The Corner is a 2000 HBO drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) by David Simon and Ed Burns, and adapted for television by David Simon and David Mills. It premiered on HBO in the United States on April 16, 2000, and concluded its six-part run on May 21, 2000. The series was released on DVD on July 22, 2003.[1] It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 2000.
| The Corner | |
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The Corner DVD cover
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| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood byDavid Simon Ed Burns |
| Written by | David Simon David Mills |
| Directed by | Charles S. Dutton |
| Starring | T. K. Carter Khandi Alexander Sean Nelson |
| Theme music composer | Corey Harris |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Robert F. Colesberry David Mills David Simon Nina Kostroff Noble |
| Production location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Cinematography | Ivan Strasburg |
| Running time | 59–73 minutes |
| Production companies | Blown Deadline Productions HBO Films Knee Deep Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | April 16 (2000-04-16) – May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21) |
The Corner chronicles the life of a family living in poverty amid the open-air drug marketsofWest Baltimore. "The corner" is the junction of West Fayette Street and North Monroe Street (U.S. Route 1) (39°17′22″N 76°38′49″W / 39.289372°N 76.646848°W / 39.289372; -76.646848).
Many actors from The Corner had also appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), which was adapted from Simon's book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). Similarly, many actors who appeared in The Corner later appeared in Simon's next television series, The Wire (2002–2008), often playing contrasting characters, e.g., Clarke Peters, Maria Broom, Corey Parker Robinson, Reg E. Cathey, Clayton LeBouef, Donnell Rawlings, Tootsie Duvall, Robert F. Chew, Lance Reddick, Delaney Williams, and DeAndre McCullough (as an assistant to Brother Mouzone[4]). Additionally, Alexander and Peters later starred in Simon's television series Treme (2010–2013), and DeAndre McCullough (who also played a bit role in The Corner, as a policeman who arrested 15-year-old DeAndre[3][4]) briefly worked for the show in set construction and on the security crew.[4][5][6]
Each episode starts and ends with a documentary style interview, wherein a lead character answers questions posed by the director, Charles S. Dutton.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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| 1 | "Gary's Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Simon & David Mills | April 16, 2000 (2000-04-16) | |
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Thirty-four year-old Gary McCullough has seen four years of drug addiction strip him of his money, his career, and his family. Now he has one mission: to get his next drug fix. When he's not shooting up with his girlfriend Ronnie - a ruthless, scheming addict who even steals from Gary when he isn't looking - he scours the neighborhood for heroin or spare cigarettes, and scrounges for money selling scrap metal and stolen appliances.
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| 2 | "DeAndre's Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Simon & David Mills | April 23, 2000 (2000-04-23) | |
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DeAndre spends his life walking a fine line between childhood and maturity - a very fine line, since both of his parents are addicts, and he's been dealing drugs since he was 13 years old. DeAndre hangs out with his girlfriend Tyreeka while struggling to attend school so he can achieve a promotion from 9th to 10th grade. After getting into a fight with his mother, Fran, he leaves to stay with his father, Gary, who ends up stealing some of his drugs.
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| 3 | "Fran's Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Mills | April 30, 2000 (2000-04-30) | |
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Fran has her own drug habit but 15-year-old DeAndre helps support her and his younger half brother De'Rodd by selling cocaine on the corner. Fran's admonitions to her son against selling drugs continue to go unheeded, and DeAndre gets busted again. This time, to teach him a lesson, Fran makes no effort to get him out, and he is transferred to "Boy's Village", where he gets a wake-up call. The real Fran Boyd makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as a receptionist.
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| 4 | "Dope Fiend Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Simon | May 7, 2000 (2000-05-07) | |
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Attempting to go straight, Gary gets a seasonal job at the crab market where he worked in his youth. When an addict gets shot, a local artist named Blue realizes the time to clean up his life is now or never. DeAndre has a new girlfriend, not knowing that Tyreeka, whom he's been ignoring, is pregnant with his child. With his mother in rehab, DeAndre turns to Gary for some money to feed the family. The real DeAndre McCullough makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as the police officer arresting Blue; the real Tyreeka Freamon makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as a Checkers employee; and the real George "Blue" Epps makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as a counselor.
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| 5 | "Corner Boy Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Simon & David Mills | May 14, 2000 (2000-05-14) | |
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Things are going well for Fran, who proudly moves the family into a new home, but not so well for Gary, who loses his job as the crab season ends. With a baby on the way, DeAndre attempts to walk a straight line, taking a job at a fast food restaurant while still earning off the corner and agreeing to a midnight curfew imposed by Fran. Drugs are starting to take their toll on the aging corner seller, Curt, who collapses and ends up in the hospital.
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| 6 | "Everyman's Blues" | Charles S. Dutton | David Simon & David Mills | May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21) | |
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The entire Boyd family gathers for Thanksgiving, a celebration that also marks the birth of DeAndre's son. It is a happy time for all, but it is to be short-lived as old addictions are revisited and new ones are born. DeAndre himself falls into a life of drug use.
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The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 10/10, based on 14 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Powerfully performed and authentically written, The Corner is an unwavering depiction of life under the thumb of addiction and poverty."[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 90 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[8]
A review by Hugh K. David of DVD Times praised The Corner as "raw, gritty, uncompromising, realistic, smartly directed, supremely well-acted, compulsively watchable, but harrowing and with little light at the end of the tunnel", comparing it to the television equivalent of such films as Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and Requiem for a Dream (2000; also adapted from novels), with elements in common with both La Haine (1995) and City of God (2002).[9]
The miniseries received three Emmy awards at the 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards. It won for Outstanding Miniseries; Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Charles S. Dutton); and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie (David Simon and David Mills); and was nominated for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.[10] It also won a Peabody Award in 2000.[11]