Anyone else here a fan of Tremé, on HBO? The season premiere was last night. It's one of those shows where not a lot happens, but I still really dig it for the music, the characters and the atmosphere
I'm an unabashed fan. I really love the way Simon approaches ensemble drama. He's like the Altman of TV.
Oh excellent, Jerri. I was afraid I was going to have to make this thread and then probably spend my time talking to myself here. I would love to talk about this but unfortunately I recorded last night's episode and haven't yet watched it. I will be back here just as soon as I do though - I have missed this show. Just so my contribution isn't a complete bust, there's good and bad news on the horizon: Treme will get a fourth and final season after this one, but it will likely be half as many episodes.
I watched the first season and adored it, and then Quat and I got out of the habit of watching TV. So I really need to catch up.
It's no The Wire (but what is, really?), but I've enjoyed watching the first two seasons on DVD for the most part. Every scene with LaDonna in S2 made me want to reach for the FFWD button, though. It seems like the writers didn't really know what to do with her character after the story arc of looking for her missing brother was wrapped up in S1.
I've been rewatching The Wire on HBO Go (because it's there). Last night it was weird seeing Lester and Bunk and Pres all acting like these other people in NO. I'm a big fan of Treme. I see that Anthony Bourdain has been promoted to story credit along with Simon, so I guess that one episode he wrote last season has turned into something. Aside from the ongoing "how did my kid get shot in Katrina?" story, I'm not seeing a lot of dramatic tension. I guess we'll build to it. We've got the new reporter guy, and the new bitchy Republican carpetbagger for new threads. The music is still great.
There is no dramatic tension. That's not the kind of show this is, apparently. It doesn't deal in really big anythings - it's more of an ensemble character piece. I'm taking everything I know here from Alan Seppinwall, however, who really likes it, so maybe it's completely different and he's just bad at talking or I'm bad at hearing. Either way, it's not quite canceled, but it's getting a short fourth season and that will be the end. For reference, the third season just started up, so you'd be looking at this around maybe this time next year.
Well, they've got to keep killing people so they can keep having memorial services with awesome music.
There will be another half-season after this. I shouldn't even be looking at this thread - I'm about 4 or 5 eps behind.
Nobody's posted anything for 4 or 5 episodes anyway. Although we were constantly waiting for something awful to happen to someone.
I saw the first episode of this and the lack of wizards, sexy vampires or space ninjas meant I was bored to shit. It's on my list of things to watch when I have time, though. I feel bad that I didn't get into it.
I was a bit skeptical at first about Treme, but Simon has built up enough cred with me mainly because of The Wire (and to a lesser extent with Generation Kill) that I was willing to give it a shot. I'm glad I did, because even though the baseline material arguably isn't as "sexy" as drug gangs and marines blowing stuff up, Simon has a real gift for writing compelling character-driven storylines and getting some amazing performances out of his actors. As an amateur jazz musician, I also enjoy the musical angle. I'm not terribly surprised about the shortened fourth season. I am pleased that the series lasted long enough to get to a fourth season. Certainly not a tragedy on the level of the Deadwood debacle. It may not be your cup of tea, but I'd say try to give it 2-3 episodes, which is where the characters really start to shine in my opinion.
