Great TV While High: Treme on HBO

Named for and set in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Treme has been an incredible show on for three seasons, which will be capped with a shortened final season on HBO this fall.  While the first episode takes place three months after Hurricane Katrina and a good deal of the story lines feature characters (often based on real people) dealing with the devastating effects of the storm, I’ve decided to include it in this regular Weedist feature for the subject for some of the many other prominent story lines that makes for some great television.  

No show set in New Orleans could possibly not include at least some of the jazz, funk, and many other eclectic styles that the city of New Orleans has for so long been known for. Treme not only includes the music, but also in many cases is about it. Much like co-creator David Simon’s last show for HBO, the unparalleled now-cult cop drama The Wire, Treme features many, many different characters whose lives and stories intertwine. One of the most prominent characters is Antoine Batiste (played by Wire veteran Wendell Pierce), a professional trombone player who floats form gig to gig and eventually sets to forming his own band (and finding his own gigs) by season two and takes a job teaching high school band to pay his family’s bills soon after that. Another prominent character is Albert “Big Chief” Lambreaux (played by Clarke Peters, yet another Wire cast member), a Mardi Gras Indian chief whose son is a professional trumpet player that has to come to terms with his heritage early on in the show, eventually embracing it and making a collaborative album of folkloric/jazz fusion by season two.

Brass band at Mardi Gras

Treme is loaded with inside jokes, details, and other great musical moments, including cameos and performances from everyone from Elvis Costello (in the pilot, no less!) to Steve Earle (who actually has a fairly prominent recurring role) and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  It is one of the first shows I’ve ever seen that’s about musicians in the way that E.R was about doctors, The Practice was about lawyers, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a show about how NOT to partent your children. 

One of the most entertaining characters is “DJ” Davis (played by the always hilarious Steve Zahn), a New Orleans native and burnout radio disc jokey who not only starts his own record label by season two but also writes a rock opera about the storm by season three. His (eventual) girlfriend is also a musician who beings the show playing fiddle on the street and ends season three signed to a major record label.  Great episodes that come to memory involve them going to Jazz Fest (a yearly New Orleans festival whose portrayal in the show just makes me want to go even more) and, of course, Mardi Gras. Major parties and other celebrations that take place in this show could easily double as a tourist ad for the city (at the very least, I’m sold).

With so many characters and major plot lines having to do with music, it’s not a surprise that some episodes feature more scenes with extended musical numbers then not, which is not a bad thing at all, as everyone on the show has some chops (or, as is the case with most actors on the show, they do a good job at faking it).

Other major characters include a professional chef (and plenty of insider-foodie scenes), a civil rights lawyer trying to hold NOLA’s police force accountable for their deplorable behavior during Katrina (played by Oscar-winner Melissa Leo) and a businessman who works his way into the corrupt rebuilding efforts in the city. Like with The Wire, some of the actors in Treme are actually New Orleans natives with little acting experience, which absolutely enhances the setting. The trademark level of detail is brought to every story line, including actual chefs starting as themselves in many prominent restaurants and meticulous detail in many stories.

John Goodman plays a Tulane University professor who is married to Leo’s character and begins to make YouTube rants against the injustices the citizens of New Orleans were forced to witness in the aftermath of Katrina, The writing and Goodman’s typically spot-on portrayal makes his character truly one of the most heartbreaking story lines on the show.

Overall, Treme is an extremely colorful picture of one of the most infamously colorful cities in the world. Even during the heavier parts of the show, there are plenty of great opportunities to sit back with your favorite smoke and enjoy this extremely well done show.

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great TV While High series!