Since I had to work Sunday night, and then get up and head straight back out Monday, I studiously avoided any media that would give me any clues to how "The Wire" ended. I work in news, and expected to see something slugged "The Wire Finale" on the wires, as I did -- and avoided -- when "The Sopranos" ended (sort of). Instead, there was nothing; are my tastes that non-mainstream? (Umm...yeah.) For some reason, Omar's snuffing made the wires, but I managed to dodge that bullet, so to speak.

So whether you offered a spoiler or not, as swell as this blog might be, I wasn't bitin'. And as for "The Apprentice" -- is that show STILL on?!?

By the way, I found "The Wire" finale incredibly satisfying: Michael takes up Omar's mantle; Bunk and Kima (sp?) find their Murder Police Partners groove; Jay gives Jimmy an appropriately vulgar send-off; Bubbs is accepted as a human by his sister (which I hope means poor Duqwan (again, sp?) has redemption in his future; Gus still has a gig; yeah, that weasel wins a Pulitzer but he'll end up like Margaret B. Smith in the end; Marlo's thrill-seeker gene's gonna get him got; and Jimmy (who never got the accent right) does the right thing. Oh, and Lester goes back to makin' miniatures and whoopie with his first-season former pole-dancer squeeze.

Now, if they could only cook up an really fab "Deadwood" finale...or maybe a full final season. Hey, a girl can dream.

Oh, and perhaps the most satisfying thing about the last season of "The Wire": The real Fran who inspired the character on "The Corner" was the phlebotomist who drew Bubbs's blood for his HIV test.

Nice post, David, at least as far as I could tell from the paragraphs I read. I'm still catching up on "The Wire" so I had to skip a few. Obviously the CNBC flub was just an oversight. They probably didn't have a suitably ambiguous promo to run in its place. Tight budgets and all. In any case, if your readers are interested in listening, there's a recent episode (3/07) of Shifting Channels -- a fairly new podcast -- that covers the whole landmine-filled landscape of spoilers -- avoiding them and seeking them out. It's at www.shiftingchannels.com.

Although I don't watch The Wire (i know, i know) I do agree that spoilers aren't spoilers anymore after an episode has aired--and this is from someone who watches virtually nothing "live" anymore. Once I DVR it, its up to me when I want to watch it, and I can't expect you to wait for me forever! lol
As for The Apprentice, that sort of promo has been a pet peeve of mine for a while. Bravo loves to do that during weekend re-runs of Top Chef or Project Runway, revealing who was ousted that episode *while they're re-running it*! It's such a pain in the neck. If you're actually watching the re-run, it means probably either a) you're a fan who forgot to DVR it, b), you're a fan who doesnt own a DVR. Either way, why would you want to know what happens before you see it?!