Test Your Knowledge: The Wire

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Test Your Knowledge: The Wire
Image: HBO

About This Quiz

This gritty drama featured urban decay and drug abuse at its worst. How much do you know about "The Wire"?
The title of the show refers to what?
Surveillance technologies
The thin line between good and evil
The division between rich and poor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All types of monitoring technolgies are prominently displayed in many episodes

Who created the show?
David Simon
Dan Michael
Thomas Hill
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His experience as a journalist is evident in the show's realism

Who compsed the show's theme song, "Way Down in the Hole"?
TomWaits
Joe Ely
Steve Earle
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The same song was sung by different artists at the beginning of each season

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Which actor played Jimmy McNulty, the star of the first season?
Wendell Pierce
Lance Reddick
Dominic West
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

West is actually English and won acclaim for his ability to create a believable Baltimore accent

Which network originally created the show?
HBO
Showtime
FOX
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It is now considered one of the network's all-time best series

Which character commits some of the most heartless and vicious murders?
Stringer Bell
Rico
Snoop
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Her unsettling lack of empathy allowed her to hurt people with zero mercy

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How many total episodes were there?
68
60
58
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The show ran for five seasons

Season two revolves around which part of the city?
The port
Downtown Baltimore
School system
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many episodes are shot right on the waterfront

Which celebrity rapper has said "The Wire" is his favorite TV show?
Dr. Dre
LL Cool J
Eminem
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Eminem had Dominic West speak during a skit on one of his albums

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What is the name of the song that Omar Little ominously whistles?
"Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
"The Farmer in the Dell"
"Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The actor was actually incapable of whistling so the sound had to be created by another person

Which famous musician plays a role as a recovering drug addict in several episodes?
Tom Waits
Steve Earle
Van Morrison
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Earle also has a well-established real-life struggle with substance abuse

This character was based on a real-life, drug-addled informant with a photographic memory?
Bubbles
Michael
Marlo
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The real-life character was paid $50 each time his information led to an arrest

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Which character leads a violent drug gang?
Avon Barksdale
Bodie
Chris Partlow
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His arrogant sense of superiority eventually costs him

Which character was supposed to die in the first season but was spared?
Avon Barksdale
Kima
Omar Little
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

HBO executives persuaded David Simon to keep her alive because of her character's on-screen power

Which group recorded the theme song for season one of the show?
The Wallflowers
Blind Melon
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Their uplifting image was a stark contrast to the show's darkness

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For all of the violence in the show, the police fire their weapons how many times in five seasons?
Eleven
Eight
Three
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

And it's always the same guy with the itchy trigger finger, Roland Pryzbylewski

Which character mercilessly kills Snoop, just before she can instead kill him?
Michael
Chris
Avon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He is always suspicious of the other gang members

Which NFL figure appears on the center of Frank Sobotka's dartboard?
Jim Irsay
Jerry Jones
Al Davis
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Irsay abruptly moved the Baltimore Colts to Cleveland, saddening the entire city

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Before he was cast as Cedric Daniels, Lance Reddick auditioned for which two other parts?
Moreland and Bubbles
McNulty and Stanfield
Bell and Barksdale
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His distinguished mannerisms gave him the appropriate air of authority for the part

Chris and Snoop dispose of their victims' bodies where?
The sewer
In the river
Abandoned buildings
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are so many abandoned buildings that the bodies go unnoticed for months

Who takes over the gang's business when Avon goes to prison at the end of season 1?
Wee-Bey
Stringer Bell
D'Angelo Barksdale
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bell's loyalty doesn't last long and he begins betraying Avon almost immediately

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Tired of the drugs and violence, Major Bunny Colvin does what at the end of his career on the police force?
Allows unfettered drug use in one area
Doubles the police force in violent areas
Requests help from federal authorities
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nicknamed "Hamsterdam," the experiment actually helps to lower violent crime for a short time

In order to increase the budget for police work, what does McNulty unethically do?
Starts a protest on the mayor's lawn
Steals from the city
Fakes a serial killer
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He even manipulates crime scene victims to sell his ploy and secure emergency funding

Which author called Snoop, "Perhaps the most terrifying female villan ever to appear in a television series"?
Dean Koontz
Stephen King
Clive Barker
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If anyone would know, it would be King

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Which police officer loses his gun in the third season?
Dozerman
Kima
McNulty
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's a serious issue that causes consternation for multiple scenes

Bodie works for Avon until his loyalties switch to what gangster?
Proposition Joe
Stringer Bell
Marlo
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Marlo forced him to do his bidding

Season four revolves around which city institution?
Judicial system
School system
Welfare system
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many episodes focus on the struggles of four eighth-grade boys

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Bunk constantly mentions his wife but she never appears in the show. What's her name?
Latasha
Natasha
Nadine
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Her background presence often causes Bunk to drink excessively

Which legitimate business does Stringer Bell yearn to pursue?
Real estate
Import / export
Fireworks sales
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The street life catches up with him before he can fulfill his dreams

What's the color of the ribbon that McNulty's fake serial killer ties to each victim's arm?
Black
Blue
Red
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Eventually his scheme unravels, just like the ribbons themselves

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You Got:
/30
HBO