A couple of months ago I got the chance to talk to veteran actor and director Clark Johnson, whose turn as Gus Haynes, the acerbic city desk editor of the Baltimore Sun, was the moral core of the final season of The Wire. Along with directing the series finale last Sunday, Johnson directed the show's premier episode six years ago. "I'm either a great visionary or a show-killer," Johnson said with a laugh. "It’s either a glass half-empty or half-full kind of thing."

Johnson had this to say about his character Gus Haynes: "He’s Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen all grown up and bitter. Jimmy finally gets over the bitter phase and is wiser now because he’s an editor. And to be an effective editor, you’ve gotta have a finely tuned bullshit meter. Otherwise, you become a suit. And Gus is like, 'What’s with those glasses Clark Kent? I see right through you.'"

One of this season's many interwoven narratives was the inner workings of a city newspaper that's faced with layoffs, lying reporters and Pulitzer-obsessed executives who tell veteran editors like Gus to "do more with less." "As a country we sure as fuck have been trying to do more with less — because of the last eight years with George Bush," Johnson said. "I remember when we thought Reagan was a big mistake and now he looks like Gandhi compared to Bush."

The son of civil rights activists, Johnson brought the love of a self-described news junkie to the role of hard-boiled editor. "I love to get ink on my hands. I like to hear the rustle of the paper. It gives it more credibility." Even though Johnson's probably only joking, he left the door open for some more of the Baltimore newsroom drama when he said, "Maybe someday I'll be talking to you about a Wire spinoff: 'Gus’ Newsroom.'"

So hey HBO, why not give the man a show and give us more Baltimore stories?

[Photo: Getty]