I don't watch a lot of telly, but I loved 'the wire'. It really was the best TV cop show- ever. It was loved the critics in the UK and in the US and had a serious cult following. The reason why no one really knows anything about it is that it was a HBO show and wasn't picked by any of the major UK TV channels (unlike the Soprano's or Sex and the city). HBO programmes are pretty hard core with a lot a swearing and violence (too much for BBC/ITV/CH4/CH5 to be shown at a decent hour).
I've sky+ Generation Kill, so I will be watching it tonight (it's also repeated monday's night) with high expectations