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

http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/hbo_sets_drama_series_in_treme.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279972/

www.avclub.com/articles/melissa-leo-joins-cast-of-new-david-simon-hbo-show,24929/

I'm a little concerned about this being full of jazz musician cliches.

I mean it'll probably be less so than if anyone else did it, but it's rare to see any screen portrayal of jazz musicians that isn't full of cliches.

im pumped for this i think

wish hed do more intense intrigue type action like the wire - i mean consequences not jazz man CONSEQUENCES

always thought bunk and lester should have their own spin-off (they are playing homicide cops right?)

jazz or consequences would be my favorite game show ever

This hasn't been picked up yet, right?

I think HBO would greenlight anything Simon puts his name on, actually.

HBO ordered 10 scripts (presumably the first season would be ten episodes), but only the pilot is greenlit for filming.

i share hurting 2's fears about jazz cliches but this could be amazing

I'm a little concerned about this being full of jazz musician cliches.

I mean it'll probably be less so than if anyone else did it, but it's rare to see any screen portrayal of jazz musicians that isn't full of cliches.

― Bonobos in Paneradise (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 11 March 2009 01:10 (Yesterday) Permalink

yeah, me too. especially since i'm sort of really familiar with that particular scene. still, if anyone can do it, hopefully it's him.

so what you're saying Jordan is you don't know if you'd. . . dig it?

what's going to really torture me is that i bet he'll shoot tons of professional second line footage to get a few seconds in the show.

*snapping fingers*

simon's choices of like local advisors on music and new orleans and stuff are not heartening. allen toussaint and davis rogan? really? also, tom piazza is writing for this show. that's bad.

i mean it's not like i'm not going to anticipate it like crazy and maybe stalk the production a little bit but this is a one horse town and i am gonna be sick of hearing about it like months before it comes on the air.

david simon had george pelecanos and richard price and dennis lehane writing on the wire. a+ recruiting dude. then he comes down here and gets... tom piazza. i doubt tom piazza has ever been to treme.

oh no he hired some dudes no one cares about

seriously, what does allen toussaint know about new orleans music

allen toussaint plays 1) jazzfest and 2) $60 shows at the house of blues with elvis costello. he doesn't know shit about recent music in new orleans and certainly not after the storm.

i agree, although in toussaint's defense he did produce D-Boy by new birth brass band, which is pretty much the best brass band album.

he should have gotten someone like corey henry, kabuki, shamarr, or andrew baham as a music consultant, dudes who have diverse experience but are still really involved in the street-level scene.

Until I hear for a fact that this is bad I will assume it will be good.

"Treme" cast expands: Melissa Leo, Oscar-nominated for the 2008 film "Frozen River" and a cast member on the 1990s NBC drama, "Homicide: Life on the Street," has been added to the "Treme" cast. She'll portray a civil-rights attorney, and joins Pierce ("The Wire"), Steve Zahn ("Saving Silverman"), Clarke Peters ("The Wire"), Kim Dickens ("Deadwood") and Khandi Alexander ("CSI: Miami").

Cast is great. Leo is a fantastic actress.

Love Steve Zahn, hoping this gets him back on track choices-wise...

Treme christened with an impromptu barbecue by Kermit Ruffins

http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2009/03/kermit_ruffins_christens_start.html

Wendell Pierce!!!

a mod needs to change the thread title

Bill Moyers and David Simon.

What exactly is the typical "jazz musician cliche"? It seems to me like most jazz musicians I know fit very well into the laid-back, pot-smoking, undependable, absent-minded, likes-to-talk-about-physics/linguistics/etc stereotype that I think of.

i think you just answered your own question bro

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i30b29365238b36528481f5e659b2aea0

picked up

Awesome. Just heard the news.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/20/wire-creator-allegorical-hurricane-katrina

David Simon, the creator of the hit TV series The Wire, is to create a drama that treats Hurricane Katrina as an allegory for the financial, social and cultural disasters that have shaken the US over the past year.

The series, called Treme, after a New Orleans neighbourhood, was commissioned by HBO earlier this month after a successful pilot, and will air in the US in 2010. Filming will start later this year – after the hurricane season abates. The 10- or 12-part drama will be, Simon told the Guardian, "an allegory for the trauma that the country as a whole went through two years later".

"The fact is that the levees on the canals were substandard, and done on the cheap at an immense profit. Ultimately that becomes a metaphor," he said. "New Orleans was relying on things that were believed to be genuine bulwarks against tragedy and disaster. People felt that there were similar bulwarks protecting our financial institutions and foreign policy. Now, two years on, we are all essentially in the same boat as New Orleans. Katrina was an outlyer of where we are today."

...

On Treme, Simon said: "It picks up three months after the storm, and will deliver a story of people trying to pick up their lives and culture again. New Orleans is one of the most extraordinary cultural creations in the US in terms of almost every artform – and it is very vulnerable. The characters have to find their way back and try to solve the existential crisis that Katrina has left them."

The show will be, he said, a "homage to one of America's greatest achievements, African-American music. A thousand years from now, if anyone is talking about anything on this rotating orb, and they mention America, they might talk about constitutional government or democracy or baseball – but they will surely talk about blues and jazz. New Orleans is the cradle of all that."

sounds ominous

i can't wait for the 3rd season reveal of the solution to the existential crisis that Katrina left them----or is it???? even a ~real~ solution???????

i want to find out what "Katrina was an outlyer of where we are today" means

all of us will be metaphorically flooded and left for dead some day

I don't like blues and jazz :(. I mean, I like it well enough (roots of all music and all that(, but a series full of it/about it doesn't sound like my bag. Sigh.

The 10- or 12-part drama

does that mean it's a one-season / miniseries type deal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jH_KkUyZsw

SO EXCITED YOU GUYS

i'm excited but it's a little disconcerting how this seems custom-tailored to my tastes. i'm either going to love it or hate it. or enjoy it while nitpicking about the music and musicians involved in it.

also it's going to be weird if all the wire fans are talking about new orleans brass bands and second lines in a few months.

i am looking forward to your contributions on this thread once this show actually exists, Jordan!

is khandi alexander still going to be in this? i shall look it up. think of khandi alexander!!!

she is!

i love khandi alexander!

right?

yes!

Alto Sax: Life on the Street.

There's an extremely short clip of actual show footage in this video at 1:50
http://www.spoilertv.com/2010/01/hbo-2010-promo.html?utm_source=f..
Also features a quick look at Boardwalk Empire

that was filmed at this second line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAtHKqCMbks

JOHN GOODMAN is in this

now officially psyched

i admit it me too

he went from a fake john goodman to the real deal!

so excited about this show! starts in april yes?

went to a second line on saturday being filmed for this show (it was supposed to be a re-enactment of the first post-katrina second line, i think). bunk was pushing a stroller with a fake baby, steve zahn was dancing outside of the ropes, and khandi alexander showed up for a minute. maybe i'll put up some video my gf took.

Trailer
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2010/03/here_is_the_tra_1.php

JOHN GOODMAN is in this

― max, Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:54 PM

now officially psyched

― max, Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:54 PM

nice trailer too

Nice scene (with commentary you can fade or turn off) courtesy of the NYT, which also has a great article

melissa leo? SOLD

matt saracen's mum too

Sorry, links weren't working.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/magazine/21simon-t.html?ref=magazine
Scene: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/17/magazine/20100321-treme-feature.html?ref=magazine

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/03/the_new_new_treme_trailer_walt.html
a bunch of the scenes in this trailer were filmed at the bar i work at, which i guess makes sense as kermit ruffins is all over this but hey, vaughan's! and my reservations re this show are dissipating the more footage i see.
― adam, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 4:08 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

brought this over for completeness, fantastic trailer, cheers adam

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.

i liked it btw, and it'll be interesting to see where it goes post-pilot. so funny to see the rebirth dudes acting.

steve zahn's character is so fucking annoying you guys

But he's not supposed to be captain smooth or something. He's this overly verbose, really passionate, wanna-be-egghead jerk-off, but he really does mean well. It's like he stepped out of a Woody Allen movie into NO.

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

he played bouncin' back too. must have had the greatest hits cd.

seeing as the thread with the correctly spelled title was locked someone might want to change this one. no accent yall.

ps VAUGHAN'S YALL. i wonder if we will get more business so i will make more money and not have to get a real job.

ya this doesn't show up in search

got it.

The scene where the Zahn character turns his speakers outwards and blasts dark music at his neighbors made me laugh a lot, because I've actually done that. It was like 14 years ago, and I was turning my speakers to the University of Texas frat house across the street, and I was blasting Nas's "Represent". It was as obnoxious, useless and silly when I did it then as when he did it in the show.

dark music?

Yeah, it was a joke. "Dark" music.

As if all hip-hop offends all white people. You know, that kinda thinking.

"Shake Ya Ass" is one of the most joyous hip-hop songs I can think of.

And it's also got some nasty to it. It's a great goddamn track.

Haven't watched it yet(Don't have HBO but my folks do and they dvr'd it), but paid my respects to Treme writer David Mills (whom I knew from U. of Md. days on) today at his funeral. David Simon and relatives spoke. Hard to talk about it. Weird karma as well today in that the show debuted last night, that Mills' favorite George Clinton is at the 930 Club tonight, and there was a Washington Post article today on the long-lost Mothership stage set.

whoa, crazy, curmudge!

Wow. RIP David Mills, and sincere condolences to all near to him. I only know his work, but it's very fine work.

i wish lester was a better tambourine player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMlTehYDuBM

cuh did these guys really have to stoop so low to have a ridic comedy snooty english reporter for goodman to spazz out over?

otherwise predictably enjoyable & involving

Nto such a far-fetched proposition, though. Three months after Katrina, every journalist in the world looking to get some kind of angle on the whole godforsaken mess of it. The snooty Englishman was maybe not the most subtle choice, but I'll betcha that came from somebody's true story.

Yeah, it was a joke. "Dark" music.

― Jack Human (kenan), Monday, April 12, 2010 1:21 PM

"dark" music

xposts

Lester was fine with the tambourine. Agree about the English reporter, but also agree the rest of it was pretty good.

http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/hbos_treme_creator_david_simon.html

as imagined this is a topic for busy discussion at the bar. general feeling is warm tinged with nitpickiness ("you can't just go to the sewerage and water board and pay someone else's bill!"). much teasing of one of the regulars who can be seen standing behind elvis costello in multiple shots.

that is to say: all my post-k carpetbagger friends are clogging facebook with this "i cried SO MUCH god treme is so brilliant!" stuff but actual new orleanians are just happy it's not the big easy 2.

i thought it was good-ish, maybe needing a little more plot, loved clarke peters and wendell pierce and melissa leo and john goodman and khandi alexander, fucking hated steve zahn's character.

though that shit with tower records really did happen. those motherfuckers liquidated the entire local consignment section and didn't give the artists a dime.

Searching for Treme leads to a lot of X-Treme Sports stuff.

yeah, def interested in seeing what the actual plot is

such a trip to hear all these brass band musicians namechecked on tv.

on a super-nitpicky-no-one-cares-at-all nerd level: when wendell rolled up in the second line and the rebirth dudes make fun of him for stealing tyrus chapman's licks, the irony is that the trombone player standing next to him (staff0rd agee) actually played all the parts that you hear wendell playing, and they're totally signature stafford licks. so it would have have been funny & correct to have him accuse wendell of jacking his own licks.

Hopefully the Steve Zahn character is being set up for some horrible fate in an early episode.

i v much appreciate your super-nitpicky-nerd perspective, Jordan!

how bad can this irl davis rogan guy be then? i'm struggling to get my head around it.

i also love to hear jordan's take on all this

though that shit with tower records really did happen. those motherfuckers liquidated the entire local consignment section and didn't give the artists a dime.

― adam, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 10:40 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's fucking cold. like, evil even.

how bad can this irl davis rogan guy be then? i'm struggling to get my head around it.

― r|t|c, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 12:49 PM

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/86/206125975_daeeeb58c8.jpg

i wonder if they recorded rebirth outside or in a studio. they did a good job of matching up the footage to the playing, but you can hear kabuki playing trumpet and he wasn't in the scene. hope he shows up later, he's the best brass band trumpet player by far imo.

http://www.whiskyfun.com/Materialforlog14/Derrick-Shezbie.jpg

xpost good luck steve zahn

Coming to BBC2...when??

HBO ordered a second season of Treme

loving the handheld camera work slipping around the musicians in the second line, really marvelous

great news about the second season reup as well

hopefully we'll get some hot second line dancing footage too

the sound isn't good but here's a clip from the real first post-katrina second line, much bigger than in the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owAvYNY6WPc

really liked this first episode, it looked and sounded great. i hope goodman's gonna be a regular?

i wonder if they recorded rebirth outside or in a studio. they did a good job of matching up the footage to the playing, but you can hear kabuki playing trumpet and he wasn't in the scene.

In one of the articles before the premiere (can't remember which, sorry), they talked about how the music supervisor insisted on recording all the music live, which is pretty unconventional. Sounds good, though.

so that was just recorded at a different second line then. yeah, when i was down there a couple months ago we went to a second line that was staged for the show, and there were camera people and mic holders running around everywhere, it was pretty impressive (and non-intrusive).

Really enjoyed this but kinda difficult to imagine where it's going, which is great obviously. Presumably the Bunk Moreland guy and the Lester Freamon guy are going to hook up at some point. Proper lolz in there already as well.

xpost matt dc you are a UK person right..where did you get hold of it?

It's at eztv.it

and all friendly torrent sites

gotcha

omg the woman playing Wendell Pierce's girlfriend was in When the Levees Broke!!!

cuh did these guys really have to stoop so low to have a ridic comedy snooty english reporter for goodman to spazz out over?

yeah otm, this was just terrible writing. and it's not even like i disagree that there might have been snooty english reporters, just that this sir arthur chessington III was such a crap stereotype...surely they could write an english reporter who's a dickhead more accurately, just turn on bbc news channel and watch for a few mins...

other than that thought this was great

Steve Zahn's character's a lot more likable in the 2nd episode.

I'm pretty well hooked on this already. I expect good things. It's unfortunate that another great David Simon show looks to continue the tradition of the occasional cringer of a scene, but whatever. Small complaints.

yeah the english reporter was -_- and john goodmans daughter had a couple eye-rolly lines but pretty excited to see this play out

the english reporter wasn't the problem, it was the way the whole scene was just a setup for a really didactic rant by john goodman, which i suppose was supposed to telegraph the writers' political slant.

if i recall there were some similarly didactic scenes in the first season of the wire. in a way i think those scenes, as cringeworthy as they might seem, were kind of necessary to position the show in a certain way. once that was done, the show didn't have to be so broadly didactic. we'll see what happens.

funny thing -- i made bank off of selling that selfsame dave bartholomew boxed set that steve zahn's character goes apeshit over in episode 1. when that became a major plot motif i was like o_O.

the english reporter wasn't the problem, it was the way the whole scene was just a setup for a really didactic rant by john goodman

totes.

The Christian tourists were so dorky but I'm glad they ended up having fun.

really loving the feel of this. just like to roll with it.

also genuinely laughing at the steady stream of 'no shame. there's pride on bourbon street'

oh, and Slim Charles

I loved the Wire, and I love the music in this, but I am still waiting for some kind of conflict to hook me.

iirc, The Wire didn't fully hook me until episode 3 and I was addicted from then on. I'm not at all concerned about Treme doing the same, I mean, hell, the music sequences are already enough to keep me coming back. Plus it is surprisingly funny at times.

Funny thing about the English reporter was that the actor was obviously Irish, you could hear his accent slipping occasionally. John Goodman's ranting (and dress sense) also reminded me a little too much of Walter Sobchak. Other than that, first two episodes have been pretty pleasing.

was there a second line in ep 2?

This feels a lot more dispersed than The Wire initially did - the characters were pretty much grouped into police and Barksdale dudes and we knew immediately where that season was going, the story arc was pretty obvious.

There don't seem to be that many links between the Treme characters as yet, it's like a very spread out soap opera and, with the exception of the woman looking for her brother, I still can't tell what sort of arc is going to play out. Enjoying it immensely though.

Did the Lester Freamon guy kill that dude or just beat him really badly?

Did the Lester Freamon guy kill that dude or just beat him really badly?

Was kind of wondering that myself. Didn't see it coming and trying to figure where the writers would go with that development if it was murder.

Funny thing about the English reporter was that the actor was obviously Irish, you could hear his accent slipping occasionally. John Goodman's ranting (and dress sense) also reminded me a little too much of Walter Sobchak. Other than that, first two episodes have been pretty pleasing.

― Number None, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:05 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol came here to say how Walter-esque his character is.

but yeah this is definitely enjoyable without being super compelling so far. i mean obviously setting the whole story well after the big catastrophic event and the nastiest immediate aftermath is kind of deliberate, but i don't really know where they go from here, or if they'll be able to pull off the kind of slowly mounting tension and dread over the course of the season that made The Wire so watchable.

i don't think they're going to try for that

Has anyone British ever had the misfortune to see Spectator editor Fraser Nelson interviewed? He is exactly like that smarmy British guy.

Actually "why should the American taxpayer pay to clear up your city that was destroyed through no fault of your own?" is exactly the sort of question that any number of public school right-wing British broadsheet journalists would ask.

Yeah, watching any high-profile English journo would confirm that. That said, the whole scene is really stagey and there to establish the locals' sense of outrage. It's a fun scene but it doesn't feel natural at all, even if Goodman and the journo are speaking entirely in character. But The Wire also suffered from 'here is our editorial position' monologues on occasion.

It's amazing how quickly I've forgotten that Clark Peters and Wendell Pierce played Wire characters. In a lot of ways the characters they're portraying now are more interesting (maybe it's because we've seen just about every cop imaginable on TV?) so I don't think 'Lester' for even a second when Peters is on screen.

yeah those guys are both fucking beasts and it's exciting to see them both get lots of screentime here to create whole new characters that are hopefully even half as classic as their Wire characters

i have trouble with clark peters with no mustache, his upper lip looks so empty

Now that it was already spoiled above, that scene with him beating down the kid who stole his tools completely broke me of thinking of him as "Lester Freamon" any longer.

wonder if a British reporter will ask Simon if we're supposed to be glad to watch a show about a bunch of music-loving jerks just because its set in New Orleans (only have seen the pilot, and i'm hoping for the best - just sayin').

pretty sure i'd be glad to watch a show about kim dickens, john goodman, clark peters, wendell pierce and melissa leo playing gin rummy in Pierre, South Dakota, so yeah.

basically

i have trouble with clark peters with no mustache, his upper lip looks so empty

― max, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 6:23 PM

lol i was trying to figure out what was so different about him its totally the stache missing

LOL @ madison, wisconsin carpetbaggers! jordan, did you catch that?

that scene was uncomfortable and weirdly played, perhaps on purpose. not sure if we were supposed to like the music, or if the version of "when the saints" was supposed to be a pisstake. all the reaction shots of "locals" bobbing their heads was supposed to indicate that it was good music or something. or maybe it didn't matter? also not sure if filmmakers wanted us to be sympathetic to slightly naive midwesterners or to think they were drips.

second episode slightly more pedestrian (read: boring) than first but still enjoyable.

I thought the locals were being sarcastic.

The locals were obviously ripping the shit out of the tourists.

i have trouble with clark peters with no mustache, his upper lip looks so empty

It helps him look sad though, which he's done a lot of so far.

local definitely being a douche to the tourists in that scene. and it was feeling like some smug bullshit similar to Goodman v. British, but it kind of backed off of that and made the dude seem kind of an ass. the show definitely veers close to Rockist New Orleans. crass wording, but kinda apt.

clark peters looks miserable

LOL @ madison, wisconsin carpetbaggers! jordan, did you catch that?

haha, no, i'm watching the show at a friend's house so i can only catch up every couple of weeks. what happens???

Josh Levin's generally positive review in Slate last week:

In Treme's opening episodes, the series' New Orleans residents are realistic, complex, and sympathetic. The show's outsiders, by contrast, are cartoonish, mere foils for the musicians and activists we're supposed to commiserate with.

haha, no, i'm watching the show at a friend's house so i can only catch up every couple of weeks. what happens???
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Wednesday, April 21, 2010 9:56 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not much, just one motif in the episode are a bunch of cheesehead blonde tourists ("with our church group") from madison.

i agree w/ that last assessment; so far only the locals are painted with two dimensions.

another thing that's already beginning to grate: i get the emphasis on new orleans music, but it seems (with small exception of steve zahn blasting mystikal in 1st episode) almost bizarrely focused on jazz/r&b/horn groups. every single scene has someone listening to an album, the radio, or at a show playing those genres of music. it's as if, not just other forms of new orleans music, but other forms of music period, don't exist. as if the kim dickens and john goodman characters might not be listening to the same stuff people their ages would be listening to anywhere else.

ok, it's a tv show, a work of art, and i get the function of the music in helping to keep it formally unified--to provide a unifying motif. but it's still a bit much and begins to detract from the show's vaunted realism.

i mean this is exactly where you could criticize the show for having a sort of fetishistic outsider perspective on the city, imagining dave bartholomew tunes blasting out of every window, as opposed to, you know, lil wayne and taylor swift and the same stuff everybody listens to.

not much, just one motif in the episode are a bunch of cheesehead blonde tourists ("with our church group") from madison.

aw, i was hoping there for a reference to some brass band musicians playing rebirth tunes in wisconsin or something.

another thing that's already beginning to grate: i get the emphasis on new orleans music, but it seems (with small exception of steve zahn blasting mystikal in 1st episode) almost bizarrely focused on jazz/r&b/horn groups. every single scene has someone listening to an album, the radio, or at a show playing those genres of music. it's as if, not just other forms of new orleans music, but other forms of music period, don't exist

mystikal and lil wayne are both new orleans rappers!

also you really do hear people blasting brass band music out of cars all the time, and i think second line culture is something that most people are aware and proud of (even if they don't actively participate in it). obv. new orleanians listen to what everybody else does, i don't think that's a point that needs to be made. it's a lot more interesting that certain kinds of music thrive there, when the rest of the world couldn't really give a shit about it.

i don't feel like the presence of music and what kind pops up in what scenes has stuck out or grated for me yet -- most of the music in scenes has been in featured characters who are jazz/R&B/etc. musicians or aficionados, haven't been a lot of opportunities to shoehorn other kinds of music in just as something someone might be listening to. The Wire had a tricky relationship with this kind of thing because in early seasons there'd be kind of random/unlikely backpacker rap selections, and then in later seasons, as great as it was to have more local music being used, it was sadly not really any more realistic to hear local rap bumping out of cars/radios in Baltimore as often as they depicted that happening. but if they're gonna bend plausibility a little, i'd prefer it be in the direction of slathering on more local flavor.

Also, many of the main characters are involved in some way or another with the brass band scene, so it's always going to have a major role in the show.

checking out ep 2 now...love the roll-off into the credits

the only hot music in this one was wendell/stafford playing for the stripper and indian shit at the end, imo. the second indian dude was playing some serious tambourine.

i know lil wayne and mystikal are NO rappers, just pointing out how seldom we've heard any hip hop at all compared to e.g. ernie k-doe records. not that this is a BAD thing. just defies credulity a little after a while.

but yeah minor complaint all told. more troubled by how they can't find anything for john goodman character to do except pontificate to some interlocutor who is barely a character.

don't think i even caught in episode one that he's an english professor.

Simon's been going to New Orleans for years and had a brass band play his kid's Bar Mitzvah so he's clearly obsessed with that sound. Not justifying it btw (not that brass band and old-school New Orleans r'n'b fan me minds, although the hiphop the town is also known for should get some attention).

But there's more sad news. Simon's 89 year-old Dad just died-

David Simon's father died Tuesday. Here is the initial article, an obit is to follow:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/04/bernard-simon-former-pr-direct.html?wprss=postmortem

just pointing out how seldom we've heard any hip hop at all compared to e.g. ernie k-doe records

yeah, that makes sense after seeing ep 2. i'd kinda expect wendell to be listening to frankie beverly at home.

just watched the first two eps last night. i actually have yet to watch THE WIRE, which is weird, i guess, cause im from baltimore, but i anticipate it being frustrating how much people are gonna wanna substitute WIRE-circle-jerks for actual talk about TREME. i mean, i get it, but im enjoying coming in cold so far.

so far this thread is pretty light on Wire talk aside from referencing what actors from it are here (and i'll take the blame for some of the Wire comparisons that are on this thread, heh). 69 do you still live here?

god please no more "authentic" scenes...that busking scene is fucking tragic. this show needs to cut back on the "soul" asap. oh those damn tourists seeking "authenticity", they can never feel the soul of new orleans like the real new orleans natives goddamn do!

I think maybe you're misinterpeting those scenes? It's the righteous keyboard player that comes off as a dick (as does Steve Zahn's character for similar reasons in most of his scenes).

yeah he does come across as a dick, but don't believe for a second that he's meant to be a dick in relation to the tourists. couple that with the "we used to build shit in this country" part 2 "now we teach digital media" rant...

you think people are watching and the majority think "what a dick" at these scenes?

Yes! And I think it's definitely intentional. The tourists seem naive and goofy, maybe a little rube-ish, but not as mean as that guy - his partner, the violinist, is pretty embarassed for him during the scene. Also, in a later scene they imply somewhat that the street musician is lying and bragging about what he was really doing during Katrina. Though I agree that there doesn't seem to be that kind of self-awareness with John Goodman's character, he's a little too directly cast as a authorial mouthpiece.

i dunno...feels dangerously like writer's opinions on shit being allowed to spew forth a bit too much. even if the dude is a dick it's still pitched as authentic new orleans dude vs clueless rubes...

already in love with the violinist tho...

diet lizzy kaplan

i dunno...feels dangerously like writer's opinions on shit being allowed to spew forth a bit too much. even if the dude is a dick it's still pitched as authentic new orleans dude vs clueless rubes...

― I see what this is (Local Garda), Sunday, April 25, 2010 3:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

i really didn't know what to make of this, as i suggested above. maybe we were supposed to think it was the busker that was full of shit?

what i DON'T think was meant to happen: audience thinks the busker's music sucks. which is sort of did. to make it clear that it was supposed to be "good", we got a bunch of reaction shots of locals (read: mostly black people) bobbing their heads appreciatively. otherwise i wouldn't thought it was an intentional pisstake.

I definitely thought the busker was being depicted as a bit of a cunt, to criticize the sort of elitism that can follow if you take your "in the know" attitude too far. I think this wasn't particularly ambiguous, as the reaction shots of tbe violinist being embarrassed of him, and the later scene with her questioning his stories of heroism during the flood didn't make him look particularly sympathetic. Even though the Christian tourists were shown to be kinda clueless, I felt they were depicted in a more positive light, especially in the later scene were they did try to find out more about the "real" New Orleans. I took the whole thing to be a bit of self-deflating criticism on part of the makers of Treme, as (based on the two episodes I've seen) the series obviously fetishizes NO music and culture to some extent, but they wanted to show what happens if you take that sort of fetishism too far. Looks like they're doing something similar with DJ character too; even though he's more sympathetic than the busker, it's quite clear that his enthusiasm for "realness" sometimes goes too far as well.

I was sold as soon as I saw Cool Lester Smooth in full Mardi Gras Indian dress. I'm going wherever this boat is taking me.

Most interesting character plots to me thus far: Violinist/Keyboard player busker drama, and Antoine's assault on Shawn Kemp's super baby daddy status.

In the running: Antoine's ex-wife looking for her lost son, Big Chief Lambreaux and his family's struggle to rectify its role in post-Katrina New Orleans, and his attempts to bring the tribe back together.

Least interesting: Steve Zahn, although he may bring the lol's occasionally.

havent seen last nights episode yet but the stevie-d-lookin busker guy comes off like a dick (intentionally on the writers part, i think) and his music sucks (i assume this is unintentional)

they are going to need to lose a lot of the hard-on for authenticity and soul and whatever for this to be as good as the wire

robcorddry Watching Treme on HBO. I hope it's as important as it is boring.

man, i'm having a lot of trouble distilling my feelings about this. i know ilx isn't big on "authenticity and soul" but when it comes to shit like second line music and indian music, those are in no way abstract concepts. it runs deep and if you're not playing it right, somebody will definitely let you know. and i really believe that doesn't exist in quite the same way anywhere else in the u.s., and i appreciate that they're trying to get it across.

on that note, i'm hoping for more brass band stuff and less time spent on ragamuffin buskers (character stuff aside), galactic, etc.

btw a way better version of that 'saints' arrangement is on this record: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WF1PCK/ref=dm_ap_alb41

when it comes to shit like second line music and indian music, those are in no way abstract concepts. it runs deep and if you're not playing it right, somebody will definitely let you know.

This could not be more true.

I still remember when I was living in Northwest Mississippi, and my cousin was living in New Orleans, I used to be able to get out of work and make it within receiving range of the WWOZ Afternoon Brass show on Friday afternoons on the weekends I would go and visit with her. Damn, those fat tubas are AWESOME.

man, i'm having a lot of trouble distilling my feelings about this. i know ilx isn't big on "authenticity and soul" but when it comes to shit like second line music and indian music, those are in no way abstract concepts. it runs deep and if you're not playing it right, somebody will definitely let you know. and i really believe that doesn't exist in quite the same way anywhere else in the u.s., and i appreciate that they're trying to get it across.

right but its not really the authentic-music stuff that bugs me, its the cartoonish 'outsiders' and john goodman polemics. THOUGH the violin and piano duo do bug me, because they suck

agreed

The Katrina Tour thing was kinda hamfisted.

yeah personally it's not that the music guys are authentic, it's the sort of misanthropic feel of the treatment of "outsiders" so far and the john goodman polemics are just sort of wrong/stupid yet it's like you're supposed to pound the couch and go "damn right" every time he speaks.

yeah and i think that aspect feeds off of the "authentic music" bit--like because theyve taken such great pains to really get the music right, and because the music trades very seriously on authenticity (i did like the "bourbons got pride" joke), the writers think they can carry that over to all aspects of the show

i dunno there are a few layers of irony in a hipster kid busking careless love and then getting vicious wrt authenticity

are they setting him up as the Voodoo Shop Killer?

you mean this?

http://www.amazon.com/Shake-Devil-Off-Murder-Orleans/dp/0805088938

robcorddry Watching Treme on HBO. I hope it's as important as it is boring.

qft

xpost that's the one

robcorddry Watching Treme on HBO. I hope it's as important as it is boring.

― Jolyon Swagg (jim in glasgow), Monday, April 26, 2010 12:07 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

LOL x1000

the third episode was ok. the problem with TV, for me, is that so often the nature of the system of making series TV ensures that no director has much of a free hand in how to treat the material. and so in terms of the texture (stylistic and emotional) of an episode, it will often just feel kind of... blah. so while i'm reasonably invested in the characters, some of the scenes just seemed so indifferently shaped as to really tax my interest. this latest episode was the first where that was a strong problem. some scenes were handled well, others (the encounter between the bar owner and her husband in front of her bar) were really sloppy. but most were just blah, as noted.

no motivation to watch the third ep but will do at some point...

Most interesting character plots to me thus far: Violinist/Keyboard player busker drama
http://www.amazon.com/Shake-Devil-Off-Murder-Orleans/dp/0805088938
Yup. The first time I saw those two characters and heard that she had been flashing people after Katrina, Zachary Bowen and Addie Hall immediately came to mind. You can draw numerous parallels. That relationship will certainly end badly.

More about that here ...

she had been flashing people after Katrina,

wha?

apparently to ensure that cops/guard had a reason to keep coming by their block

treméh

(j/k, this is ok-to-pretty good but as I ws saying to ilx user gukbe earlier today I'm not feeling the need to street team it just yet)

it's kinda funny how everyone's having the "i don't know about this radio DJ guy, am I supposed to sympathize with him or is he just an annoying doofus?" when that could probably describe, like, every role in Steve Zahn's entire career

Also, The Wire had some annoying doofuses.

i like the steve zahn character. the interaction w/ his totally reasonable neighbors was nicely played. he's using the "authenticity" of tremé as an alibi for being an asshole. so to its credit the show, while obviously very invested in "authenticity," plays it up as a pose as well.

Steve Zahn's stripper song was great.

yeah, it was funny how he invites his friend over to hear his amazing, intense new song... and it's simply a revelation about a gaggle of strippers moving in across the street.\

my posts these days make me sound mildly retarded. i apologize for that.

Wow, interesting stuff about Bowen and Hall, I had no clue.

Dunno if you've seen this, it's a nice blog by a Tulane music prof on the music in Treme:
http://soundoftreme.blogspot.com/

Great article on Tootie Montana:
http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Virtual_Books/Hes_Prettiest/hes_the_prettiest_tootie_montana.html

I think Zahn's character is being redeemed - you can see why people like him, even if he's childish and irresponsible. He rushed right over to the restaurant with his check to make up for being a dick.

I'm confused by Goodman's reaction to Zahn - Goodman instantly loathed him, which I thought was weird for a guy who professes such love for the culture of NOLA. The only thing I could think of was he's wary of anybody out to interest his daughter in low-prestige, low-wage occupations (like being a musician). But his despising Zahn seemed really intense and came out of nowhere. Am I missing some subtext here?

i definitely picked up that goodman's character was concerned about zahn perving on his daughter.

the character goodman plays gives off an impressively imposing vibe. i'd be scared of him too.

i definitely picked up that goodman's character was concerned about zahn perving on his daughter.

i should add-- this was partly because there was a POV shot of zahn sitting a bit close to her on the piano bench, followed by a shot of goodman looking a bit incredulous. i think he's just supposed to be an overly protective father (and we know the zahn character is a perv, even if he may not be that kind of perv).

i mean, c'mon, Davis does look kinda dirty. that shaving line was wonderful.

I did see that POV shot - but Goodman's adverse reaction to Zahn is immediately after opening the door to him, that's what confused me. Goodman's dislike of him seems to be of the entirety of Zahn's character, rather than just fear of molestation. I'll let it go because I'm sure they'll follow up on this in future episodes.

I'm enjoying this but I feel that something needs to happen soon, aside from that kid being beaten up it all feels a bit first-episode still. Enough scene setting, now give us an idea of where you're going to take this.

I was confused by the piano lesson scene too. The Tulane professor hasn't come across characters like this around his beloved city before (he's surprised that a low-income musician didn't shave before giving a lesson)? And I didn't think it could be construed in any way that Davis was interested in his daughter, despite his reputation.
Yeah, I think they've run into each other before and we'll learn more about that later.

Davis seemed to know Goodman's wife, so why not...

I'm enjoying this but I feel that something needs to happen soon, aside from that kid being beaten up it all feels a bit first-episode still. Enough scene setting, now give us an idea of where you're going to take this.

― Matt DC, Thursday, April 29, 2010 9:35 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah... i kinda said this upthread and maybe it's unrealistic to expect a seasonal arc quite as heavy and dark as The Wire usually had (at the very least the body count is gonna be a lot lower), but it seems like they have to be building to something and it feels like those gears are still turning very slowly.

I also think Goodman knows that his daughter a little developing hell-raiser in her, and wants to prevent her from being exposed to what he perceives - probably correctly - as a BAD influence.

Davis is an asshole, but he seems to have more good intentions than not. I think, like a lot of pothead musicians I know, he's just a very selfish person who rarely pulls his head out of his own ass.

His stripper song was pretty great, though - and I love how she was a fleeting muse the first few times he saw her.

I also think Goodman knows that his daughter a little developing hell-raiser in her, and wants to prevent her from being exposed to what he perceives - probably correctly - as a BAD influence.

Agreed – also it may be that having heard endless stories of his wife's clients he's suspicious of anyone she's representing.

The song was great!

i agree with that, but i also think it's meant to point out that as passionate as he is about new orleans, he's got a pretty different idea about/connection to the city than many of the other characters

goodman probably thinks that davis is a poseur, i'd bet...

in what sense? goodman doesn't seem like he's ever been at the second line, or really cares to judge people on their new orleans cred.

I think Goodman represents an entirely different part of New Orleans, as evidenced by his never interacting with anyone from the Treme, his being a professor at Tulane, clear statements by his wife that they didn't sustain serious damage in the storm...I believe we would call these folks "Uptowners", which, while entirely a part of New Orleans, is a world apart from the Quarter, the Treme, or the 6th/7th/9th wards.

Also, he seems to be a proud New Orleanian, and that he has a generous nature, but not when it comes to his daughter. Which I completely understand.

Have to add - the piano player going wino on the Beaujolais by himself is further convincing me that he's going to snap, and its not going to be good when he does. I like the fiddle player, and am worried for her safety.

Maybe he's sick of his wife bringing every joe she's bailed out and can't pay into his home? He seemed rather good natured about it to be honest, but there was a bit of, oh shucks, again honey.

I like the fiddle player, and am worried for her safety.

― Clerk all KNOWIN (B.L.A.M.), Thursday, April 29, 2010 3:44 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, i felt that way, too

I thought the Goodman/Davis thing was a reversal of the Davis-neighbours situation.

just caught up on ep 3... did Sonny buy that bottle of Beaujolais at Bacchanal?

this one was really good, i thought. also: slim charles! prez!

Loved the "Hampsterdam" reference in the episode.

McCoy Tyner! Still not much happening though is there?

getting worse than a malick movie w/all these cameos

I watched the first episode and it was a hoot.

Seems like there's plot aplenty to be had from corrupt city officials, misappropriated funds, FEMA shenanigans etc. if they wanted to go that way. Though I wouldn't mind just spending time with these characters. Melissa Leo in particular - when she showed up I punched the air, like just "yes!!"

They don't seem to be going down that road, not yet at any rate. We haven't seen any politicians at all yet, it's all at ground level.

Violinist girl is so hot.

this is basically just spending time with these characters: the show; there's v.little story or drama so far

i admit this is getting kind of boring, but it's not because of the lack of "drama." more like a kind of... thin quality to a lot of the scenes.

I just found out that Khandi Alexander will turn 53 this year. OMG she's so hot.

finally admitted i'd rather, like, read one of the Great Novels than try to dig through the episodes piling up on my DVR. Unless everyone starts getting HOLY SHIT about the show.

Loved the "Hampsterdam" reference in the episode.

― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, May 3, 2010 2:21 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that was so http://nolongerquivering.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/anim_smileyBARF.gif

Violinist girl is so hot.

I just found out that Khandi Alexander will turn 53 this year. OMG she's so hot.

this has settled into one of those shows i really like, but kind of have to force myself to watch since I'm not incredibly interested in what happens next - but once i'm actually sitting down and watching it, the acting and characters keeps me pretty into it and entertained, i'm sucked in. it's just that the momentum of everything is some of the slowest i've seen in a contemporary drama, though i trust that things are going to pile up eventually. (though by the same token, the whole parade shooting was surprisingly anticlimactic!) alexander, pierce and peters are still kicking all sorts of ass in every episode, and the rest of the cast still quite good if the characters are just kind of floating around. I mean, the cooking scene was well done, but Top Chef?

how weird was the violinist/junkie/iraq vet angle? all the looks through the doorway were so goddamn creepy, like all this hunger

I was pretty surprised when the gunshots started I must admit.

wondering how often those chefs all get together to hang out.

what is the deal w/ John Goodman not being listed as part of the main cast in the opening credits or anything btw -- afaik he's been in every episode about as consistently as the wife character, and Melissa Leo is billed in the cast.

anyone crazy about this?

not yet, but damned if i'm not watching every episode

This show makes a lot more sense if you think of it as an American equivalent to a working-class soap opera a la Coronation Street or Eastenders

Goodman might have some sort of contract issue that prevents him from being listed, maybe he's being granted permission to appear on the show?

wd love to see corrie after a massive fuck off natural disaster

i think i stopped watching after ep 2. has it gotten better? (didn't read thread)

^^ couldn't bring myself to watch s3 as it's so fucking tedious/pompous...so yeah, has it gotten better?

Eh... It's scene-by-scene... There are some great live music scenes, and some powerful/poignant/funny scenes between characters; but there are also some SUPER-clumsy speeches and interactions, along with some really jarring and unnecessary celebrity cameos. I'm still watching.

I can see why you'd think it was tedious but, pompous? Really? I mean, this is a pretty important subject that the characters are getting on their high horse about, it's not like they don't have a fucking good reason to be angry. I think the John Goodman polemics can be a bit on the blunt side but they're getting the balance right everywhere else.

Anyone else think it's really picked up over the last couple of episodes? After about five episodes of just hanging with the characters there's been a very marked shift in tone - we know where the characters are going now. There were a couple of "fuck..." moments in the last episode that really reminded me of bits of the Wire - that scene in the back of the truck was wrenching. Also Chief holing himself up in the projects - after several episodes of seeing characters getting angry at the injustice of it all, it's finally trying to make the viewers angry as well.

Wish they'd kept the Davis-running-for-council thing going a bit longer, that was great. Although my careometer is still pretty low when it comes to restaurant girl and the violinist and her dick of a junkie boyfriend.

I'm glad that the Chief storyline seems to be going somewhere (though, this being a David Simon show, it's far more likely that his efforts will be in vain - though I don't know what happened in real life), though his bits have always been entertaining, just like LaDonna's search for her son, though that storyline is a lot more motivated. Pierce's portrayal of Antoine is great enough where his plots are basically coasting on his likability; I'm okay with this. While I love John Goodman and Kim Dickens, both their stories seem too blunt, since they're both so obviously good sympathetic characters we're supposed to sympathize with. Davis... well, he's been growing on me, but not yet to the point where I feel all his screen time has been justified.

The violinist plot seems amazingly obvious, and hence feels like more of a waste of time than the others. I mean, either they're going to self-destruct and the asshole boyfriend will kill her and/or himself, or she'll finally leave him, then... so what? Is there going to be a greater point to be made about these two young people who are both imports to New Orleans? Were they just there to be young struggling musicians as a comparison to Antoine's middle-aged hustling? Lucia Micarelli's a beautiful girl, and glows wonderfully when she's playing music, but the scenes where she's had to act (fighting with her boyfriend, or this week's scene where she dogs her audition) come off incredibly hammy.

Not digging the celebrity cameos, but I am amused that Antoine seems to hate tons of other musicians.

I find it's straining my goodwill. Both the Goodman character and the Chief seem to be pretty straightforward editorializing sock-puppets, delivering monologues without much drama. Bunk-as-'Bone-man part seems underwritten - he's there just to be a loveable schlub. Goodman's wife seems similarly thin. Hate the busking couple. Find Davis annoying. Find a lot of the music scenes/celeb cameos totally indulgent. Can't believe nobody in New Orleans listens to hip hop... The truck corpses scene was good, but a bit too little too late. Are there really only 10 episodes in this season? Cos I can't see them bringing it round in the remaining three...

Nah, I gotta give the Chief credit. They gave him a ton of character set up and backstory - his strained relationships with his son and daughter and his community role as chief and white hat thug enforcer, not to mention smooth ladies man. His motivations are totally plausable, his connection to the area and people was gradually laid out competently, even though the gist of it was nailed in the pilot. His scenes are usually a pleasure to watch for me, whether he's getting in some politician's face or just eating dinner. Goodman on the other hand, I don't know why he cares so much - he just does - though who knows, kind of hoping him and Davis have a heart-to-heart about their motivations by the end of the season.

Melissa Leo's character's pretty straightforward, but I think she's managed to be effectively clever, compassionate and outraged in her own mostly procedural storyline; especially in those flashes of anger, like when she couldn't convince that ADA to file the joint motion last week. (Not as interesting in her own family, though, but I suspect there'll be boring arguments how about Goodman can't get his book done.)

Goodman is too obvious an editorialising sockpuppet I think. The Chief, no way, he's great and totally credible.

I dunno, the Chief seems too unambiguously The Noble Suffering Spirit of New Orleans to me. Love Clarke Peters work as always, though.

oh well at least it's one show where you don't have to worry about spoilers

they're in purgatory

xpost
Good point about the lack of hip-hop in the show; it's such a huge part of the scene there, but I think that music is too forward-looking for Simon to concern himself with, since so much of the show is about conserving the culture of the past. There were some nods to it, though (Davis' speaker battle with the neighbors). My guess is that you'll see more hip-hop references as the crime moves back into the city and that allows Simon to set more stories in that world (right now the projects are empty, and as the cop says to Peters, nobody's interested in having them return to what they were).

Still cracking up over how Davis was bought out in a fraction of a second

there's still that dangling issue of the chief beating that kid into a coma. was that ever brought up again after episode 2 or 3? did they drop the ball.

this show could be so much better. i think they're trying too hard to make the characters likable (compared to the wire), and it's boring. the lawyer character is particular boring. she doesn't seem to have any traits other than kindness and diligence. who is paying her? does she work for herself? she's just a plot device really. and yeah lack of hip-hop is symptomatic, as is lack of crime really. i guess they wanted to get far away from that after the wire.

i get the feeling this might get cancelled after the second season and before it picks up big time. but who knows. i'll keep watching, it's still plenty watchable and there is a basic level of quality writing that keeps my attention.

i mean there just aren't too many relationships between characters that seem complex and interesting. it's like the very profusion of characters is supposed to substitute for any of them being particularly multifaceted. davis is sort of an interesting character, as is ladonna. wish they made her more of a bitch and her husband less of a mensch. but the chief just seems to be mining one vein of righteous outrage, the kim dickens character is just sweet with hard luck, the john goodman character doesn't really seem to be fully rounded (and they have far too many scenes where the staging is meant to justify another of his harangues--teaching to a class, talking to a grad student, ranting on youtube).

honestly if they spent 2x as much time with antoine batiste and fleshed out his dysfunctional relationship w. current girlfriend, kids, other musicians, etc. it'd be interesting. i'd like more psychological texture.

the scenes are too short and too indifferently constructed to have this effect. i guess this is why i don't like TV in general, most of the time. for example: how does batiste feel about his airport gig? he seemed embarrassed when the famous player walked into the baggage claim. did he not want to be seen working such a crap gig? did he just not want to be upstaged by a more famous trombonist? does the joy of playing and the response of the crowd redeem the sort of sordid surroundings? the scene was so promising but just kind of played out ineffectually. really lamely staged reaction shots of tourists bopping their heads were cringeworthy. not just because they looked fake and contrived but because they were so on the nose. what about some shots of people going about their business oblivious to the music? or even some people who'd rather not hear blaring brass band music after getting off a long flight? it's like, each scene has to make one obvious point and there isn't much space or time or finesse left for a lot of subtext. even if all those points are building up to some kind of tapestry, it leaves me feeling like i've been condescended to.

I think if anything this show suffers from not having a centre, from the main characters going down their own paths and not really interacting with one another. And yeah, it's obvious that almost everyone in the show is right and has a big and valid grievance.

Maybe it could do with having a higher, political layer of characters, or more figures who are exploiting the situation. The Wire wouldn't have been as interesting without the Burrell/Rawls/Landsman figures, even before we got to Carcetti et al.

they should follow that judge. he seems like part of the political machine, but maybe he's not such a bad guy. that contradiction would be really interesting.

in short -- this is beginning to seem too P.C. which is the death of drama.

i mean the judge that bribed davis.

like what if that city council race were actually a big subplot? a decent-but-not-visionary machine politician versus some hotshit-activist and then davis shows up and throws a wrench in it. that would put davis's minstrel routine in a richer context.

(Walker) Percy described New Orleans as "a most peculiar concoction of exotic and American ingredients" that had discovered "the Little Way, a talent for everyday life rather than the heroic deed."

—thought this was apropos of this show, which is almost anti-drama; I like it for that reason. Agreed with posters above that characters are not fully rounded yet, Goodman is too obvious a mouthpiece.

I was wondering if the show would get into the judge - but I think after The Wire, which did a great job of explaing how institutions have disincentivized serving the public good, Simon's done with showing us why things are fucked and is more interested in watching people thrash in the wake of a dysfunctional political system no one understands or can influence.

i know this goes against TV convention, which says that every character needs a few moments per episode so viewers don't leave disappointed -- but i think they shouldn't try to touch on every character in every episode, crosscutting mercilessly between short scenes. they should stick to two or three, maybe four tops, characters per episode, drawing out the scenes a bit longer. then use the episode-by-episode nature of TV to effect the alternation between plotlines.

I'm only on episode 5 of this but it's verging on unwatchable at times. That bit when the celebrity chefs turned up at the restaurant was cringeworthy. And i hate the fact that practically every other scene some minor character turns up who you just know is some semi-famous local. It really takes me out of the show. I'll stick it out to the end of the season but it's becoming a bit of a chore.

I'm finally caught up, and I thought that the last couple episodes were better than some of the mid-season episodes. Khandi Alexander was unstoppable in the most recent one.

momus cameo in this episode

Wow only one post this week! Everyone's dropped this show by now I guess? (or watching it several days later like I am) It really isn't very exciting. Amazing how the musician/celebrity cameos have been getting more and more pointless each episode. I guess I almost cared about the outcome of the Annie/Davis thing... almost. Poor Ladonna though.

i'm still interested but i haven't had time to sit at a computer and catch up, so i'm still at ep 3. have there been any more second line scenes? i still want to see if i made it into the background somewhere. :/

looking at the wiki, i'm pretty sure the second line i was at is in ep 5.

I dropped it. It's boring and didactic and I wanted to watch Mad Men. : (

Treme is boring so you went to MAD MEN!?

it seems ok so far?

I think my enthusiasm for the show held out longer than most but at this point... ehhh. I'm officially bored with it and will finish it up only because I've invested so much time already. Are they still doing a second season? Who's going to watch it?

Mad Men much less boring than Treme imo.

also: actually good

"boring" is carrying a lot of weight in this sentence but, i can't think of a more boring show than treme tbh

man men seems fun

dont really get ppl who find mad men boring

poll

treme is not exactly the show you're going to lend a box set to your friend on a friday, he's going to finish it on saturday afternoon, and then he's going to tell you how great it was on monday and ask when the next season starts and if you can torrent episodes for him and put them on a USB stick.

lovin' this show.

SO pumped that DirecTv will be showing The Wire this summer on their 101 Channel. I actually enjoy Treme while I am watching it, but I don't spend the week anticipating the next episode.

made it through episode 5, we didn't make the cut in the second line scene but you can hear me playing tambourine

wow. nobody even bothered to bump after the finale. RIP Simon.

Simon interview postmortem season 1

don't think anyone even bumped for the penultimate

i haven't seen 'justified' yet and im kind of wondering if i'll ever get round to this. no1 seems to really rep hard for it.

I think it's great.

i'm enjoying it, but i'm so invested in the subject matter that i don't think i can be objective about its watchability

It's beautifully done for the most part. Despite all the complaints about people being Simon's mouthpieces, it's also very understated as well.

yeah, by the end I decided it was great, despite some its flaws, which really were the same as The Wire's. I thought the last two episodes were really great, and I hope it doesn't come back, because TV shows shouldn't always have to be entire series. 1 decent season that explores these characters, their music, their city, their storm, etc. The end.

already been renewed. got to tackle the schools and the return of crime etc

yeah, just read the interview.

happy if there's more David Morse. I love that guy.

should just use the 2nd season commission for a do over

http://www.ihasaids.com/upload/data/1276610097.gif

Surprised by the strong finish! This show moved so slowly, but I never shook the level of interest - where like a few people here also said - not a show I was dying to watch every week, but once I sat down to watch I was usually pretty hooked because of the generally high quality of the acting. I'll come back for next season, but I'm not sure if I'll bother week-to-week again or just wait for it to finish or for the DVD box set to come out. OTOH it might be even duller if I watch it in one go?

In particular I was impressed by the unusual device (for this show) of the long Katrina flashback during Daymo's funeral, felt ripped out of an Altman film - really effective and unexpected, since the show has avoided using flashbacks entirely.

Also I still have a certain amount of respect that the show wasn't as relentlessly negative as The Wire, which I loved on that show, but here there's a strong undercurrent of hope even when all the characters are put through hell. The show beginning and ending with a second line funeral, the Chief's family splitting up again and Janette's last great day in NO before flying out to NY were all done pretty well in servicing this theme.

Also: really glad they didn't go ahead with the violinist being brutally murdered as suspected by many people.

Reading that Simon interview, I have to wonder what the people complaining in the Lost thread accusing Lindelof and Cuse of condescending to unhappy fans would say about THIS guy, wow

Man, some of that is Simon at his most insufferable, i've never seen him this ridiculously defensive - and wrong, since the last episode sure as hell does not justify all the dull stretches or bad ideas in this season. And damn he's got some crazy NY jealousy going on.

Gonna skip that interview, then.

The show is a reflection of Janette's complaint in the penultimate ep - lots of moments, "not a life." Hardly a disaster or anything, and indeed lots of great moments, but I have a hard time seeing this reach the greatness levels once anticipated without some serious tweaking next season.

the interview is p.interesting I thought, worth a read even if it does suffer from some of the stuff nhex points out; might go and watch the last two eps having read it

Midway through last ep now; 2nd-to-last def. worth watching.

I really enjoyed the last few episodes. I didn't really feel like the SPOILER suicide was dramatically earned, but that was my only real quibble with the season at large. I think it's important that the second season go in a different direction, though. I'd like to see some new themes, fewer cameos. But I thought the cameos made sense for season 1, and none of them really felt forced. The celebrity chefs were uniformly terrible actors but it certainly made sense that they were in the episodes.

Agreed that Simon is working way too hard to defend the show - he's often a very combative interview in print. (On TV he seems completely mild and unassuming, oddly. Milch is the same no matter what the venue.) I accept his basic argument though, which is that the show is being judged and found wanting by the wrong standards.

The consensus seems to be (in the media as well as here I think) 'no drama, egregious cameos, characters as mouthpieces' but for me this show is totally gripping despite all those things being true. It's really refreshing to have a show in which the stakes aren't somebody going to jail, or somebody being shot, but someone successfully breaking up with their boyfriend, or managing to get some roofers to get something done, or dealing with a suddenly withdrawn spouse - which is much closer to the dramas of our lives as we experience them. I was really moved by the finale, fantastic stuff. It may be that like John from Cincinnati it departs too much from TV norms to survive much longer, but I'm really happy that I get treated to a whole second season. (The crime moving back into the city might give people more of what they expect from Simon and keep people around, hopefully.)

Love how cable TV's renaissance is starting to resemble '70s Hollywood, with the auteurs busting out indulgent, difficult flop follow-ups to their classics. Five Easy Pieces followed by King Of Marvin Gardens.

Ah hah ha, yeah, so true. Though I think Chase is just living off residuals and doesn't have much happening at the moment, right?

Chase is currently casting for his feature film last I heard, and also has a deal to do a mini-series with HBO after that.

haha i watched king of marvin gardens recently. almost unwatchable.

last episode was very good. wish the flashback wasn't as obviously cued. would be kind of awesome if you had to figure out gradually that we were back a year, just before katrina.

sad about the goodman character. melissa leo's reactions ripped my heart out. but i kind of figured that goodman was a one-season cameo sort of deal. he's got bigger stuff to do than series TV.

i thought there was some very smart stuff in that david simon interview, e.g.

"For me, I don't think people can tell the difference when they speak of plot between the notion of whether something is a plot that's progressing or whether they're having dramatic moments that are typical of television standard - which is to say, cop show, medical show, legal show, "West Wing," whatever, where the stakes are high. That's what people are saying."

i think people indeed are confusing "plot" with certain types of dramatic incident.

not that there aren't other terms on which to criticize the show.

every scene where there are extras or minor characters "reacting" to the major characters (dancing to music, john goodman's classroom, etc.) is just fucking cringeworthy. actually only agnieska holland (sp?) seems to be able to handle those scenes well. and there are a lot of them.

also this was very interesting, i thought:

One of the things that I found interesting about Batiste is that in the flashback, we see that before the storm, he was living what seemed to be a much less marginal life.

Yes. He was in mid-city, he had a car, he had his record collection. And he was probably content with that, and then he had to take a huge step backwards. And there's also no implication that he was living with Desiree at the time. She and the baby were someplace else. So he was a lot more fancy-free as a bachelor.

it's the only time you can really measure how much baptiste has lost in the storm. (including all his rare records. god damn. he should ask that japanese guy to replace them.)

yikes, nobody is watching this anymore huh?

just watched the finale today. still kinda sinking in, but i'm more indifferent to both the show's strengths and weaknesses than really passionate about either. the knowledge that there will be a 2nd season makes me optimistic about what directions they could take it in, though.

can't believe how much whining there is on this thread about the series, I'm two away from the finale, it's excellent. buskers are annoying though, hope Sonny dies and she goes off on tour. actually she was more tolerable with Zahn during the Fat Tuesday stuff.

Somehow I still like this show a lot...

i liked it. i think someone said upthread it's like one of those shows i never felt like i had to see the next ep but when i start watching it i'm down

i didn't even know there was a s02 on it's way! finished the 1st season last week. thought it was ok.

Finally got this — the album Baptiste saved before the floods in the flashback. It's awesome. Hard to find, but I highly recommend it.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AM9vPFvML._SL500_AA300_.jpg

so I liked this but a few weeks after watching it a couple of things bug me, most of them having to do with Sonny, who I admit is useless and annoying.

1) he hooked up with a transsexual, correct? what was the point of this, exactly? I feel like this is setting up an HIV story line with him and if so it seems incredibly contrived.
2) dude who followed Sonny back from Texas (the bouncer) for no reason at all and then turns out to be the Good Roofer. This was annoying and contrived too.

Well, fuck, anyone have any idea how I can watch this? Stupid DVR randomly deleted the three of the last four episodes I had yet to watch. According to HBO's schedule they aren't replaying it anytime soon, its not available OnDemand, and there are only one minute "excerpts" on Hulu. Not even a planned DVD release yet. So fucking pissed off.

Damn it, not even on fucking iTunes.

torrent it?

i haven't even watched the last couple episodes yet even though i loved it. it made me so happy that i didn't feel any kind of hurry to get it over with.

I am so bad at torrenting, I've never had luck with that. I always end up with either unplayable files or viruses. I'm just annoyed that I can somehow stream pretty much every show on network television ever, but HBO holds this shit back.

Its annoying that this is 2010 and there isn't a way for me to watch this, even if I'm willing to pay for it. Other than resorting to dodgy illegal downloads that will kill my computer.

USENET

new season starts in 2 days apparently? lol wow at the utter lack of anticipation.

*anticipates*

Its annoying that this is 2010 and there isn't a way for me to watch this, even if I'm willing to pay for it. Other than resorting to dodgy illegal downloads that will kill my computer.

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, October 14, 2010 8:52 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

First season on Netflix Tuesday.

psyched

(to finish season 1 then wait for a few months to rent season 2)

Think I'm gonna wait for the season to be over this time before starting it... see you guys later this year sometime, hopefully

Great one:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/wendell-pierce,54718/

man what an endearing interview subject.

all-time wkiw

Should I be kicking myself that I gave up halfway through season 1?

eh if you weren't feeling the first half you prob wouldn't have changed your mind

Just throwing in that I'm really excited about this. I'd like to see some more plot this year, but I also loved the ~vibe~ of the first season and am cool with hanging on to that.

butts

word on the street is that there is more plot this season, getting into post-k crime stuff but i am not gonna watch this show until the davis rogan character dies a horrible, painful, protracted hostel-style death.

i like steve zahn man, he seems pleasant and people say he is super chill to work with, but he's gotta go

eh if you weren't feeling the first half you prob wouldn't have changed your mind

Thing is, though, I enjoyed it while I was watching the episodes, it's just that I never felt all that urgent about watching the next episode, knamean?

That's how I felt as I was watching them, but I did wind up feeling satisfied that I finished the season (despite having an issue with one of the major plot plots).

Every scene with Sofia B Real in it is tied for last place.

ratings were dreadful for the premiere.

i love this show.

I'll be shocked if this comes back for a 3rd season.

eh if you weren't feeling the first half you prob wouldn't have changed your mind

I dunno... feels like a lot more happens in the second half, but yeah the overall feel is kind of the same.

Next season has rappers in it doesn't it?

Preview for next ep promises Zahn going to a Bounce night.

David Simon is such a Debbie Downer sometimes.

In love with the fidldler chick

Zahn turned down a few notches from his usual grunge era rom-com stylings is a good thing.

It's so slooow, but I'm digging it so far.

Apart from beardy junkie piano singer guy who is very cringey.

I've watched five episodes: amiable, not dull, but the writing and acting have been one-dimensional.

sup haters. renewed for a 3rd season. i have no idea why it was but nonetheless, i'm very pleased

I enjoy the show. Not a must see but some nice tivo filler

have no idea why it was but nonetheless

Season Four of The Wire is a pretty good reason to give the dude a third season for his follow-up novel.

season 2 premiere ratings were down about 50% of the season 1 premiere. something like 500,000 viewers. i'm happy they're doing it, because i think it's vastly underrated, but it doesn't have the critical cache that The Wire had.

If it's his Freedomland, that's OK.

Too slow and too much crappy music tbh

you are a disgusting savage

Saw this, enjoyed this--Eric Ripert cameo: food, music, work.

sup haters. renewed for a 3rd season. i have no idea why it was but nonetheless, i'm very pleased

― Gukbe, Friday, May 13, 2011 5:43 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

i suspect it comes down to HBO wanting to maintain a working relaysh w/simon and not wanting to be known as the network that cancels stuff, plus it's probably not a very expensive show.

you're right though, the show's in a weird position - nobody really watches it, and while it's critically respected, it's not really critically loved - nobody goes to bat for it or would likely go to bat for it if it was on the block.

Last few episodes have been good.

xpost Not very expensive? Tons of location shooting + huge cast + occasional elaborate second line/parade sequence... doesn't sound cheap to me, based on what I know about TV production, anyway. Granted, it's not Game of Thrones expensive, but I doubt it's that cheap.

i wonder how expensive the second line stuff is to shoot...when i was out at one they had a ton of cameras & mics running around, but then they just let the bands go in real time and let things roll for a couple hours.

mostly what kills me about this show is all the high-quality second line footage that is never going to see the light of day. it's criminal.

yeah, you know, as soon as i made that post i thought to myself "dude: location shooting" - that alone guarantees its not cheap to make. so really the only thing i can think of is that they want to keep david simon happy.

Well, and they trust them with his show in a way, again, more analogous to publishers/novelists that network-execs and TV shows. He lost one of his main collaborators halfway through season one, so that must've been a bear just to finish, on both personal and practical levels. I'm sure he's already pitched them season three, told them where it'll be going.

New Orleans provides some pretty huge tax breaks for filming here, so I'm sure that makes things more affordable. A ton of movies have been filmed here in the past few years, primarily due to those incentives.

I know a few people who have been extras, and seen a few scenes put together on the street. I'm sure second lines are tricky, but most of the scenes seem fairly straightforward to shoot.

doesn't matter if you're shooting two people talking in a park, location shoots cost tons more per minute shot, because shots take longer to get and moving crew and support to the location is expensive.

Just started watching the first season on dvd (based on the fair amount of critical commentary received from some, I'm not approaching it with high expectations. But I love the music and knew late writer David Mills, so I will probably find enough to like)

end credits of this week's episode was the first time I've felt genuinely excited by the music on Treme

What music did you like on this week's episode?

the song that played at the end of the last scene and into the ending credits.

Ha

all the self-conscious stuff is getting intolerable, how nearly every fucking song in one of the live performances has to be "about" new orleans. and half of what the characters do and talk about is "about" new orleans: summary statements about how new orleans is this, new orleans is that. it's tiresome and unimaginative. and the live performance scenes are hopelessly poorly filmed. in general this show is kind of mediocre isn't it? but i keep watching, i guess the characters are moderately interesting? not the trumpeter though, zzzzzzz.

on 3rd thought, this show kind of sucks. i like the wendell pierce plotline, but everything else is subpar. and fucking steve earle as a wise old singer-songwriter sage. give me a fucking break.

i guess nobody else is watching this.

I watch this. I like some parts but not others.

I've got 4 weeks to catch up on. Will have a marathon sesh once this GoT business is over.

I watch this. I like some parts but not others.

― polyphonic, Friday, June 17, 2011 9:45 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Worst characters

1. Sofia
2. Harley
3. Toni
4. Sonny

I'm watching Season 1 for the first time now on DVD 'cause it finally hit 4-days/4 videos/$5 status at my store. I was disappointed to the point of sadness with the first two episodes after the great opening set piece--too much talking about, not enough showing or feeling New Orleans, and the Zahn character was charmless. Third episode directed by Ernest Dickerson was a big step forward, and fourth written by Pelecanos was a real pleasure, Zahn finding his feet. I'll read thread when I'm done.

so i guess this didn't stop being awful for the second season?

i don't even mean that in a snotty way. this show broke my damn heart.

how

It's a interesting mess. I like the ambition but it really does a great job of highlighting the things that Simon isn't good at.

otm. The characters, framing, and development are substandard. The key scene (spoiler perhaps): an exchange late in the season between the struggling restauranteur and a rival chef. On "The Wire" the directors would have conveyed the agony of this woman acknowledging defeat and the rival's ambivalence: he won the game but feels bad for his competitor/pal. Here's it's thrown away with boilerplate and blank reaction shots.

Also, the didactic bilge that Simon saved until the last season of "The Wire" spills forth from John Goodman and a couple of other characters every chance. Nothing sticks.

It's like someone imitating David Simon.

if Simon was channeling his true self through a cranky suicidal YouTube vlogger that's a pretty good self-deprecating joke though

Even better: through a bratty overconfident teenaged girl.

it broke my damn heart because everything d. simon has done since the wire has been one big raspberry blown in the direction of my admiration.

not saying the guy should stick to cops and robbers, but the guy should stick to.cops and robbers. actually, treme just points up how crucial the whole group of creatives he assembled was important to the wire. i've got a feeling ed burns acted as a major bullshit detector, having now seen d.s. off the leash with treme.

that is majorly garbled, but i'm gonna blame editing posts on my phone.

generation kill seemed alright, although i don't think i'll ever revisit it

haha i bailed on gen kill early because i figured we werent going to get a tragic heart-rending death/reversal to counteract ziggy's basic annoyance factor.

I grew to really love ziggy's character on gen kill fwiw

generation kill is kinda my favorite thing hes done tbh

also i realize wendell pierce is now stuck in hbo rep players hell but if there was ever a chance to give a REAL star turn this was it, but instead we get this didactic altman-for-idiots ensemble stuff. boooooo.

though i suppose other wire players have had far worse post wire careers

there was a scene somewhere in the middle of Season 1 where a character comments to Clarke Peters that there are probably a bunch of dead bodies in the boarded up housing projects, and I felt almost heartbroken.

also: fuck Elvis Costello.

generation kill was great

more i think about it this really is like if stanely kramer had directed "nashville" instead of altman

it's also irritating that Clarke Peters gets to only have like two different facial expressions

it's hard not to imagine lester freamon looking down his granny glasses and giving a little derisive head-shake

http://i.cdn.hbo.com/assets/images/series/the-wire/character/the-law/lester-freamon-160.jpg

generation kill was great

― caek, Saturday, June 18, 2011 1:33 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

i always call this show "tres gay" in my head

more i think about it this really is like if stanely kramer had directed "nashville" instead of altman

i gave up on this show early, but until someone can convincingly contradict this estimation, i'm not coming back

ha i don't even like nashville but jess is kind of otm

amateurist's opening salvo otm. this is an embarrassment.

i haven't seen the new season yet, but treme makes me happy and amateurist is the bummerest of all bummers.

:-(

Really loving this show.

The show put a smile on my face during one of the scenes in David Chang's restaurant where they played 'Uptown Top Ranking.'

the kitchen scenes are becoming my favorite part of this show

It seemed inevitable at the beginning of the season that within 4 or 5 episodes they would bring her back down to New Orleans. I really respect that they've run with the NYC thing like this.

nah, this show really sucks. i'm getting off the bus.

says the only guy left on the bus, to noone in particular

I'm on the bus. I'm lovin' the ride.

Slept on this show for ages, but went through all the episodes over the last few weeks. Sure, it's not perfect, but it has a lot of charms.

New season starts Sunday. HBO has already picked it up for a shortened fourth and final season.

have not seen in some time, would like to, still resent amateurist for his life mission of raining on things

http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2012/09/hbos_treme_renewed_for_a_fourt.html

HBO's 'Treme' renewed for a fourth and final season

“Treme” drew an average of 2.2 million cumulative weekly viewers in its second season, far below HBO blockbusters like “True Blood,” “Game of Thrones” and “Boardwalk Empire,” but HBO programming executives had expressed admiration for the show’s execution and importance. Steeped in New Orleans music, cuisine and recovery-related social and political issues, the post-Katrina drama was honored with a Peabody Award in April.

Simon said the past week was spent securing the participating of all the series’ main cast members, a complicated contractual task given the shorter season.

“To a person, they all came back,” Simon said. “We’re happy for a chance to finish the story on our own terms.”

What I've seen is flawed, but I most certainly agree that it has its charms

The show can be quite preachy/corny at times, but then there'll be an episode or a scene that is so damned good that it merits the whole exercise.

i'm glad people are getting paid but the show's whole "oh yo trombone shorty what's up nothin kid just eatin a lucky dog in front of preservation hall with my boy steve earle we fixin to go get some gumbo ya ya down the bayou wit ya mom n dem" vibe is pretty lol. not everything is all new orleans all the time!

tho they shot a scene with eyehategod which is a step in the right direction, has that episode aired yet?

hahah eyehategod, for real?! they didn't show up this premiere no

even when this show is being totally aimless, there's just something amiable about it that i can't help but be charmed by

Shame to see the show end, I enjoyed its meandering charms.

i stopped watching out of indifference midway through the 3rd season. should i go ahead and finish it?

just started watching season 3, it's pleasantly boring. mostly i pause it a lot to tell my girlfriend some story about run-ins with the musicians or places in the show (and being reminded of those stories is the main appeal for me, that and the novelty of seeing brass band dudes acting).

i'm just waiting until i can afford the damn thing, but maybe i can just stream it online by this point and catch up

s3 was the ebst season, it comes together at the end very nicely.

the indian practice in season 3 ep 4 had the juice, it's those little moments that make me glad they did the show. shannon powell's musical cameo was nice to see too. it's even worth sitting through all of the scenes of the violin player's dumb band.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/arts/television/tv-the-old-way-watching-whats-on.html?_r=0

the dim belief that music is truth

fukk u caramanica

Just now watching this - alternating between enjoying it a lot and being bored to tears. Did we really make it to the last episode of the first season before any rap gets air time?
God, I hope pretty violinist busker isn't going to hook up with Steve Zahn for S2.

::bites tongue::

Dammit.

Why's that a bad thing? They were my two favourites.

Sometimes Zahn was annoying

I read that he improves but he's constantly annoying in S1.

He is extremely irritating all the way to the finale. I was thinking he can't always be this bad and then he was even worse in that doomed Christian Slater vehicle.

God, the political brass-bounce band is painful to listen to.

this is the worst-ever show abt new orleans, including both real worlds and k-ville.

hey i liked k-ville!!

k-ville gave us the "gumbo party" so i cant hate too hard

i mean it was a cop show, i wasn't watching for documentary excellence

It's too bad the entire show isn't about Wendell Pierce.

finishing season 3, need to call attention to the conversation between journalist metal dude and girl in the line at the airport

her: (some question about music)
him: "yeah, some metal"
her: ??
him: "i like metal...and sea shanties"
she turns around
he smirks
hahaha that guy

http://grantland.com/features/david-simon-show-me-a-hero-hbo-the-wire-treme/

Food comes in, and Simon jokingly grumbles, “Do I look like a chicken-salad-eating motherfucker?!”

kind of

the more notable quote is you cannot make me give a fuck, said abt Grantlands dumb content article abt ranking Wire characters, which obv hes otm

Kind of looking back at this fondly now - episode to episode points could be bad and John Goodman/Steve Zahn were pretty awful but it was so good at the small-level humanist stuff (like The Wire). The growth of Goodman's daughter and the wife he left behind with her new husband, Wendell Pierce becoming a band director, the abusive junkie keyboard player turned shrimper. Even the Big Chief's son (no idea that was the kid from Finding Forrester!) became pretty interesting over the course of the show.

http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/06/stephen-colbert-picks-jon-batiste-as-late-show-bandleader/

A native of Louisiana and graduate of Julliard, Batiste is a big name in the worlds of jazz and blues music. A prolific solo musician in his own right, he’s also collaborated with Prince, Wynton Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, and Dr. John over the years. Batiste has a very charismatic personality, as seen on-stage with raucous live performances and off the stage in acting roles on HBO’s Treme and Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer.