ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY - THE WIRE STAR: WE'RE PROUD OF EMMY REJECTION

THE WIRE STAR: WE'RE PROUD OF EMMY REJECTION

A star of acclaimed US drama The Wire has said the show's cast are not fazed by being ignored by major award shows.

Despite being repeatedly heralded as a watermark of quality in US television - with Entertainment Weekly calling it "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV" - it has regularly missed out on award nominations and only received one nod for this September's television Emmys.

But according to Seth Gilliam, who plays Sergeant Ellis Carver in the Baltimore-set show, the cast and crew of The Wire are no longer concerned by award snubs.

"The Emmys will in no way validate the quality of the material we put out there," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We take a little pride in not being nominated."

He continued: "The show deals with inner city civil servants and the Emmys would rather fantasise about lawyers and romance."

"It's a show about a blue collar town," he said. "It's not very flashy and glamorous."

"There aren't a lot of shootings in every episode and there isn't a lot of flesh and nipples."

The show premiered in the US in 2002 and concluded in March this year, with its fifth and final series currently screened on the FX network in the UK.

"The writers and producers have moved on to other things," Gilliam added.

"The toll taken on them to fight to have a comeback on television after each season has left them exhausted."