HBO is an Energizer Bunny whose assembly line of first-rate series keeps going and going.

Joining "Six Feet Under," "Sex and the City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Sopranos" is "The Wire," a scorching look at the drug trade in a Baltimore housing project through the eyes of mid-level dealers and police.

"The Wire" has virtues galore. Its first five episodes rank with TV's elite crime-busting hours at their best ...

Pay-cable channels, which are supported by subscriptions instead of advertising, often have detractors in their largest broadcast competitors. The latter aging titans pout and whine on cue, for example, when HBO embarrasses them by annually earning Emmys and other big awards far out of proportion to its relatively slim audience base.

... All in all, "The Wire" is more evidence that TV's best crime shows are in their own golden age.