Treme

[Pidgeon]

So, if I can't stand jazz and don't really care one way or t'other about New Orleans, should I bother watching this show? 

I feel like every time a one-hour premium cable drama debuts, it's just another attempt to fill the hole left by The Sopranos.  Even The Pacific isn't getting the job done, and all that show really needed to do was follow Band Of Brothers after it had successfully blown open the doors to our hearts.

But nothing's drawing me in anymore. 

I just don't think that the war in the Pacific is nearly as interesting as the one in Europe.

[Matt]

So, if I can't stand jazz and don't really care one way or t'other about New Orleans, should I bother watching this show?  

I feel like every time a one-hour premium cable drama debuts, it's just another attempt to fill the hole left by The Sopranos.  Even The Pacific isn't getting the job done, and all that show really needed to do was follow Band Of Brothers after it had successfully blown open the doors to our hearts.

But nothing's drawing me in anymore.  

The real question is whether or not you like The Wire.

I haven't seen one episode of The Wire, and I like Treme just fine. Still haven't seen all of last night's episode, though. I wasn't particularly impressed by the Roy Blount and Tom Franklin cameos. We're on board with the characters now, guys. Knock it off with the cameos already. Do you think they'll still be pulling shit like this in Season 4?

[Gilly]

I like the cameos and all of the music. No offense to Baltimore, but Treme needs to celebrate the culture a lot more than The Wire did. But, the last episode did a great job of setting up the tone of the series I think.

[meamsean]

At first I was low on the show, but I keep reminding myself that the wire started slow too. The show has really picked up in the last few episodes.

There are some really unlikeable characters on the show - chiefly that dutch pianist thats jealous and overprotective of his hot and talented girlfriend. But whenever I see an actor from the wire pop up (like slim thug as the guy who stole the lost' brother's identity) I'm pretty happy. And the music which I didn't like much at first is growing on me. I even started listening to some soul.

The biggest qualm BY FAR for me is the incessant self pitying / griping / yelling about katrina and how the city is fucked up. I know, it's reasonable to a certain degree. But do people really walk around like "Hows it goin", "not bad, fuckin fema!". It starts to grate on my nerves after a bit. Don't they ever just talk about random stuff?

But overall I'm really liking it - especially Steve Zahn and Clark Peters. Classic Simon in not explaining anything about the indian customs he participates in - i'm excited to see what it's all about, the history and so on.

[meamsean]

also, I LOVE the woman who runs the restaurant and her assistant chef. She is a great character and just a great actor in general - she's been on deadwood, lost, and a bunch of other shows.

[erika]

The biggest qualm BY FAR for me is the incessant self pitying / griping / yelling about katrina and how the city is fucked up. I know, it's reasonable to a certain degree. But do people really walk around like "Hows it goin", "not bad, fuckin fema!". It starts to grate on my nerves after a bit. Don't they ever just talk about random stuff?

You do realize this takes place right after Katrina, right? I think if you lived there and you were still finding bodies and the utilities still weren't working properly and your house was still gutted and smelling of rotting wood, you might be preoccupied with that. Not to mention the fact that most of the city's population still hadn't returned.

[meamsean]

fair enough, good point. sometimes i forget it's set that far back but they do give some clear indications (the newness of youtube). But that stuff shifts the balance from story to editorial, I think, more than they ever did on the wire. I like Treme better when it shows how profoundly messed up the city was (the dead guy under the boat, constant  break ins and robberies, tensions between social groups) rather than when the characters talk about how angry they are.

On the wire, the gripes about the police department ("I wonder what it's like to work for a real police department" etc) didn't tell you as much about the disfunction of the system as actually watching it misfire and fail so many people.

[erika]

Eh The Wire wasn't that straightforward... it was full of editorial. I think because people know more about NOLA in general, they're being a lot tougher on it than they were on The Wire. Both deserve criticisms... it's not like The Wire was some objective look at Baltimore.

They really do need to ease up on the cameos though.

Also, this past episode was about the first parade after Katrina. I think they're being pretty clear about the timeframe.

[Chris L]

They really do need to ease up on the cameos though.

Either that, or changing the title to Jazz Entourage might help.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I have been enjoying it so far. I am finding spotting people from the Wire snaps me out of the story for a minute, but as the series progresses I should see them as the characters rather than the actors. This is a problem I have in general, tho ('hey look! It's Venus Flytrap as the judge! Venus Flytrap, remember him?')

The Steve Zahn character seems to divide people, but I have liked him. That's kind of what Steve Zahn does. Also agreed that the keyboard street musician is really unlikeable. That's not going to end well.

[Sarah]

Since when does one have to like every character anyway?  I've watched to the bitter end plenty of shows with unlikable characters.

[Steve of Bloomington]

Since when does one have to like every character anyway?  I've watched to the bitter end plenty of shows with unlikable characters.

Yeah, you really have to have unlikeable characters, this ain't Amelior Regained...

[Joe Rogaine]

It was good to see Venus Flytrap has moved up in the world after that radio gig in Cincinnati.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I've often wondered, wondered whatever became of he.

[Joe Rogaine]

I wonder if we will ever know what happened to Heineken man.