HBO has digitally remastered The Wire and is re-airing it in marathon format as of midnight Thursday, December 26. The Wire, if you recall, was one of the first entries in the so-called "television renaissance"—that crucial moment in American history when HBO brought complex, intricately crafted, film-quality…

Dominic West is just as curious about Idris Elba’s maybe it is, maybe it isn't penis photo as we are. He even talked about it at great length (heh … ) in an interview. Of course Elba says the bump in the photo is just a microphone cord. OK, Idris.

Idris Elba is looking goooooood on the October cover of GQ, and inside, he talks about the incident in which he fell in love with a woman in Florida, she became pregnant and they had a child, and he was thrilled to have a son… Until a paternity test revealed Elba was not the father.

We are supposed to believe that Lady Gaga is not thrilled that her fiance Taylor Kinney has been getting close to Cameron Diaz on the set of... wait for it... The Other Woman. Way to be on the nose, "reality!" According to a source:

She's the latter, according to Malawi's Education Minister Eunice Kazembe. Kazembe says that Madonna claims she built ten schools for the children of Malawi, when the actual number of schools built by Madonna was zero schools. I don't completely understand why our gal Madge—who is clearly dedicated to philanthropy…

One question: Where the fuck is Wallace?

In this excellent oral history of HBO's beloved seriesThe Wire, which premiered ten years ago this month, actress Deirdre Lovejoy, who played lawyer Rhonda Perlman, a high-ranking narcotics division attorney who slept with Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) a bunch, looked back fondly at the pair's first sex scene:

In a meta turn of events, Felicia Pearson, who played the hitwoman Snoop on The Wire was arrested today on drug charges. While Pearson's journey from a murder conviction at 14 to starring in what's often described as the greatest American television series was often painted as a happy ending, the charges reinforce the…

We have no idea why this fake The Wire-inspired Monopoly board isn't for sale—especially when it "reflects the chance element of life on the streets."

Idris Elba, a.k.a. King Driis, is clearly a man of many talents — including accents! He traded British for American in The Wire, and in this video, he raps with a hint of island patois. Where's Omar? [New York]

Michael Kenneth Williams, who played Omar, the gay robber/moral heart of The Wire, is in the just-released film The Road. But back to The Wire: did you know Williams was broke and living in the projects right through season two?

• Two teens from Indiana have brought a lawsuit against their school after they were barred from participating in school activities following the discovery of some racy pictures they posted on MySpace. •

According to one Wire writer, watching the show with subtitles turns the drama into comedy. "It kind of reminds of scenes from that comedy Airplane!, when two black guys speak, and subtitles appear on the screen," says George Pelecanos. [Telegraph]

This one's for BeckySharper (and, well, me). Those of you who prefer McNulty to Stringer, you can go here. [LifeFiles, Guardian]