Treme (TV series)
Treme (/trəˈmeɪ/ trə-MAY) is an American drama television series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that aired on HBO. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, and concluded on December 29, 2013, comprising four seasons and 36 episodes. The series features an ensemble cast including Khandi Alexander, Rob Brown, Chris Coy, Kim Dickens, India Ennenga, John Goodman, Michiel Huisman, Melissa Leo, Lucia Micarelli, David Morse, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Jon Seda and Steve Zahn, as well as musical performances by several New Orleans-based artists.
Treme
"The Treme Song" by John Boutté
United States
English
4
36 (list of episodes)
Joseph Incaprera
58–88 minutes
- Blown Deadline Productions
- HBO Entertainment
April 11, 2010 –
December 29, 2013
The series takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans.[1][2] It begins three months after Hurricane Katrina as the residents, including musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians, and other New Orleanians try to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their unique culture in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane and the subsequent severe flooding of the city.[3][4][2][5]
It received generally favorable reviews, particularly for its performances by the cast and musical performers, as well as for its realistic portrayal of New Orleans culture.
Production[edit]
Conception[edit]
David Simon and Eric Overmyer first worked together as writers on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street and became friends.[10][11] They collaborated again on Simon's series The Wire when Overmyer joined the crew as a consulting producer and writer in 2006.[12][11] Treme was put into development by HBO in 2008 shortly after the conclusion of The Wire. The show was to focus on the working-class Tremé neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and is smaller in scope than The Wire, which examined an entire city.[13][11]
Overmyer lived part-time in New Orleans and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories.[13] Simon stated the series would explore New Orleans culture including and beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.[1] Simon also consulted with New Orleans musicians Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan, local chef Susan Spicer, and civil-rights attorney Mary Howell while developing the series.[14][15][16]
Development[edit]
In 2008, HBO commissioned a pilot episode for the series, but did not "green-light" a complete series at that time.[11] The pilot was announced at the 2008 Television Critics Association summer press tour.[2] Simon initially hoped to film the pilot episode of the series in 2008 and to continue filming in 2009 if the series was commissioned.[1] The series was planned to film on location and was predicted to be a boost to the New Orleans economy.[1]
The pilot did not actually begin filming in New Orleans until March 9, 2009.[17] Award-winning Polish director Agnieszka Holland was hired to direct the pilot.[17] Holland had worked with the creators previously on The Wire, directing three episodes of that series. After the Treme pilot was written, HBO commissioned another 10 scripts.
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Reception by television critics has been very positive.[38][39][40] The New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley viewed the series as a sign of the city's inextinguishable joie de vivre.[41] Salon's Heather Havrilesky remarked that Treme "epitomizes the sort of great storytelling we all thirst for on TV but rarely find."[42]
Adolph L. Reed Jr. (professor of political science at University of Pennsylvania) has criticized the series for its clichéd portrayal of the city and the issues around Katrina.[43]
Local response[edit]
New Orleanians waited cautiously for the series premiere of Treme, but quickly embraced the show as an accurate and honest representation of the city.[44][45] The Times-Picayune writer Dave Walker expressed the city's collective sentiment that Treme is "the screen depiction that New Orleans deserves, has always desired, but has been denied."[46] While Simon attempted to recreate post-Katrina New Orleans with precision, he did confess a willingness to include subtle anachronisms such as the inclusion of a Hubig's pie in the first episode when such pies were still unavailable.[47]
Simon prefaced the airing of the first episode with a letter in The Times-Picayune promising not perfect historical accuracy but a treatment "respectful of the historical reality."[48] Treme includes many location-specific references, as did Simon's The Wire. In response, The Times-Picayune published a weekly debriefing of each episode's unexplained New Orleans references called "Treme Explained".[49]
Accolades[edit]
For the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Agnieszka Holland was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode, "Do You Know What It Means", and Steve Earle was nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the song "This City". For the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, for its shortened fourth and final season, it received nominations for Outstanding Miniseries; Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special; and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special for the series finale episode written by Simon and Overmyer; and won for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie.[50]
For the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the season-one soundtrack was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television, or other Visual Media, and the song "This City" by Steve Earle, was nominated for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[51]
The series was awarded with a 2011 Peabody Award.[52]
Home media[edit]
DVD and Blu-ray[edit]
The first season of Treme was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on March 29, 2011,[84] in region 2 on May 30, 2011,[85] and in region 4 on March 30, 2011.[86] The extras include two documentaries—"The Making of Treme" and "Treme: Beyond Bourbon Street", as well as "The Music of Treme", a text-only feature displaying the song information during the episodes. The Blu-ray includes the same extras plus an exclusive featurette, "Down in the Treme: A Look at the Music and Culture of New Orleans", another text-only feature displaying information about the music, slang, locations, and characters.[87]
The sets also include five commentary tracks—"Do You Know What It Means" with co-creators/executive producers David Simon and Eric Overmyer; "Right Place, Wrong Time" with Wendell Pierce, Khandi Alexander, and TV critic Alan Sepinwall; "All on a Mardi Gras Day" with Overmyer and producer/director Anthony Hemingway; "Wish Someone Would Care" with producer/writer George Pelecanos and John Goodman; and "I'll Fly Away" with Simon and executive producer Nina Kostroff Noble. Scene-specific commentaries for all music sections in each episode are done by WWOZ FM-90.7 alum Josh Jackson and Patrick Jarenwattananon, who wrote analyses of Treme's music on NPR.org.[87]
The second season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on April 17, 2012,[88] in region 2 on May 28, 2012,[89] and in region 4 on April 4, 2012.[90] Extras include three featurettes–"The Art of Treme", "Behind Treme: Food for Thought", and "Behind Treme: Clarke Peters and the Mardi Gras Indians, as well as "The Music of Treme, a text-only feature displaying the song information during the episodes. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is "Down in the Treme: A Look at the Music and Culture of New Orleans", another text-only feature displaying information about the music, slang, locations, and characters.[91]
The sets also include four commentary tracks–"Accentuate the Positive" with director Anthony Hemingway, and actors Kim Dickens and Lucia Micarelli; "Carnival Time" with director Brad Anderson and music supervisor Blake Leyh; "What Is New Orleans?" with writer George Pelecanos and actors Clarke Peters and Rob Brown; and "Do Whatcha Wanna" with creator David Simon, executive producer Nina Kostroff Noble, and actor Wendell Pierce. Like the previous-season release, scene-specific commentaries for all music sections in each episode are done by WBGO's Josh Jackson and NPR Music's Patrick Jarenwattananon.[91]
The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on November 19, 2013,[92] in region 2 on September 30, 2013,[93] and in region 4 on October 23, 2013.[94] Extras include three featurettes–"Behind Treme: Chef Dinner", "Behind Treme: Neville Brothers", and "Behind Treme: David Simon". Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is "The Music of Treme, a text-only feature displaying the song information during the episodes and "Down in the Treme: A Look at the Music and Culture of New Orleans", another text-only feature displaying information about the music, slang, locations, and characters. The sets also include five audio commentary tracks and scene-specific commentaries for all music sections in each episode by WBGO's Josh Jackson and NPR Music's Patrick Jarenwattananon.[95]
The fourth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on January 28, 2014. Extras include two audio commentaries, for "Yes We Can Can" with creator David Simon and writer George Pelecanos, and for "To Miss New Orleans" with Simon, executive producer Nina Noble and actor Clarke Peters.[96] A complete series Blu-ray box set was also released on January 28, 2014, containing all the episodes and special features from the individual season releases and a bonus disc containing 71 minutes of musical performances featured in the series.[97]
Soundtrack[edit]
Treme: Music From the HBO Original Series, Season 1 was released by Geffen Records on September 28, 2010. The soundtrack includes 19 songs featured in the first season by several jazz artists who appeared on the show, as well as songs performed by cast members.[98] The soundtrack received two Grammy nominations, for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and for "This City" by Steve Earle as Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.[87] A second soundtrack, featuring 18 songs in the second season was released on April 17, 2012.[99]