The wire, the complete third season (DVD) [Blown Deadline Productions ; Home Box Office ; directed by Joe Chappelle ... [et al.] ; [created by David Simon].

Title from container.

Originally broadcast on HBO television during the fall 2004 season.

Set contains all 12 episodes from the third season.

For special features see interactive menu on disc.

Disc 1 Time after time teleplay, David Simon ; story, David Simon & Ed Burns ; director, Ed Bianchi (airdate: 9/19/04) -- All due respect teleplay, Richard Price ; story, David Simon & Richard Price ; directgor, Steve Shill (airdate: 9/26/04) -- Disc 2 Dead soldiers -- Amsterdam -- Disc 3 Straight and true -- Homecoming -- Back burners -- Disc 4 Moral midgetry -- Slapstick -- Reformation -- Disc 5 Middle ground -- Mission accomplished.

Donimic West, John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, Aidan Gillen, Wood Harris, Deirdre Lovejoy, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn, Jim True-Frost, Robert Wisdom.

The heat is on in Baltimore. The drug war is being lost, bodies are piling up, and a desperate mayor wants the tide turned before the election. But no matter how hard McNulty and the detail try, the dealers always seem to be one step ahead of the game. "Time After Time: A wave of urban reform brings down the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers, forcing the Barksdale drug crew to find a new home on the streets of West Baltimore. Stringer Bell sets up shop using a new sales strategy for Bodie, Poot, Puddin and the rest of the gang, as he awaits the return of Avon from prison. McNulty, Greggs and the detail look to make a case against Stringer with a wiretap on a drug ring run by his ally, Proposition Joe. Assigned to the Western District drug unit, Carver and Herc notch up the pressure on street dealers. Burrell is caught in a power play by First District Councilman Tommy Carcetti, an ambitious young man with roots deep in the ethnic politics of Baltimore. Mayor Clarence Royce, facing re-election next year, puts Burrell on notice that crime stats, and murders in particular, must come down - whatever it takes. The order from on high has put police commanders on the hot seat during the new Comstat meetings, where they are held up to aggressive criticism by Rawls and others before their peers. Daniels, too, is confronted by the reach of City Hall, as his promotion to major appears to be derailed because of his estranged wife's political ambitions. A rash of murders cuts short Bunk's day at the ballpark, as Bubbles and Johnny lose big in their latest caper for cash. On the eve of his parole, Cutty Wise is offered a new start on the outside by Avon, but after being released, he finds the drug life has changed. All Due Respect: Omar continues his bold strikes on Barksdale stash houses, now heavily guarded. Under orders from Stringer Bell, Bodie faces a critical test against Marlo, a fierce young dealer with lucrative corners near the now-toppled Franklin Terrace towers. As the wire on East Baltimore's Proposition Joe continues to yield little, a restless McNulty launches his own reinvestigation of last year's prison suicide of D'Angelo Barksdale. Greggs is also restless at work, but on the home front, she's chaffing at the domesticity that a partner and infant demands. On the street, bodies continue to drop, prompting Burrell and Rawls to jack up the heat on their district commanders. Burrell himself is feeling heat from Councilman Carcetti and reaches an uneasy peace with the legislator. The street violence also presents Daniels with the difficult decision of whether to help end a drug war in the Eastern -- at the cost of giving up a months-long wiretap. Cheese loses more than a little on his bet at a bloody dogfight and later is hauled downtown for questioning as a murder suspect by Bunk and McNulty. A beleaguered Cutty, once a fierce power in the life, attempts to get on track, seeking employment outside the drug world. Carver, Herc and the Western drug unit take to the street undercover, but a hand-to-hand drug-buy goes sour, prompting Major "Bunny" Colvin, the district commander, to question his thirty years on the force and the legacy of his career." -- www.tv.com.

CHV Rating: Not rated.

DVD, region 1, full screen (1.33:1) presentation; Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo., Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, dual-layer, DVD-9.

English, dubbed French or dubbed Spanish, English, French or Spanish subtitles; closed-captioned.