“I can’t think of another show that is more emblematic of what we aspire to be as a network than TREME…We are thrilled that the press has recognized the profound artistry and intelligence of this show and are eager to see where David and Eric take us in a second season.” Looka! I haven’t yet boarded the Treme train which left the station this past Sunday — no Home Box Office ’round these parts just yet. Nonetheless, HBO has already ordered up a second season, and I can’t wait to catch up.
Tag: Treme
The Sultan Plays Creole. | Time to Cook.
David Simon’s Treme, his long-awaited follow-up to The Wire about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans (and starring Wendell “Bunk” Pierce, Clarke “Freamon” Peters, Steve Zahn, Khandi Alexander of The Corner, Kim Dickens of Deadwood, and Melissa Leo of Homicide), gets a Home Box Office teaser and a start date: Sunday, April 11. Sounds like it’s almost time for the (HBO) re-up.
Update: Speaking of which, it’s almost time to cook: Also coming up on the television schedule this spring, Season 3 of Breaking Bad begins March 21 on AMC. Until then, stay out of Walt’s territory.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
“The pilot is about a bunch of intersecting lives in the world of horse racing,” Milch told Daily Variety. “It’s a subject which has engaged and some might say has compelled me for 50 years. I’ve joked that if I just can make $25 million on this show, I’ll be even on research expenses.” This might be interesting — Deadwood‘s David Milch and Michael Mann are coming together for Luck, a new 1-hour pilot for HBO.
Sure, Milch’s John from Cincinnati basically went off the rails and was close to unwatchable. Still, with this, Tom McCarthy’s A Game of Thrones, and David Simon’s Treme on the docket, I might actually re-up for HBO one of these days.
Still Mad as Hell (with Truths to Tell.)
“It’s one thing to recognize capitalism for the powerful economic tool it is and to acknowledge that, for better or for worse, we’re stuck with it and, hey, thank God we have it. There’s not a lot else that can produce mass wealth with the dexterity that capitalism can. But to mistake it for a social framework is an incredible intellectual corruption and it’s one that the West has accepted as a given since 1980–since Reagan…People paid a much higher tax rate when Eisenhower was president, a much higher tax rate for the benefit of society, and all of us had more of a sense that we were included.”
By way of DYFL, Vice Magazine publishes an extended interview with David Simon on The Wire Treme, writing, political economy, health care reform, and other important matters. “Of course it’s socialism. These ignorant motherf**kers. What do they think group insurance is, other than socialism? Just the idea of buying group insurance! If socialism is a taint that you cannot abide by, then, goddamn it, you shouldn’t be in any group insurance policy.“
This ain’t Aruba either.
Detectives Bunk and Freamon, y’all’s transfer has come in: The Wire‘s Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters will rejoin David Simon for his new NOLA show, Treme. “Pierce will play Antoine Batiste, an accomplished jazz trombonist who is now scratching for gigs, trying to support a live-in girlfriend and a new baby, while still carrying a torch for a failed marriage…Peters will play Albert Lambreaux, a big chief of the White Feather Nation trying to bring the tribe’s members home.“
Years of Hope, Days of Madness. | HBO 2.0.
“I can start the story fresh, and at the same time there will be all these events that happened in between that will provide additional storytelling energy.” Don Draper’s destination? 1969. Apparently, Matthew Weiner and Mad Men have a five-season, ten-year mission, and will jump a year or so ahead after every season. (As noted here, Season 2 picks up on Valentines Day, 1962.)
Also in TV news, HBO announces its upcoming slate, which includes Treme (“Trah-May“, a.k.a. David Simon in Nola), True Blood (Alan Ball does Southern Gothic), more Curb, a Scorsese project, and — alas — absolutely no Deadwood.