TV22: Treme

Let’s go back a couple of years to another slow-moving favourite that many people missed: Treme (pronounced trem-ay; don’t know why the title isn’t accented like the neighbourhood in New Orleans that gives it its name). The four seasons of Treme, which was created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer, aired on HBO from 2010 to 2013. 

Set in New Orleans three months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Treme follows the lives of a number of New Orleanians as they try to put their lives back together after the traumatic event, not neglecting the political and corporate insanity which made life more difficult for those who were struggling to rebuild. The show focuses especially on musicians and contains a lot of typical New Orleans music (i.e. jazz and blues) sung by many different artists.

Treme features a marvellous ensemble cast, including Khandi Alexander, Rob Brown, Kim Dickens, India Ennenga, John Goodman, Michael Huisman, Melissa Leo, David Morse, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce and Steve Zahn.

The first season of Treme was superb (John Goodman's character and performance being a major highlight), but there was a steady if gradual decline in quality in each of the subsequent seasons. Still, Treme remains one of the best examples of cable serial TV and is definitely worth watching (language warning), especially if you're a jazz fan (I'm not much of a jazz and blues fan but still loved the music of Treme).

Treme gets ****. My mug is up.