My favorite television program returns in January: HBO’s The Wire. It’s going to be the fifth and final season for this tremendous show, and what makes it even better is that this year’s theme will focus on the media.

The details are still a little mysterious, although I’m sure I could dig up more if I did a little web-sniffing. But acquaintances at the Baltimore Sun tell me that HBO crews have spent a lot of time there in the last year, and The Wire’s creator is a Sun alumnus. I doubt the story line is going to be a bon mot to the media — almost every character and story line in The Wire is encased in shades of gray — but I bet it will be compelling.