1210 replies to this topic

[JDPeck]

David Simon's new show, "Treme" (truh-may), starts production this week, link courtesy of http://www.borderlin...com/TheWireHBO/
Show starts in 2010. HBO's definitely going to pick it up, they'd be crazy not to. But only 10 episodes? Home Box Office is getting cheap, what happened to the good ol' days of their consistent 13-episode seasons?

http://www.nola.com/...html#TheWireHBO

And Melissa Leo just joined the cast, a "Homicide" alum.

(best part is, when you consider the fact that Martin Scorsese and Sopranos writer Terence Winter's pilot, "Boardwalk Empire", may very well be on HBO at the same time, 2010. the glory days will be back...)

Edited by JDPeck, Mar 10, 2009 @ 10:40 PM.

[roosterboy]

Jeez, it's about time. Feels like this show has been in the works for ages.

But, anything David Simon puts his name on is good enough for me. I'll definitely be watching this whenever it finally arrives.

[Jouster]

HBO picks up 'Treme'

[pinhead]

HEE! They'll be shooting some scenes at a house two doors down from me; we just got notice to park elsewhere 12/2 for the day. Sure hope my secret boyfriend Kermit Ruffins will be around......

And for the record, we live nowhere near the Treme neighborhood.......

[alynch]

John Goodman joins the cast. Considering Goodman's body type and the character being a college professor, I'm guessing the character is based on this guy. Simon seems to be using his Wire cred to get some higher profile actors on this show. Hope it pays off.

[Sharon]

Treme will premiere April 11th on HBO:
http://twitter.com/t...atus/7637425297

Trailer:
http://www.hbo.com/e...reme/index.html

[alynch]

Official HBO press release.

[Rock42]

Funny thing about John Goodman being in the cast was that I used to refer to Sgt. Jay Landsman (Delaney Williams) on "The Wire" as "Poor Man's John Goodman," although I was never able to get the nickname to stick on TWOP. Now it looks like David Simon has moved up to "Original Recipe John Goodman."

[alynch]

A big-ass writeup from New York Times Magazine.

[alynch]

Another big-ass writeup, this time from the Village Voice. The show's less than two weeks away. Time to take notice.

[Scrb]

Loved The Wire and definitely going to watch this.

But there's some trepidation that this is going to be a depressing experience about people whose lives are pervaded by hopelessness. We saw that in The Wire and Simon seems to have a predilection for showing how fucked up things are.

Of course, people who subscribe to HBO are not the demographic which can easily identify with this kind of life. Was The Wire viewed in the hood or in the communities around dying ports?

[alynch]

But there's some trepidation that this is going to be a depressing experience about people whose lives are pervaded by hopelessness. We saw that in The Wire and Simon seems to have a predilection for showing how fucked up things are.

Oddly enough, everything I've read about this show seems to indicate that it's taking on a distinctly more hopeful tone than The Wire. I'm sure there'll be plenty of sad stuff and bit of commentary about how fucked up the handling of Katrina was, but the emphasis seems to be on individual perseverance.

Speaking of sad stuff, David Mills, who was a college friend of Simon's and frequent collaborator, died of an aneurysm yesterday. He & Simon wrote their first script together (Homicide episode "Bop Gun" with Robin Williams), they co-wrote The Corner, he worked on the final two seasons of The Wire, and he also did some impressive work of his own on NYPD Blue and Kingpin. He was a producer and on this show and wrote two of the ten episodes. It'll now be his final work. There have been quite a few articles written about him today, but this is probably the best one.

[Orion7]

Here’s an excellent article from this week’s The New Yorker.

[alynch]

Here's a lengthy David Simon profile from New York Magazine. Unlike some of the previous articles, this one's actually kind of funny. My two favorite passages are this:

Simon has long had a love-hate relationship with the Internet, that prime suspect in the death of newspapers. When I’d asked Simon how much he read comments online, he said he read sparingly: “It’s your job not to listen.” (Then I interviewed, separately, Overmyer and Treme producer Nina Noble. “I don’t read at all, and he reads everything,” Overmyer said, gesturing down the street at Simon. “Somewhat,” Noble said. “But not as obsessively as he does,” shooting Simon a glance.)

And this great Tom Fontana quote:

“Before I hired him on Homicide, when he was a reporter defending truth, justice, and the Baltimore homicide unit, anything he thought I did wrong on that subject was an insult,” he says. “He would be in my office and in my face and very prickly. But over time I came to love him for it. And when he got downsized, he came to me and he said—he said, ‘I want to make TV.’ And then he was my bitch. You just have to wait long enough.”

[Eegah]

My mother is buying HBO just for this series (though the upcoming Game of Thrones doesn't hurt either), after our whole family devoured The Wire on DVD. Great to see all the positive reviews.

[praeceptrix]

Yeah, I keep planning to cancel my HBO, but then they have another David Simon show &... I can't. Plus, they've been showing promos for Boardwalk Empire, with Omar, er, Michael K. Williams. Can't not see that!

I can't wait to see Wendell Pierce & Clarke Peters on my tv again!

[Ailine]

Well that did not disappoint. I want a) a giant plate of beignets and b)the next four eps, stat.

[Eegah]

My only complaint is that I had big trouble catching the names of every character besides Kermit. Thankfully I recorded it so watching with captions on should clear that up.

Otherwise, David Simon is back, baby! The use of the city itself as the main character, the disperate stories that link in unexpected ways, the lack of non-natural music, is all like seeing the return of an old friend.

[revbfc]

I'll say it: after one episode, I am hooked. I do have one question though. Could someone explain the Indian Chief thing? Is it just a Mardis Gras thing, or is there more to it? Any answers will be greatly appreciated.

[ridethemaverick]

I loved it. David has done it again!

[Chrysmus]

There is a lot more to the Mardi Gras Indians than just Mardi Gras. There is a long history. It's a family tradition for the men in the tribes and the making of the outfits is handed on from man to boy. the outfits are handmade every year by the boys and men. They burn there outfits at the end of the year and start over for the next year. And if I'm right, you can't just BECOME a Mardi Gras Indian. It is something that is handed down.

The songs (calls) they sing are unique to each tribe. Here is an interesting article on their history. They are very elusive on Mardi Gras Day because they don't have a set route. Their biggest day is Saint Joseph's Day when you can catch them the Downtown Tribes around Bayou St. John & Esplanade Ave. or the Uptown Tribes at Washington & LaSalle streets. Also, sometimes some of the tribes perform at Jazz Fest.

I've likened finding a Mardi Gras Indian on Mardi Grad day to finding a unicorn. I think Ken Burns has a great documentary that includes the Mardi Gras Indians.

That last scene with the gentleman showing up in full regalia to ask for help was very powerful. Putting that outfit on is no joke.

Edited by Chrysmus, Apr 11, 2010 @ 11:04 PM.

[revbfc]

Thank you, Chrysmus!

[ridethemaverick]

Yes, thank you Chrysmus! I was wondering about that too. Even without knowing the history, that scene moved me. The actors nailed it.

[Chrysmus]

I didn't grow up near Treme so I was wondering, are the roving second lines really that regular?

[alynch]

I didn't grow up near Treme so I was wondering, are the roving second lines really that regular?

Zahn's character mentioned that it was the first second line since the storm, so I don't think they were trying to portray it as a regular occurrence, just as a cool way to open the series.

Now, it seems silly and more than a little unfair to compare this to The Wire already, but I will say that this show definitely has a better pilot. After The Wire pilot I was left thinking, "It's okay. I'll give it a few more episodes," which thankfully paid off. This on the other hand was a legitimately great episode of television. It certainly did a much better job of establishing the core characters than The Wire pilot, which was basically The McNulty & Dee Show.

[Eegah]

I've made a page for the show on TV Tropes. Hopefully it'll get more filled in by the show's many, many fans.

http://tvtropes.org/....php/Main/Treme

[cdelucca]

Wow I am hopeing this show does NOLA justice, I am a lifelong resident and been seeing all the filming in the neighborhood! I just have one problem..... In the scene with John Goodman and his wife putting up the groceries, umm we never filled up our fridge full of food, power was way sporadic after the storm, lol! The scene with the guy (don't know his name yet) cleaning out his home and walking on that disgusting mud killed me. It was cool to see my neighborhood in the scenes though! WHO DAT!

[selkie]

How bad was the wind damage after the storm? Seems like they should have been a lot more blue roofs given the series' time frame, and it kind of kept distracting me. The Army Corps of Engineers is usually pretty with it for that program.

[neciamorris]

Selkie there was wind damage in the city, but here's the thing, when 3-8 feet of water sits inside your house for 45 days, a leak in the roof is the least of your problems. But yes, the Corp was throwing up blue roofs left and right, but you had to call them. The city was on lock down for those 45 days, everyone on the East bank had to clear out, so the city had only been reopened for about 45 days when the series begins. Like Robinette's hauling service, they were just getting started.

Edited by neciamorris, Apr 12, 2010 @ 12:30 AM.

[LaVieDouce]

That last scene was amazing. I loved the whole show. I will definitely be tuning in next week.