SummaryPremiere Date: April 11th, 2010. This musician-themed HBO TV series is set in a New Orleans neighborhood. From the creator who brought you The Wire (David Simon), "Treme" follows the lives of struggling artists and musicians in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"Treme" refers to one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans where the Afr...
SummaryPremiere Date: April 11th, 2010. This musician-themed HBO TV series is set in a New Orleans neighborhood. From the creator who brought you The Wire (David Simon), "Treme" follows the lives of struggling artists and musicians in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"Treme" refers to one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans where the Afr...
Treme puts everything into every scene. The camerawork is rich and the direction squeezes every nuance from the actors. The city's history has been painstakingly researched and effortlessly inserted into the writing. As a result, the moments-or notes-that make up this show are all that much richer, that much livelier.
With all four having come and gone, I am convinced that the first season of Treme is the best. Perhaps because it's closer to the trauma that informs the narrative. Perhaps because of the novelty of a series that cuts between conventional dialogue scenes and musical performances. Perhaps for purely sentimental reasons.
Treme is an easy show to criticize. Its pace is glacial, and unlike The Wire, its not just light on action, it's light on drama. I'll be the first to tell you that not a whole lot happens. It's more just getting to know the people. And its overflowing with treacly sentimentality, treating New Orleans the way that rabid fans of anything are wont to do.
It's watchable simply because its beautiful. The locations, the characters, and the hints of story that do work their way in, are sometimes politically interesting but always aesthetically powerful.
Unlike later seasons, this one has a satisfying capstone ending, and by all means I encourage not only starting but sticking with this show, especially now that you can view it more quickly through streaming services or on DVD.
A unique series that has an unusual blend of real people (musicians) mixed with actors portraying fictional characters. The music of the show is nothing short of amazing. One other unique trait of this series is that the plot does not drive to "hook" you into watching another episode right away all episodes stand well on their own, no games are being played to trick you into watching another until you are ready, which makes it one of the few shows you can savour over a few weeks or months.
Treme, probably more than any piece of cinematic fiction set in New Orleans, feels like an authentic experience. As you watch it--and slowly savor it--you can practically taste the red beans and rice.
Treme takes us beyond the tourists' view, beyond the canned performances and ersatz Big Easiness, into the soul of a uniquely fragile American city built on a bedrock of pride.
Unlike "The Wire," the pacing is lazy. Many of the moments seem authentic, but to paraphrase director Alfred Hitchcock: A good show is life minus the boring parts.
Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald accuses the pacing of Treme as being "lazy." I believe Mr. Perigard has missed out on the most beautiful aspect of Treme: the pacing is the city itself. What do citizens do, waiting for a miracle to restore their lives back to normal, drinking, playing music, sharing intimate slow moments in the passing of time in a city that is itself an anachronism. Treme is nearly a perfect analog for life. The forgotten, overlooked joy and dispair as they interplay in the most disastrous of circumstances: "we're all going crazy, and having a good time." The acting is on mark to a line, casting tremendous. Did Mr. Perigard know that modern New Orleans Jazz fame has its roots in high school marching bands, now blowing through mouthpieces of instruments their schools can't afford to buy. The helping of skilled lawyers and musicians to pull their people up from the muck, literally and figuratively, through their generosity, foul mouthed honesty, and real humanity, calling a spade a spade. Boston is not New Orleans. Simon's approach to taking us there is that of allowing us to sit, to dwell, to marvel in what could be mistaken for mundane, but is in reality, sublime.
Created by the same team that brought us The Wire I was certainly looking forward to watching Treme. I have now watched the entire first season and Treme does reproduce much of what made The Wire so great namely a well written script, realistic plot development, interesting characters and some fantastic acting.
As with The Wire however, Treme can also be slightly slow in places but, where as The Wire always had the constant conflict between and amongst the criminals and law enforcement to retain viewer interest during slower periods, there is no over arching story within Treme that is able to recreate what kept me hooked throughout the five seasons of The Wire.
As a result (and I almost hate myself for saying this) I found it incredibly difficult to get into this series and, despite all the positives I mentioned, I will be unlikely to tune into the second season.
As always with HBO shows, my expectations were very high. The setting was exiting, so was the cast; with a lot of familiar faces from "The Wire", possibly the best TV series ever.
The pace of the show is very slow, which is always a high risk. It requires not only patience from the viewer, but also very high quality acting, writing and aesthetics. You cannot hide behind thrill and suspense, to cover other weaknesses. But on the other hand, the ones that have succeeded with this formula, are the best of TV history, in my opinion ("The Wire", "Sopranos", "Six Feet Under").
I was willing to give it some time, as I needed to get into "The Wire" or "Six Feet Under". And I did watch the entire first season, still undecided on whether I liked it or not. Because the show has great, believable portraits of the city of New Orleans, it's unique culture, and how it's people struggle to get their city back on it's feet; but there seemed to something not quite right.
Four episodes into the second season, I've finally had it. Half of the show now, is pretty much live concerts. We got it, New Orleans has a vibrant flair and a great music scene. Give us the stories! You got a show with great actors, and good writers too. The characters have the complexity I'm looking for in a show like this, the stories seem authentic and believable. So why are you wasting our time with never-ending music sessions? As it is now, one might as well watch a travel channel special on New Orleans. I don't need to see endless scenes from bar-room concerts, or marching bands. Give me stories, and the development of them! It's really a pity, because there is enough potential here to make a great series. Maybe the episodes should be cut down to 30-40 minutes?