Treme

[Moosferatu]

Does anyone know if Treme is available anywhere online through legit channels? It's disappointing that HBO's stuff on Amazon isn't current.

Anyone watch it yet?

[thl]

I watched it last night. The first episode is 90 minutes long and feels kind of like a movie except there's no conflict or climax.

Certainly the filmmaking is top notch. The acting is authentic and the music gave me chills several times during the show. I've never lived IN New Orleans but I live kinda close to it and have soaked up a tiny bit of Louisiana culture and this show seems to me to be the first to really capture its spirit rather than either a) exploit it just for its location or tell you how great it is to live there but make you feel like you'd never understand if you didn't go there.

I'm a tiny bit worried about the show's progression. I'm guessing it's going to be very character-based and ultimately end up going wherever it goes. Sometimes that works (Deadwood), but other times it doesn't (John from Cincinnati). I guess it's just that with The Wire You had such a clear proclamation in that first episode that this is what it is: McNulty chasing after Barksdale. With this, the first episode, while still totally engaging and it had me worried about when it would stop, just kind of establishes the characters in a one-day-in-the-life fashion and doesn't really incite any action. Of course, the way The Wire worked was that you thought the show was really slow at first until you got to the end and then you realized how important the things in the first episode were, so I'm just eagerly awaiting more to find out!

I'm curious to hear what ThunderPeel thinks since I know he's a fellow David Simon fan.

[thl]

bump a bit because the second episode was just as good as the first in my opinion. I heard the ratings haven't been solid (something terrible like a 50% drop-off from it's lead-in, the mega-epic miniseries The Pacific) but they already renewed a second season. After the second episode I couldn't be less concerned with plot because I really like pretty much all the characters and just want to see more of them.

[brkl]

I haven't seen the second episode yet but that DJ was perhaps the most annoying and pointless character I've seen in years.

[MrHoatzin]

Apparently, since Katrina there's been a large influx of idealistic educated white kids into the city from all over the states. I think he's supposed to be one of them.

[ysbreker]

He was there before katrina. So I don't think he can be counted as post-katrina influx coming for the 'authenticity'.

[MrHoatzin]

Feh.

/me shrugs

[thl]

from HBO - http://www.hbo.com/#/treme/cast-and-crew/davis-mcalary/bio/davis-mcalary.html

A part-time DJ, aspiring songwriter and music scenester, with family roots in Uptown, he now resides in the Treme. A fierce defender of the city's music and culture.

I like him because his passion completely obliterates his self-preservation gene. I see him much like McNulty in that way where he is so concerned for what is right he has no time to realize he's completely ineffective.

[Chris]

I am also curious as to whether there is a way to watch this show other than when it airs on HBO. I'm guessing I'll just have to wait for DVD. It's really ridiculous that we still can't just buy subscriptions to individual networks over the internet. They'd get a lot more money from me than they do right now, since I have no intention of subscribing to cable television ever again.

[MrHoatzin]

I am shocked this kind of sentiment hasn't attained critical mass to be noticed by the management. HBO of all stations is probably the best positioned to charge the internet for its content.

[Wurtsi]

You could always try Pirate Bay. I watch a lot of quality american television that way. Half of all the awesome stuff take forever to air here.

[MrHoatzin]

Pirate Bay is no more. Don't use that shit. I got badly virused a little while ago through Pirate Bay, forgetting they've been sued out of existence and sold to who knows who.

[Wurtsi]

It's pretty safe if you just stick with the original uploaders you know are reliable. It's been age since I've gotten a virus or trojan of any kind through torrenting. "eztv" is for example the dude I get my TV shows through...

Is it against forum rules to talk about this shit here?

[brkl]

Probably not, but there's a lot of people here who make the stuff that gets warezed, so there's less understanding for piracy than in some corners in the internet. That said, personally I pirate TV series all the time and will continue to do so until someone offers me a convenient and high quality alternative.

[owenjones]

I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I wish there were more dramas like this, I feel like if you have the patience, shows like this can pay off so well at the end. Disappointed about the ratings though, I think this is much better than The Pacific.

Did anyone else enjoy Slim Charles' cameo at the end of episode 2?

[thl]

Did anyone else enjoy Slim Charles' cameo at the end of episode 2?

Hells yeah! I hope the trend continues, although on the back end, Ed Burns, Rafael Alvarez, and my boy George Pelecanos look to be absent from the writing and producing credits. I guess Simon traded his Baltimore crew for people more Nola-seasoned (with the exception of Eric Overmeyer and Nina K Noble). I wonder what Ed Burns is up to. He seemed to be the primary force with Generation Kill while Simon finished up The Wire. I hope there wasn't some acrimonious split like with Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan.

[Chris]

You could always try Pirate Bay. I watch a lot of quality american television that way. Half of all the awesome stuff take forever to air here.

If I wanted to pirate something, which I don't because that sucks, I would be aware that is an option. I'm going to request as of now that locations to pirate copyrighted material not be discussed on this forum.

[Wurtsi]

[Murdoc]

I'm pretty unimpressed with the series so far. It could just be because I don't care about New Orleans(though its a cool setting) or Jazz. So it just might be my interests but I'd rather have seen cops or journalists in NO.

So far the whole thing feels like a reason to have cameos from musicians I don't know and people from the Wire and other HBO series. John Goodman is also very out of place. The casting just seems odd, like the "unknowns" are actually too well known and the rest seems to be remnants from other HBO series. This might be more of my issue then anything, but when I see people who have played iconic roles(and pretty much every main character has) then all I see is the actor playing another person rather then the character they were supposed to be embodying(like they did with their iconic role)

I'm still watching it, but so far it feels like a series made by someone else with the wire dude's name attached and he gets his 5 minutes of social commentary into an episode then the rest is either music interludes or someone else's show. I like bits about it and episode 3 has been my favorite so far, but something about it just isn't gripping me immediately like other shows I am in love with have.

You can say it's a character show and it is, but so was the Wire in a lot of ways. But I dunno, there seems to be too many characters to get anything substantial out of an episode so it feels like we're treading water in most of these, because out of 4 episodes not a lot has progressed with any of them.

A bit disappointed that it's no Wire(yet?) or Generation Kill; I also can name several HBO shows I'd rather have seen not cancelled then have seen Treme get made... but those are unrelated things, but my brain feels it necessary to connect it.

I think The Wire was the greatest tv series ever made, so maybe my expectations for this was a little high?

[Thyroid]

I think The Wire was the greatest tv series ever made, so maybe my expectations for this was a little high?

Probably.

From the way you describe the show, it seems like it's a Nothing Ever Happens kind of deal. I'm usually okay with that, if the characters and dialogue are particularly good. ("Particularly good" for characters means "more like real human beings than bad literary archetypes", at least in this kind of show.)

My interest in this basically stemmed from the realization that I couldn't write anything about New Orleans, by which I mean that I can usually think of some idea for a story, no matter how unfully realized, when I'm given a set of rules ("Make it about Paris", "Set it in Lebanon and make it about a young man struggling with the idea of blowing himself up", etc), but can't think of anything when it comes to New Orleans. From the reviews, it seems that it's specifically about the music of New Orleans. It's also set post-Katrina. That seems more like the basis for a large novel, not a TV show. And that's why it's so darn interesting. But it doesn't sound like a particularly fast-moving story.

Maybe a second season's needed for things to pick up? Thunderpeel and my friend Ahmed have both mentioned that The Wire never really picks up until the second half of its overall run. (Man, am I excited to watch the first season this June or what.) Or maybe they just decided to distance themselves as much as they could from The Wire? You make something that beloved, you probably want to try a different approach next time.

[brkl]

I really can't agree about the characters. John Goodman is great. The last episode I saw I was actually sort of surprised when I saw his name in the end credits again. "Oh right, that guy is John Goodman. " He fits the part perfectly and just does some proper acting. I had some trouble with the Wire people, but not after the first episode.

Also, I've seen enough procedurals.

[Murdoc]

It's also set post-Katrina. That seems more like the basis for a large novel, not a TV show. And that's why it's so darn interesting. But it doesn't sound like a particularly fast-moving story.

Maybe a second season's needed for things to pick up? Thunderpeel and my friend Ahmed have both mentioned that The Wire never really picks up until the second half of its overall run. (Man, am I excited to watch the first season this June or what.) Or maybe they just decided to distance themselves as much as they could from The Wire? You make something that beloved, you probably want to try a different approach next time.

It isn't fast paced, that's fine, but there isn't A story. It's more just character stories but I find there are way too many characters to properly follow so having a broad goal to keep it going would be nice. Like the wire had a huge cast of characters and each had their own thing going on, but it was all tied together with the investigation. Imagine the wire without the investigation and about 2% of the social subtext.

Also don't get me wrong, it's still well done for whatever it is, it's just not gripping from the get go and I'm wondering if it can keep my attention; so far I don't think so. Most tv shows will figure out what they are about in the second and third season, but if the foundation is less then interesting for me I don't bother. This is just what it feels like to me, I'm not applying it to everyone.

@brkl; alright, maybe it's just me, I like Goodman but he doesn't blend into roles very much, he either Dan from Rosan or Walter from lebowski (in other words a guy or a sweary guy) Treme seems to be channeling Walter more often then not.

[thl]

Most of the characters on the show are based very closely on real people who are either notable in the community or actually hired on the show as consultants. (more details here: http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/meet_the_real_new_orleanians_w.html). Seeing pictures of their real-life counterparts, it's suddenly not so jarring for me to see Steve Zahn or John Goodman because they actually physically resemble their inspirations.

I dunno. the show makes sense to me at this point. I can't deny comments on its music video nature and lack of driving plot, but to me those sound more like personal taste than criticism.

Compared to Simon's work on The Corner, Treme fits very well with his style. He's always placed a premium on character (which is partially why The Wire is so well-regarded) but I'd say he's equally comfortable with just hanging out and having a really meticulous series of causes and effects.

And for anyone who saw The Wire on first broadcast, try to think back to what it was like watching that first season week by week. It felt excruciatingly slow at first. It took them 6 episodes just to get the wire up! I think the later seasons only seemed faster because we had a trust that what we were seeing in the first episodes would pay off in the end.

And HBO is pretty notable for recirculating their actors in different shows. Ron Livingston got his Sex and the City gig after enduring Band of Brothers, Herc has popped up on Entourage, and a whole bevvy of actors in The Wire appeared in The Corner and Oz. I personally like it, like little inside references to the network itself. Plus those guys are just good actors. I loved hearing Slim Charles actually have some lines and completely buy him as a hardened criminal.

Ultimately, I respect what Simon's trying to do and find more than enough to enjoy in the quality of writing, character work, and music to keep me going. We'll see what develops!