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

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.