Forget what the always-silly Emmys have put forward as worthy of nominations and awards in the past: "The Wire", on HBO, is simply the best drama on television nowadays, and its fourth season, beginning in September, cannot come quick enough. Created by David Simon, the genius behind "Homicide: Life on the Street", the series follows a group of police -- what has since become the Major Case Squad -- tracking a single case over an entire season. It's a dense, complex drama that has lured the likes of some of today's best mystery writers to its ranks, like George Pelecanos, Richard Price and Dennis Lehane. And, as you can probably expect at this point given the above, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Intriguingly, this season will focus on the Baltimore school system as a backdrop to a major case-- and now HBO has finally posted the teaser to the new season-- enjoy. A lot to be gleaned from this, including that Jim True-Frost is back this season, most likely as a teacher, and that the race for mayor will be a focus of the new season.

Updated note on June 13th: The Baltimore Sun, where Simon once wrote, has a good overview of the season here.