The Shield is one of favorite shows ever. If ever there was an example of "sleeper hit", TS would be it. Years go by and your friends will insist you check out this show or that show because "it's got something", ie The Wire, but nothing matches TS for me.

An ex g/f got me hooked circa 2005 after insisting I see a few episodes; wow -- then I inhaled all the prior seasons on DVD to get caught up. I always wondered what was wrong w/ my peers since no one else I knew had really heard of it.

I wonder how much of their viewer base they lost because of the LONG break they took (whats it been like 2.5 years now?) between the prior season and this new one, due to writer's strike and whatever other politics or economics were at play. The way the prior season ended was exceptional and then they just left us hanging forever.