HBO's The Wire is largely considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time, but like many heralded programs, the series had a difficult time finding an audience while it was on the air. Series creator David Simon reunited with the cast for a panel at the Paley Center in New York City last night, where he revealed that HBO shot down a proposed spin-off series, which would have followed Baltimore mayor Tommy Carcetti, played by Game of Thrones star Aidan Gillen, and his political career.

"We were actually trying to spin off the city hall show and do a political show. We wrote a bunch of scripts that would spin off after Season 3 of The Wire. But HBO said, 'No, we only want one show that nobody is watching in Baltimore, not two!'"

The Wire aired for five seasons between 2002 and 2008, with two-year breaks between Season 3 and Season 4, and Season 4 and Season 5. This era was long before streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime came into prominence, which have helped cable shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones exponentially increase their audience from season to season.

At the time, the only way to watch The Wire was to either subscribe to HBO or buy the expensive DVD boxed sets. This was also long before the cable network launched their HBO Go streaming platform, which we reported this week will become its own stand-alone service starting in 2015.

It's worth noting that this is a day and age of streaming services reviving dormant or canceled shows like Arrested Development, The Killing and Community. The Wire is vastly more popular now than it was when it first aired, something even HBO recognizes since they are currently planning a marathon of the entire series, with each episode being remastered.

With all of that being said, one would think there is definitely an audience for a spin-off series today, or even a revival with members of the original cast. We have no clue if this is actually happening or not, or if David Simon would even be interested in bringing this spin-off or the original show back to life, but this talk of a proposed spin-off could generate enough fan interest to will itself into existence.

Would you like to see The Wire spin-off, or the series itself coming back to life? Chime in with your thoughts below.