To coincide with last night's debut of the fifth and final season of The Wire, Slate has republished an article Jacob Weisberg wrote last year for the previous season. In the piece, Weisberg famously calls the show "surely the best TV show ever broadcast in America." He bases the bold claim

on the premise that no other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city with the scope, observational precision, and moral vision of great literature.

What's more, he writes, "the program has gotten richer and more ambitious with each season," with last year's look at the inner workings of politics leaving "everything else television has tried to do on this subject, in the dust."

For all the seriousness of the subject it tackles and the difficulty of the lives it depicts, The Wire "attains the dimensions of tragedy without being depressing," writes Weisberg:

The Wire does this by painting with brighter colors on a wider canvas and by leavening its pain with humor. The brilliant writing and bravura cast also make viewers root for dozens of rich characters, including several completely despicable ones.

To follow those character's stories to the end, tune in to HBO Sundays at 9 PM. For music from throughout the series's five years, look for the soundtrack from Nonesuch Records in stores tomorrow.

You can read Weisberg's article at slate.com.