Viewed in that light I think there is a strong case to be made for "The Wire." As the apotheosis of longform television drama it is definitely a new thing in the world, and lots of people have noted its Dickensian-ness. (I think it's closer to Trollope, but my passion for Trollope is a minority taste.) The Wire is a portrait of Baltimore and a diagnosis of the institutional corruption and systemic paralysis endemic to American cities, but it's also a completely absorbing and heartbreaking narrative.
Most of all, though, I think it forced America's chattering classes to listen to conversations among Black men. And you had to listen hard. In doing so, I think The Wire paved the way for the first Black presidency. (And I don't think the world would have survived a McCain-Palin administration :)
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