This paper analyses the reception of the American TV series The Wire in the French context as part of a long, transatlantic conversation rooted in two histories and two social and political `models'. It focuses on educated audiences as well as on youth living in poor neighbourhoods; it also attempts to gauge the audiovisual references used by French viewers of the series. It shows how the series fuels a socially stratified sociological imaginary but also directly tackles ethno-racial issues that are still largely unaddressed in French debates.