Referenced By / The Wire

Live-Action Films

• In Cedar Rapids, Ronald mentions being a fan of the show. His actor is Isiah Whitlock Jr., who plays Clay on ''The Wire''. Later on, he saves Tim with his Omar impression.
• In the movie version of Juliet, Naked, Duncan teaches a class on The Wire (in the novel, he was only hoping to do so).

Live-Action TV

• Bosch: Jerry Edgar (played by none other than Jamie Hector) remarks that he once binge-watched The Wire.
• The Expanse: A public transit map of Ceres in "Dulcinea" includes a stop at "Cutty Station", named after Chad L. Coleman's (Fred Johnson) character "Cutty" Wise on The Wire.
• How I Met Your Mother: A flashback scene in "Twelve Horny Women" shows Lily wearing a trenchcoat while somebody whistles "The Farmer in the Dell", complete with children shouting "Lily comin'!".
• iCarly: In the third season episode "iSaved Your Life", the characters are playing a paintball game called "Assassin", and Sam and Spencer are the two people left in the game. When Gibby mistakes a real rabbi for Spencer in disguise, and Sam shoots the rabbi with a paintball (through a blow gun), she gets sent to the principal's office. In retaliation, she shoots Gibby, but not before they have the following exchange:
  Gibby: How's my hair, Sam?
  Sam: You look good, Gib.
• In the first season of The Leftovers, the town's mayor compares the police chief's use of a Big Board/String Theory organizational chart of a cult in town to the ones that the Major Crimes Unit used on targets they investigated.

Web Animation

• The Champions: In the taglines for the season 5 premiere, Lionel Messi mentions most of the former Barcelona board being arrested in March 2021 for the Barçagate scandal, which involved a smear campaign against players who had openly criticized the board such as Messi himself or Gerard Piqué, and Messi's Hand Puppet finishes off the comment with Omar's line "You come at the king, you better not miss!"

Real Life

• At least twice, Baltimore sports teams have played Omar Little's signature whistle of "The Farmer in the Dell."
  • After Michael K. Williams' death in summer 2021, the NFL's Baltimore Ravens memorialized him by playing the clip before their home opener, which they won.
  • One year later, the Baltimore Orioles' closer Félix Bautista had the whistle played when he entered (and saved) a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. This turned "Felix coming'!" into an Ascended Meme among Orioles fans, complete with a tee-shirt.