These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in springtime.^[51] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St Mary and all martyrs".^[52] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient Roman festival of the dead.^[53]

In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".^[47][54] Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,^[55] while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732.^[56][57] By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland^[58] and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November.^[59] Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire.^[60] In 835, it became the official date in the Frankish Empire.^[59] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,^[59] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter.^[61] They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.^[59][61] It is also suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever, which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.^[62][47]

On All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones.^[63] Top: Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the headstone of a relative. Bottom: Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard.

By the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also "customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls".^[64] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls,^[65] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.^[66] The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century^[67] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders, Bavaria and Austria.^[68] Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. This was called "souling".^[67][69][70] Soul cakes were also offered for the souls themselves to eat,^[68] or the 'soulers' would act as their representatives.^[71] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they were baked as alms.^[72] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).^[73] While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have originally represented souls of the dead;^[74][75] jack-o'-lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits.^[76][77] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day during the 19th century, candles were lit in homes in Ireland,^[78] Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul lights",^[79] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes".^[80] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on All Souls' Day.^[79] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk,^[68] or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls;^[79] a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy.^[81][79]

Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes".^[82] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead.^[83][84] Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today.^[85] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.^[86] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church decoration.^[87] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".^[88] The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties.^{[89][90][91][74]}

In Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human beings".^[92] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits".^[93] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).^[94] In some localities, Catholics and Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church bells for the dead;^[48][95] the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell-ringing.^[96] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth".^[97] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.^[98] In England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs. In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay.^[99] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.^[100] Some suggested these 'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to earth".^[101] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities" and curbing them would have been difficult.^[26]

In parts of Italy until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives, before leaving for church services.^[81] In 19th-century Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented by realistic wax figures".^[81] In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven.^[81] In the same country, "parish priests went house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night".^[81] In Spain, they continue to bake special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish: Huesos de Santo) and set them on graves.^[102] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.^[103] In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to the tender recollections of one's deceased relations and friends" for sympathy.^[104]

Gaelic folk influence[edit]

Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.^[105] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".^[106] The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.^[107]

Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November^[108] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.^[109][110] A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.^[111] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,^[112] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.

Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.^[114][115] It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.^[116][117] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".^[118] They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings.^[119][120] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.^{[121][122][123]} The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality.^[124] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.^[125] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.^[68] In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".^[126]

Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.^[127] Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, dream interpretation, and others.^[128] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.^[114] In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them.^[112] It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.^{[125][129][130]} They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.^[76] In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.^[131] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".^[132] Later, these bonfires "kept away the

The Wire
Genre	Crime Serial drama Tragedy[1][2][3]
Created by	David Simon
Starring	Dominic West John Doman Idris Elba Frankie Faison Lawrence Gilliard Jr. Wood Harris Deirdre Lovejoy Wendell Pierce Lance Reddick Andre Royo Sonja Sohn Chris Bauer Paul Ben-Victor Clarke Peters Amy Ryan Aidan Gillen Jim True-Frost Robert Wisdom Seth Gilliam Domenick Lombardozzi J. D. Williams Michael K. Williams Corey Parker Robinson Reg E. Cathey Chad L. Coleman Jamie Hector Glynn Turman Clark Johnson Tom McCarthy Gbenga Akinnagbe Neal Huff Jermaine Crawford Tristan Wilds Michael Kostroff Michelle Paress Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Theme music composer	Tom Waits
Opening theme	"Way Down in the Hole" by The Blind Boys of Alabama (season 1) Tom Waits (season 2) The Neville Brothers (season 3) DoMaJe (season 4) Steve Earle (season 5)
Ending theme	"The Fall" by Blake Leyh
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	60 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	David Simon Robert F. Colesberry Nina Kostroff Noble
Producers	Karen L. Thorson Ed Burns Joe Chappelle George Pelecanos Eric Overmyer
Production location	Baltimore, Maryland
Running time	55–60 minutes 93 minutes (series finale)
Production companies	Blown Deadline Productions HBO Entertainment
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	June 2, 2002 (2002-06-02) – March 9, 2008 (2008-03-09)

The Wire is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by American author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, and ended on March 9, 2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons. The idea for the show started out as a police drama loosely based on the experiences of Simon's writing partner Ed Burns, a former homicide detective and public school teacher.^[4]

Set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland, The Wire introduces a different institution of the city and its relationship to law enforcement in each season while retaining characters and advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in chronological order; the illegal drug trade, the port system, the city government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news medium. Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city.^[4]

When the series first aired, the large cast consisted mainly of actors who were unknown to television audiences, as well as numerous real-life Baltimore and Maryland figures in guest and recurring roles. Simon has said that despite its framing as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are committed."^[5]

The Wire is lauded for its literary themes, its uncommonly accurate exploration of society and politics, and its realistic portrayal of urban life. During its original run, the series received only average ratings and never won any major television awards, but it is now often cited as one of the greatest shows in the history of television.^[6]

Production[edit]

Conception[edit]

Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of his writing partner Ed Burns, a former homicide detective and public school teacher who had worked with Simon on projects including The Corner (2000). Burns, when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology, had often been frustrated by the bureaucracy of the Baltimore Police Department; Simon saw similarities with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.

Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city. During his time as a writer and producer for the NBC program Homicide: Life on the Street, based on his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), also set in Baltimore, Simon had come into conflict with NBC network executives who were displeased by the show's pessimism. Simon wanted to avoid a repeat of these conflicts and chose to take The Wire to HBO, because of their working relationship from the miniseries The Corner. HBO was initially doubtful about including a police drama in its lineup but agreed to produce the pilot episode.^[7][8] Simon approached the mayor of Baltimore, telling him that he wanted to give a bleak portrayal of certain aspects of the city; Simon was welcomed to work there again. He hoped the show would change the opinions of some viewers but said that it was unlikely to affect the issues it portrays.^[7]

Casting[edit]

The casting of the show has been praised for avoiding big-name stars and using character actors who appear natural in their roles.^[9] The looks of the cast as a whole have been described as defying TV expectations by presenting a true range of humanity on screen.^[10] Many of the cast are black, consistent with the demographics of Baltimore.

Wendell Pierce, who plays Detective Bunk Moreland, was the first actor to be cast. Dominic West, who won the ostensible lead role of Detective Jimmy McNulty, sent in a tape he recorded the night before the audition's deadline of his playing out a scene by himself.^[11] Lance Reddick received the role of Cedric Daniels after auditioning for the roles of Bunk and heroin addict Bubbles.^[12] Michael K. Williams got the part of Omar Little after only a single audition.^[13] Williams himself recommended Felicia Pearson for the role of Snoop after meeting her at a local Baltimore bar, shortly after she had served prison time for a second degree murder conviction.^[14]

Several prominent real-life Baltimore figures, including former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.; Rev. Frank M. Reid III; radio personality Marc Steiner; former police chief and radio personality Ed Norris; Baltimore Sun reporter and editor David Ettlin; Howard County Executive Ken Ulman; and former mayor Kurt Schmoke have appeared in minor roles despite not being professional actors.^[15][16]

"Little Melvin" Williams, a Baltimore drug lord arrested in the 1980s by an investigation that Burns had been part of, had a recurring role as a deacon beginning in the third season. Jay Landsman, a longtime police officer who inspired the character of the same name,^[17] played Lieutenant Dennis Mello.^[18] Baltimore police commander Gary D'Addario served as the series' technical advisor for the first two seasons^[19][20] and had a recurring role as prosecutor Gary DiPasquale.^[21] Simon shadowed D'Addario's shift when researching his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and both D'Addario and Landsman are subjects of the book.^[22]

More than a dozen cast members previously appeared on HBO's first hour-long drama Oz. J. D. Williams, Seth Gilliam, Lance Reddick, and Reg E. Cathey were featured in very prominent roles on Oz, while a number of other notable stars of The Wire, including Wood Harris, Frankie Faison, John Doman, Clarke Peters, Domenick Lombardozzi, Michael Hyatt, Michael Potts, and Method Man, appeared in at least one episode of Oz.^[23] Cast members Erik Dellums, Peter Gerety, Clark Johnson, Clayton LeBouef, Toni Lewis and Callie Thorne also appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street, the earlier and award-winning network television series also based on Simon's book; Lewis appeared on Oz as well. A number of cast members, as well as crew members, also appeared in the preceding HBO miniseries The Corner including Clarke Peters, Reg E. Cathey, Lance Reddick, Corey Parker Robinson, Robert F. Chew, Delaney Williams, and Benay Berger.

Crew[edit]

Alongside Simon, the show's creator, head writer, showrunner, and executive producer, much of the creative team behind The Wire were alumni of Homicide and Primetime Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Corner. The Corner veteran, Robert F. Colesberry, was executive producer for the first two seasons and directed the season 2 finale before dying from complications from heart surgery in 2004. He is credited by the rest of the creative team as having a large creative role as a producer, and Simon credits him for achieving the show's realistic visual feel.^[5] He also had a small recurring role as Detective Ray Cole.^[24] Colesberry's wife Karen L. Thorson joined him on the production staff.^[19] A third producer on The Corner, Nina Kostroff Noble also stayed with the production staff for The Wire rounding out the initial four-person team.^[19] Following Colesberry's death, she became the show's second executive producer alongside Simon.^[25]

Stories for the show were often co-written by Burns, who also became a producer in the show's fourth season.^[26] Other writers include three acclaimed crime fiction writers from outside of Baltimore: George Pelecanos from Washington, Richard Price from the Bronx and Dennis Lehane from Boston.^[27] Reviewers drew comparisons between Price's works (particularly Clockers) and The Wire even before he joined.^[28] In addition to writing, Pelecanos served as a producer for the third season.^[29] Pelecanos has commented that he was attracted to the project because of the opportunity to work with Simon.^[29]

Staff writer Rafael Alvarez penned several episodes' scripts, as well as the series guidebook The Wire: Truth Be Told. Alvarez is a colleague of Simon's from The Baltimore Sun and a Baltimore native with working experience in the port area.^[30] Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco, also wrote for the show in each of its first three seasons.^[31] Baltimore Sun writer and political journalist William F. Zorzi joined the writing staff in the third season and brought a wealth of experience to the show's examination of Baltimore politics.^[30]

Playwright and television writer/producer Eric Overmyer joined the crew of The Wire in the show's fourth season as a consulting producer and writer.^[26] He had also previously worked on Homicide. Overmyer was brought into the full-time production staff to replace Pelecanos who scaled back his involvement to concentrate on his next book and worked on the fourth season solely as a writer.^[32] Primetime Emmy Award winner, Homicide and The Corner, writer and college friend of Simon, David Mills also joined the writing staff in the fourth season.^[26]

Directors include Homicide alumnus Clark Johnson,^[33] who directed several acclaimed episodes of The Shield,^[34] and Tim Van Patten, a Primetime Emmy Award winner who has worked on every season of The Sopranos. The directing has been praised for its uncomplicated and subtle style.^[9] Following the death of Colesberry, director Joe Chappelle joined the production staff as a co-executive producer and continued to regularly direct episodes.^[35]

Episode structure[edit]

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Each episode begins with a cold open that seldom contains a dramatic juncture. The screen then fades or cuts to black while the intro music fades in. The show's opening title sequence then plays; a series of shots, mainly close-ups, concerning the show's subject matter that changes from season to season, separated by fast cutting (a technique rarely used in the show itself). The opening credits are superimposed on the sequence, and consist only of actors' names without identifying which actors play which roles. In addition, actors' faces are rarely seen in the title sequence.

At the end of the sequence, a quotation (epigraph) is shown on-screen that is spoken by a character during the episode. The three exceptions were the first season finale which uses the phrase "All in the game", attributed to "Traditional West Baltimore", a phrase used frequently throughout all five seasons including that episode; the fourth season finale which uses the words "If animal trapped call 410-844-6286" written on boarded up vacant homes attributed to "Baltimore, traditional" and the series finale, which started with a quote from H. L. Mencken that is shown on a wall at The Baltimore Sun in one scene, neither quote being spoken by a character. Progressive story arcs often unfold in different locations at the same time. Episodes rarely end with a cliffhanger, and close with a fade or cut to black with the closing music fading in.

When broadcast on HBO and on some international networks, the episodes are preceded by a recap of events that have a bearing upon the upcoming narrative, using clips from previous episodes.

Music[edit]

Rather than overlaying songs on the soundtrack, or employing a score, The Wire primarily uses pieces of music that emanate from a source within the scene, such as a jukebox or car radio. This kind of music is known as diegetic or source cue. This practice is rarely breached, notably for the end-of-season montages and occasionally with a brief overlap of the closing theme and the final shot.^[36]

The opening theme is "Way Down in the Hole," a gospel-and-blues-inspired song, written by Tom Waits for his 1987 album Franks Wild Years. Each season uses a different recording and a different opening sequence, with the theme being performed by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe and Steve Earle. The season four version of "Way Down in the Hole" was arranged and recorded for the show and is performed by five Baltimore teenagers: Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse.^[37] Earle, who performed the fifth season version, is also a member of the cast, playing the recovering drug addict Walon.^[38] The closing theme is "The Fall," composed by Blake Leyh, who is also the music supervisor of the show.

During season finales, a song is played before the closing scene in a montage showing the lives of the protagonists in the aftermath of the narrative. The first season montage is played over "Step by Step" by Jesse Winchester, the second "I Feel Alright" by Steve Earle, the third "Fast Train" written by Van Morrison and performed by Solomon Burke, the fourth "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" written by Dr. John and performed by Paul Weller and the fifth uses an extended version of "Way Down In The Hole" by the Blind Boys of Alabama, the same version of the song used as the opening theme for the first season.^[28]

While the songs reflect the mood of the sequence, their lyrics are usually only loosely tied to the visual shots. In the commentary track to episode 37, "Mission Accomplished", executive producer David Simon said: "I hate it when somebody purposely tries to have the lyrics match the visual. It brutalizes the visual in a way to have the lyrics dead on point. ... Yet at the same time it can't be totally off point. It has to glance at what you're trying to say."^[28]

Two soundtrack albums, called The Wire: And All the Pieces Matter—Five Years of Music from The Wire and Beyond Hamsterdam, were released on January 8, 2008, on Nonesuch Records.^[39] The former features music from all five seasons of the series and the latter includes local Baltimore artists exclusively.^[39]

Style[edit]

Realism[edit]

The writers strove to create a realistic vision of an American city based on their own experiences.^[40] Simon, originally a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, spent a year researching a Baltimore homicide detective unit for his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, where he met Burns. Burns served in the Baltimore Police Department for 20 years and later became a teacher in an inner-city school. The two of them spent a year researching the drug culture and poverty in Baltimore for their book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. Their combined experiences were used in many storylines of The Wire.

Central to the show's aim for realism was the creation of truthful characters. Simon has stated that most of them are composites of real-life Baltimore figures.^[41] For instance, Donnie Andrews served as the main inspiration of Omar Little.^[42] Martin O'Malley served as "one of the inspirations" for Tommy Carcetti.^[43] The show often cast non-professional actors in minor roles, distinguishing itself from other television series by showing the "faces and voices of the real city" it depicts.^[3] The writing also uses contemporary slang to enhance the immersive viewing experience.^[3]

In distinguishing the police characters from other television detectives, Simon makes the point that even the best police of The Wire are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve, but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminals they are chasing. While many of the police do exhibit altruistic qualities, many officers portrayed on the show are incompetent, brutal, self-aggrandizing, or hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. The criminals are not always motivated by profit or a desire to harm others; many are trapped in their existence and all have human qualities. Even so, The Wire does not minimize or gloss over the horrific effects of their actions.^[5]

The show is realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity. There have even been reports of real-life criminals watching the show to learn how to counter police investigation techniques.^[44][45] The fifth season portrayed a working newsroom at The Baltimore Sun and was described by Brian Lowry of Variety magazine in 2007 as the most realistic portrayal of the media in film and television.^[46]

In a December 2006 Washington Post article, local black students said that the show had "hit a nerve" with the black community and that they themselves knew real-life counterparts of many of the characters. The article expressed great sadness at the toll drugs and violence are taking on the black community.^[47]

Visual novel[edit]

Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the exceptions of two flashbacks – one at the end of the pilot episode that replays a moment from earlier in the same episode and one at the end of the fourth season finale that shows a short clip of a character tutoring his younger brother earlier in the season. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand the ongoing story arc and the relevance of each character to it. Salon has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.^[27]

Each season of The Wire consists of 10 to 13 episodes that form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw in viewers, resulting in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews,^[7][48] describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.^[5]

Social commentary[edit]

Simon described the second season as "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class ... it is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many."^[41] He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws explicit parallels between the Iraq War and drug prohibition,^[41] which in Simon's view has failed in its aims^[45] and has become a war against America's underclass.^[49] This is portrayed by Major Colvin, imparting to Carver his view that policing has been allowed to become a war and thus will never succeed in its aims.^{[citation needed]}

Writer Ed Burns, who worked as a public school teacher after retiring from the Baltimore police force shortly before going to work with Simon, has called education the theme of the fourth season. Rather than focusing solely on the school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside of their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for.^[50] Burns and Simon see the theme as an opportunity to explore how individuals end up like the show's criminal characters and to dramatize the notion that hard work is not always justly rewarded.^[51]

Themes

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