For all of it’s legitimately gut-wrenching drama,”The Wire” also managed to make a lot of people laugh during the course of it’s run. Some characters would come on screen and immediately garner a grin from the watcher who knew that a break in the tension was coming. Clay Davis, possibly the most ethically bankrupt character on the show, was even given something you’d expect from a crappy 1980s sitcom, not the best drama on TV. A catchphrase.

The Secret Origin of “Sheeeeee-it…”

For what it’s worth, Simon says that first “sheet” kept expanding, first to four “e”s, then even more. No one could remember exactly how many “e”s were in the script of this season’s fifth episode, “React Quotes,” but Whitlock said he could sense this might be his final chance to say it, and under the circumstances (for himself and for the then-under siege Clay), he decided to stretch it out as long as he could.

Spread the word!