About

“Get in the car and take the ride.  There are few things like this that will come along.” – virgotex

David Simon and New Orleans is a combination that lovers of  good television and the city hoped for in earnest. Miracles have been known to happen: Treme premiered on HBO on Sunday, April 11th 2010.  In response, what else could a New Orleans blogger do but create a blog and invite the krewe to write about a much-anticipated television show set in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and The Flood?

Some of you have watched every episode of Homicide and The Wire many times, and entertain visions of being Bunk and McNulty or having them over for a cold one on your front porch. Others, like me, have imbibed Simon’s work in smaller doses and are in it to see New Orleans on television, to find out what an hour of fictional television each week will do with her. Note that the show isn’t called French Quarter or Garden District. With renowned brass bands, historic architecture, cherished homes and churches, the very core of New Orleans black and Creole life, Treme is the cultural heart and soul of the city. And, sadly, one that struggles to survive and thrive where tourists and even many other New Orleanians fear to tread rich hipsters now buy property, drive up the prices of affordable housing and launch fullscale assaults on the very thing that makes New Orleans: its street music and culture. If the back of town dies in these post-Katrina times, New Orleans dies. I believe Simon gets this.

Whatever your background, please feel free to talk openly about Treme here. You know it’s not just about the show, but everything. Every last damned thing of the past five years and everything to come.  Once again, it’s time for America, for all of us, “to turn and face that bitch and look her squarely in the eye,” as Ray once said in reference to The Wire. And that bitch is a lot more than what continues to happen in New Orleans.

A few basic rules of participation (yes, this is the fine print you sign to play here):

* Please keep it civil and do not feed the trolls. BOT reserves the right to ban commenters for trolling, spamming, author abuse and generally acting the fuckmook.

* This is a blog about a current television show, so please do not read a post about an episode you haven’t yet watched unless you’re like that. That said, there will be no spoilers and discussion of an episode before it has aired at least once on Regular Folks’ TV.

* Please keep your comments related to the show and/or the topic of the current post, not personal inquiries directed at the show’s creators or blog administrators.

* If you post a link to another site, please provide a brief explanation of where the link goes as a courtesy to other readers.

Welcome to the back of town. Welcome to Treme.

Maitri
March 2010