I know we already eulogized The Wire last week, but I didn’t feel we could pay arguably the greatest drama in Television history its due credit in just one post. All over America, from all walks of life and all throughout cyber-space, fans are saddened by their loss but equally showing respect for the show that was lost far before its time was up.

in Philadelphia, Wendell Pierce, Michael K. Williams and eight other actors from the HBO series “The Wire” attended a screening of the final episode Sunday. I wonder why it wasn’t held in Baltimore. Anyway, they city’s mayor, Michael Nutter was on hand at the even held in City Hall.

Pierce (Detective William “Bunk” Moreland) said he thought the show made viewers think about people they would not interact with in their ordinary lives. “You’ll never be able to cross a corner and see corner boys and see them just as thugs. There was humanity in them. You’ll never be able to look at the kids the same way.”

HBO also has set up an elaborate vigil to pay homage to its show didn’t receive the ratings of more popular shows like “Sex and the City” or “The Sopranos” but definately was followed by a more loyal and almost cult viewership. On HBO.com, they’ve set up a fancy message board where fans can log on and show their respect for their favorite characters. The shows creator, David Simon, has even issued a statement thanking fans and reflecting back on the last five years of The Wire in the form of a very eloquent letter. Here’s an excerpt.

For those of us writing The Wire, a television drama, story research involved dragging the right police lieutenants or school teachers, prosecutors and political functionaries to neighborhood diners and bars and taking story notes down on cocktail napkins and paper placemats. To be more precise with their tales? To record it and relay it in a manner that can stand as non-fiction truthtelling? Yes, that’s harder to do. But there was a time when journalism regarded that kind of coverage as its highest mission. The true stories that The Wire traded in are out there, waiting for anyone willing to take the time. And it is, of course, vaguely disturbing to us that our unlikely little television drama is making arguments that were once the prerogative of more serious mediums.

We tried to be entertaining, but in no way did we want to be mistaken for entertainment…The Wire is about the America we pay for and tolerate. Perhaps it is possible to pay for, and demand, something more.

I couldn’t have agreed more. DEFINITELY A MUST READ!