Who created The Wire?

David Simon created The Wire.

Simon drew on his experience as a Baltimore Sun crime reporter, while former Baltimore police detective Ed Burns became a key collaborator in shaping the series’ institutions, characters, and storylines. The HBO crime drama premiered in 2002 and used Baltimore as a detailed portrait of interconnected systems, including law enforcement, drug organizations, city politics, schools, and the media.

A common mix-up is crediting other acclaimed television creators such as Aaron Sorkin, Matthew Weiner, or Vince Gilligan. Sorkin created The West Wing, Weiner created Mad Men, and Gilligan created Breaking Bad; none of them created The Wire. Simon served as the show’s creator, head writer, showrunner, and executive producer across its five-season run.

The series was not simply a conventional police procedural. Its broader ambition—and Simon’s background in journalism—helped make institutional incentives and social consequences central to the story. That approach contributed to The Wire’s reputation as a landmark HBO drama.