If you been watching HBO's "The Wire" this season and like me, have been hooked on what the criterati have (with good reason) dubbed the best drama maybe, well, ever, you're also bracing yourself to say farewell to this stellar series. This is supposed to be the fifth and final season. The show's creator David Simon wanted to do 13 episodes, but HBO was stingy and only gave him ten this go-around. Too bad. While "The Wire" is still terrific, the story arc is more rushed this year, more like most TV.

But maybe, just maybe, some of the show's most memorable characters might live on. Yesterday, Clark Johnson, who directed "The Wire" pilot and this year plays Gus Haynes, the city editor of The Baltimore Sun, was on NPR's "Fresh Air" and suggested there were still more stories to tell about B'more -- and that HBO might want to tell them. Not surprisingly, Johnson suggested to "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross that a series built around his hard-bitten, committed newsman Haynes might be a good idea. Today Michael K. Williams, who plays the charismatic Omar whose line of work is ripping off drug dealers, visits with Gross. I bet he thinks a spin-off is a good idea too. HBO, are you listening? How about you, David Simon?