The Wire - Who Shot Snot? (This America Man!)
Perhaps the best opening scene of any television series (the opening scene of the pilot episode). Urban writing at its finest from the series creator, David Simon (with Ed Burns on story).
"It seems to be a cop show... But this show is really about the American city and how we live together. And it's about how institutions have an effect on individuals and how (regardless of what you're committed to - whether you are a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer or a politician, a judge or a lawyer), you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to. In that thematic universe, we tried to tell a long story." (David Simon,audio commentary on pilot episode).