Anticipating Treme aka "Tremé" - David Simon and his buddies do post-Katrina N.O.

yeah, gotta admit it looks good. i recognize some scenes from that second line i was at.

this could be seriously awesome. i hope they take a pretty low-key approach. i would love a neorealist hbo drama.

also is hbo really upping their budget/ante recently? they have projects from david simon, milch/michael mann/dustin hoffman, kathryn bigelow, todd haynes, martin scorsese, etc. etc.

it's like the read all the articles about the "death of adult drama" in hollywood and decided to compensate in a big way. kudos.

not to mention another spielberg/hanks wwii retread (seriously what IS it w/ spielberg and wwii?!)

read that NYT magazine article about a week ago and i'm really, really excited about this

That NYT thing focused way too much on network notes (or lack thereof). A really odd focal point.

also is hbo really upping their budget/ante recently? they have projects from david simon, milch/michael mann/dustin hoffman, kathryn bigelow, todd haynes, martin scorsese, etc. etc.

Noticed this too - a far cry from Tell Me You Love Me, In Treatment, Bored to Death, and so on. Maybe the success of True Blood gave them more cash and/or guts to really go for a bigger budget dramatic series.

I'm just glad that deal they signed with Oprah a year or two ago didn't lead to anything.

That NYT thing focused way too much on network notes (or lack thereof). A really odd focal point.

― Jouster, Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:08 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

eh i don't know; thought the article was great and that the notes were something in microcosm that encompasses a) hbo being 'different', b) simon as auteur, c) studying the writing process & priorities of the show

not gonna comment on this one way or the other, but this is from curmudgeon's interview with hot 8's tuba player (linked on the brass band thread):

BP: No we are not in the Treme movie. They are not paying the musicians enough money to do it and they are just like a lot of people who came to the city after the storm. They say we don’t have much money but we can get you a lot of exposure and we can help tell the world your story and then smile and tap you on your back and send you home broke to your family.

'Treme' writer David Mills dies of brain aneurysm

same guy who did the famous sister soulja interview too iirc

tuba dude might have an unrealistic idea about how much people could or should get paid to be in a cable TV series because he thinks it's a movie tbh. this and The Wire are not really megabudget productions.

When does this actually start?

11 apr

4/11 for americans (never 4get)

11/4 for britishes

I knew David Mills at the University of Maryland and wrote for his Uncut Funk fanzine years ago. Oh I had a few little disagreements with him on some things, but we always talked things though. I just forwarded him something by e-mail a few weeks ago. He wrote some great articles for the Washington Post and wrote for a number of tv shows. Aww man, this is shocking to me. RIP

I was just gonna post this piece about the show-

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-03-30/music/how-treme-can-get-it-right/

THE VILLAGE VOICE
March 30, 2010

How Treme Can Get It Right
David Simon's new HBO series uses fiction to honor New Orleans'
surreal, heart-breaking fact

By Larry Blumenfeld

Wow, can't believe Mills is gone.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/03/david_mills_emmywinning_screen.html

goddamn that's fucking sad!

man :(

48

terrible thing

Mills first tried his hand at screenwriting with an episode of Homicide, written for his old friend Simon. The episode (starring Robin Williams) was named “Bop Gun” in reference to a Parliament Funkadelic song

Plenty of obits and related pieces on Mills everywhere.

For those worrying about authenticity and getting the right musicians to advise--check out this indepth piece regarding consultations with brass bands and Cajun groups

http://www.offbeat.com/2010/04/01/hbos-treme-to-tell-the-truth/

That's a terrific article

One more Mills (and Simon) piece with links

http://nymag.com/daily/tv/2010/04/david_mills_treme.html

haven't read this yet

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/heather_havrilesky/2010/04/04/david_simon_s_treme/index.html

Pilot episode goes on air at 10 PM Eastern this evening. No access to HBO right now, so no Treme for me, sadly. Anyone going to be watching/liveblogging this?

can't imagine anything that would hurt my enjoyment of a show like more than liveblogging it tbh. i'm sure i'll post here after i watch it, though prolly on demand.

<3 u joanie stubbs

<3 u bunk moreland

<3 u john goodman

<3 u lester freamon

enjoying this liveblog

was it good?

it's not over yet!

it's quality for sure, with great cast and appropriately great music (mystikal!!!)

first ep's just putting pieces in place so who knows really.

oh and New Orleans looks like New Orleans

steve zahn's character is so fucking annoying you guys

clarke peters is so great

Yeah, advance reviews said that things would start slow and begin to pick up around eps. 2 and 3.

um, anyone know where I could find this streaming online?

Good episode! I had some quibbles here and there but nothing major.

what's it about?

Anyone know the song Steve Zahn was blasting out to his neighbors in the premier?

i havent seen it yet, but was it this scene they talk abt in the nyt?

Davis turns apoplectic when his station decrees that he play old New Orleans standards during a pledge drive, songs that he denounces, in cruder language, as the New Orleans “canon.” He defiantly puts on “Buona Sera,” a signature song of Louis Prima, a New Orleans native son. It’s not exactly a radical departure from French Quarter fare, but it’s enough for Davis, who happily sings along, surrendering to the swing and sentimentality.

This was an earlier scene, where he's in his house and he put his speakers on his window sill to piss off his neighbors. It was the only song I didn't recognize.

"I taught him everything he knows... about Keynesian economics." Love the Steve Zahn character.

xp Dude, that's "Shake Ya Ass". By Mystikal.

steve zahn's character is so fucking annoying you guys

the guy his character is based is even more annoying, trust

oh and New Orleans looks like New Orleans

For better and for worse, it damn sure does.