Dominic West

There is certainly no shortage of outstanding leading men working in American TV drama these days. Jon Hamm, Damian Lewis and Michael C. Hall to name a few. But it would be hard to find any whose proven range is greater than that of Dominic West, star of BBC America's "The Hour. " It extends from Detective Jimmy McNulty raging drunk in a grimy Baltimore train yard late at night in HBO's "The Wire," to Professor Henry Higgins prancing across the stage in tweeds with Eliza Doolittle in an English revival of "My Fair Lady" that opened last week.

A couple of hard-edged veteran cops are driving down a desolate Louisiana road after investigating a grisly crime scene in HBO's new Sunday-night drama, “True Detective.” They have been partners for three months but have spoken little about their personal lives. “Ask you something?” the older detective (Woody Harrelson) says. “You a Christian, yeah?” “No,” his partner (Matthew McConaughey) replies, looking out the passenger-side window at the barren landscape.

If you want to see the finest new drama of the TV year, tune in BBC America at 10 p.m. Wednesday for the opener of "The Hour," a six-week series starring Dominic West, of "The Wire,"and Romola Garai, of "Emma. " He plays a hard-to-read establishment anchorman at a BBC newsmagazine; she plays his producer boss. He's married; she isn't. That doesn't stop stuff from happening between them -- powerful stuff. I guarantee you nothing the networks will offer in coming months of their fall seasons comes close to "The Hour.

We're a bit biased, but the staff at EW are clearly geniuses.  In the magazine's latest issue, out Friday, the writers and editors have named Baltimore-set social tapestry "The Wire" as the No. 1 TV show. Of all time. Here's what they had to say: "The most sustained narrative in television history, The Wire used the drug trade in Baltimore, heavily researched by creator David Simon, to tell tales of race and class with unprecedented complexity. Politics, the war on drugs, labor unions, public education, the media - these were among the big themes, all examined through exquisitely drawn characters, such as the brilliant yet broken detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West)

The Wire's Dominic West returns to Baltimore this month for the final season of the HBO drama a bigger star after his new movie, 300, defied studio expectation as the breakout hit of the spring. The 36-year-old actor, who plays earnest detective Jimmy McNulty on The Wire, successfully shifted gears to portray a slimy politician in the Spartan epic. He'll take questions before tonight's 8 p.m. screening of 300 at the Senator Theatre. Away for the past few weeks in England, he'll watch the completed film for the first time with a Baltimore audience.

With Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's guilty plea last week to conspiracy to sell heroin, one question being asked by fans of "The Wire" is how other cast members of the Baltimore-based series are doing. The answer: Several are doing just fine professionally. And a few are doing extraordinary work on and off camera. Some of it can be seen this week on TV. Two of the finest actors from the HBO series, Dominic West and Idris Elba, are about to help launch a prestigious drama showcase and series on BBC America at 10 Wednesday night.

With 300, a blood-strewn retelling of that apotheosis of Spartan military glory, the Battle of Thermopylae, cinema has once again proven its ability to incorporate every other mass-media art form. Director Zack Snyder and his computer wizards have made the best example yet of the movie-as-comic-book. Based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, whose testosterone-soaked storytelling has made him a genre favorite, 300 captures not only the look and feel of its source material, but its essence as well.

We're a bit biased, but the staff at EW are clearly geniuses.  In the magazine's latest issue, out Friday, the writers and editors have named Baltimore-set social tapestry "The Wire" as the No. 1 TV show. Of all time. Here's what they had to say: "The most sustained narrative in television history, The Wire used the drug trade in Baltimore, heavily researched by creator David Simon, to tell tales of race and class with unprecedented complexity. Politics, the war on drugs, labor unions, public education, the media - these were among the big themes, all examined through exquisitely drawn characters, such as the brilliant yet broken detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West)

With Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's guilty plea Monday to conspiracy to sell heroin, it seems like a good time to catch up with what some of the other cast members of the Baltimore-based series are doing. And two of the finest actors in the series, Dominic West and Idris Elba, are about to help launch a prestigious drama showcase and series on BBC America next week. On Aug. 17, BBC America is introducing a franchise called Dramaville, which will serve as a showcase for top British dramatic series and films.

EHOHOO. Almost-Baltimoreans know this sound. Real Baltimoreans say it. No, it's not the whoop of the first swimmer downyocean on Memorial Day, nor the bellow of Willie Don Schaefer contemplating Parris Glendening's gift of African violets, nor the frustrated cry of the pixilated Ravens fan. EHOHOO is the classic Baltimore "O." As in "NO," when you clinch your brows, crinkle your nose, pucker your lips and emit the sound "NEHOHOO." As ancient Highlandtowners once vowed, "Nehohoo way I'm moving out Blair Road."

There is certainly no shortage of outstanding leading men working in American TV drama these days. Jon Hamm, Damian Lewis and Michael C. Hall to name a few. But it would be hard to find any whose proven range is greater than that of Dominic West, star of BBC America's "The Hour. " It extends from Detective Jimmy McNulty raging drunk in a grimy Baltimore train yard late at night in HBO's "The Wire," to Professor Henry Higgins prancing across the stage in tweeds with Eliza Doolittle in an English revival of "My Fair Lady" that opened last week.

It's not often that a sequel is better than the original, especially when the original is as dazzling as BBC America's miniseries "The Hour" was last year. But that's the case with the intoxicating mix of lust, longing, superb acting and a little bit of 1950s Brit journalism that debuts Wednesday night at 9 on BBC America. And at the very heart of all the sizzle in this six-part series set at a BBC newsmagazine called "The Hour" is Dominic West, best known in these parts as Detective Jimmy McNulty of HBO's "The Wire.

If you want to see the finest new drama of the TV year, tune in BBC America at 10 p.m. Wednesday for the opener of "The Hour," a six-week series starring Dominic West, of "The Wire,"and Romola Garai, of "Emma. " He plays a hard-to-read establishment anchorman at a BBC newsmagazine; she plays his producer boss. He's married; she isn't. That doesn't stop stuff from happening between them -- powerful stuff. I guarantee you nothing the networks will offer in coming months of their fall seasons comes close to "The Hour.

With Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's guilty plea last week to conspiracy to sell heroin, one question being asked by fans of "The Wire" is how other cast members of the Baltimore-based series are doing. The answer: Several are doing just fine professionally. And a few are doing extraordinary work on and off camera. Some of it can be seen this week on TV. Two of the finest actors from the HBO series, Dominic West and Idris Elba, are about to help launch a prestigious drama showcase and series on BBC America at 10 Wednesday night.

With Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's guilty plea Monday to conspiracy to sell heroin, it seems like a good time to catch up with what some of the other cast members of the Baltimore-based series are doing. And two of the finest actors in the series, Dominic West and Idris Elba, are about to help launch a prestigious drama showcase and series on BBC America next week. On Aug. 17, BBC America is introducing a franchise called Dramaville, which will serve as a showcase for top British dramatic series and films.

The Wire's Dominic West returns to Baltimore this month for the final season of the HBO drama a bigger star after his new movie, 300, defied studio expectation as the breakout hit of the spring. The 36-year-old actor, who plays earnest detective Jimmy McNulty on The Wire, successfully shifted gears to portray a slimy politician in the Spartan epic. He'll take questions before tonight's 8 p.m. screening of 300 at the Senator Theatre. Away for the past few weeks in England, he'll watch the completed film for the first time with a Baltimore audience.

A couple of hard-edged veteran cops are driving down a desolate Louisiana road after investigating a grisly crime scene in HBO's new Sunday-night drama, “True Detective.” They have been partners for three months but have spoken little about their personal lives. “Ask you something?” the older detective (Woody Harrelson) says. “You a Christian, yeah?” “No,” his partner (Matthew McConaughey) replies, looking out the passenger-side window at the barren landscape.

JERUSALEM -- In final results of West Bank elections in 104 municipalities, the dominant Fatah faction won control of 51 councils, while the radical Islamic group Hamas won 13, officials said yesterday. Other factions, mostly local groupings of large families or clans, won control of the other 40 councils, according to Jamal al-Shobaki, head of the Palestinian election commission, who released the final figures to reporters in Ramallah. Fatah won 54 percent of the vote, electing 547 council members, and Hamas won 26 percent, electing 265 members.

With 300, a blood-strewn retelling of that apotheosis of Spartan military glory, the Battle of Thermopylae, cinema has once again proven its ability to incorporate every other mass-media art form. Director Zack Snyder and his computer wizards have made the best example yet of the movie-as-comic-book. Based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, whose testosterone-soaked storytelling has made him a genre favorite, 300 captures not only the look and feel of its source material, but its essence as well.

JERUSALEM -- In final results of West Bank elections in 104 municipalities, the dominant Fatah faction won control of 51 councils, while the radical Islamic group Hamas won 13, officials said yesterday. Other factions, mostly local groupings of large families or clans, won control of the other 40 councils, according to Jamal al-Shobaki, head of the Palestinian election commission, who released the final figures to reporters in Ramallah. Fatah won 54 percent of the vote, electing 547 council members, and Hamas won 26 percent, electing 265 members.