I am – Hercules!!

Is this happening to anybody else?

HBO’s press releases and website indicate that the fifth season premiere of “The Wire” (episode 51, “More With Less”) has been available on HBO On Demand since Dec. 31, a full week before its premiere on HBO Actual this Sunday.

But it’s already Jan. 4 and the episode is not on my On Demand menu here in Studio City, Calif., created by the good folks Time Warner Cable. (Time Warner Cable, coincidentally, is owned by Time Warner, same folks behind HBO and “The Wire.”)

I can’t get hold of the Van Nuys, Calif., office of TWC (which services us here in Studio City) via phone. The only phone number on the cable bill gets me the Time Warner Cable customer care center in Colorado. The young woman I spoke to in Colorado could only confirm (via HBO’s web site, see above) that I should indeed be able to watch the episode now. She could not explain why it still wasn’t on my On Demand menu alongside all the 2006 episodes.

My question is this: Is everybody serviced by Time Warner Cable’s Van Nuys, Calif., office similarly denied the further adventures of McNulty, Barksdale, et al? What about the L.A. residents serviced by TWC’s West Hollywood or Santa Monica offices?

UPDATE!! Word is coming in from many other On Demand subscribers here in the San Fernando Valley, in Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Valley Village, North Hollywood and other points; they aren't getting the episode either. A reader to the south of Los Angeles County writes:

Just to let you know, I'm in the same situation as you. I live in Orange County (Tustin to be precise), I have TWC, and The Wire isn't on my On Demand menu either. If I remember correctly, this happened last season too. The first episode of the season wasn't available 1 week prior, but all subsequent episodes were.

A reader in Westwood (a West L.A. neighborhood nestled between The Valley and The O.C.) writes:

Hey Herc, I'm a Time Warner subscriber living in Westwood and I don't have my fix of the Baltimore crew yet either. Guess my decision as to whether to watch early or in high def on date has been made for me by the lovely folks at TWC.
Also, not "serviced" out of the Van Nuys office, although not sure where said "service" originates. thanx and keep fighting the good fight.

A reader here in the San Fernando Valley writes:

I spoke with someone at HBO's offices in NY, and the woman was surprised to find that we could not yet get The Wire Ep. 51. I live in Granada Hills/Northridge area, and still, as of this morning, cannot get this episode. I also called a Supervisor at Time Warner, and she told me that due to the "winds" and some other mumbo-jumbo, they were having problems and I should be able to see the updated On-Demand within a half hour or so. This was Thursday. Sure enough, 2 hours later, when it still wasn't available, I called back, was put on hold, and no one ever got back to me. I have reset all of my boxes, to no avail, and after calling again Friday, I was told that they don't have an explanation but would work on this problem and I should check back via my On-Demand every few hours. I would LOVE to see their definition of the word "few"! I guess we're relegated to Sunday evening via east coast feed...oh well- can't wait to see next weeks excuse!

A reader in Houston on Dec. 31 writes:

I was in Houston, TX over new year's and Comcast OnDemand didn't have The Wire premiere available there, either...

A reader in Dallas writes:

Thanks for keeping an eye on this. I have been checking my OnDemand through Time Warner Dallas everyday and still no first episode of the final season of such an amazing show.

A reader in Ohio writes:

Hey, Herc,

I used On Demand all the time. Every since Northeast Ohio changed from Adelphia to Time-Warner, On Demand has always been behind. There are some weeks where everything this fine, but there have been plenty when you can't see the most recent Bill Maher, Sopranos, or Wire. For me, this is old history.

Best,
C.0.

P.S. I enjoy reading your updates and news items. Thanks for doing this.

A reader in L.A.'s Koreatown writes:

Had this problem all the way back to the last season of THE WIRE, when eps not only wouldn't show up a week ahead as promised, but often took days after air date to make it to the On-Demand menu.

Like that reader from round-at-the-ends-&-high-in-the-middle, ever
since my system was swallowed by the TM beast (was Comcast) I've had
lots & lots of such bullshit -- including crappy digital signal
break-ups, etc. Time-Warner has no pride of service; don't you know
that WE exist to serve THEM?

A Comcast employee in Nashville writes:

Herc,
I work for Comcast in Nashville. We don't have the first episode of the new season of The Wire either for On Demand. My inquiries into what the problem is have only been responded to by a, "It's an issue on HBO's side."

A reader in Wisconsin writes:

Minor feedback…I am in Wisconsin and just saw it on my OnDemand Menu, but as is often explained on the Howard Stern Show (by Doug Goodstein, their Howard TV guy), the “networks” (HBO, HowardTV) send their show to the cable providers, it is then on them to update, some doing that daily, others not so much. Howard Stern says they have a new show every day, but my cable provider only updates once a week, so I have to wait until then…just an opinion…thanks for the heads up, I’m off to watch the WIRE

It's about 2:20 p.m. Saturday now and we still haven't heard from anybody with a solution to this problem. TWC and HBO need to address this frustration, and pronto; now that DirecTV offers far more HD channels than TWC (and still utilizes far more user-friendly DVRs), On Demand is one of the few reasons left to subscribe to TWC instead of DirecTV.

UPDATE FROM SOMEONE CLAIMING TO BE WITH HBO:

Hey Herc,

We've been working on the issue with Ep 51 of The Wire in TWC LA / San Diego since they were first reported this week. We've spoken directly with the local systems and confirmed that the episode was "caught" by their satellites. It appears however that there has been an issue with the systems propagating the episode on to the on demand servers, which is preventing customers from accessing the show.

We're as frustrated as you are - this not an uncommon problem with TWC - and are working to make sure this doesn't happen with any additional episodes. We unfortunately have limited control once the episode is sent to each affiliate and what you and others are experiencing is part of the antiquated nature of the current on demand systems.

Hope this helps...

Are you a fellow HBO On Demand subscriber and can’t yet get the fifth season premiere of “The Wire”? Do you work for Time Warner or Time Warner Cable or HBO and believe you can shed more light on this matter than the TWC customer care center? If so, kindly get in touch:

HerculesAICN@yahoo.com

I thank you.

To those who couldn’t give a dang about “The Wire,” HBO, HBO On Demand, Time Warner Cable, Time Warner or me? I thank you for this momentary indulgence.