I imagine there are some people out there who want to talk about the debut of “Treme.” Whatever its artistic merits or entertainment value, one thing is certain: there’s an entire city that’s grateful its story is finally being told, as evidenced by these reactions and this guide to the show’s references.
Now, there are people who will complain that the show moved too slowly. And there are probably those who are eager to say that “Treme” isn’t as good as “The Wire” — as if excellent TV isn’t something they can just sit down and enjoy. Hey, it’s not “The Wire 2: McNulty’s Revenge.” It’s a different show about a different city with different themes and a different story to tell. Some people will always be discontent A-holes who refuse to enjoy anything at face value. Wah wah wah “Treme” isn’t “The Wire.” “The Pacific” isn’t “Band of Brothers.” Yeah, and your step-mom isn’t the blowjob artist your mom was, but you don’t see me bitching about it on the Internet.
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It was yawn-tastic.
I’m saving my next HBO boner for Boardwalk Empire.
The f*ck’s a treme?
I thought it was good. Not hooked yet, but Treme + The Pacific is a solid two hours of television.
When I first saw “The Wire”, I wanted to hate it and it ended up being one of my favorite shows. I came into “Treme” the same way, I wanted to hate it, but this time the show managed to live up to every negative expectation I had of it. I really could have gotten over the sentimentality if it wasn’t such a bore. And “The Pacific”, are you still defending this show? Like you said, we we’re promised flamethrowers and epic battles and so far all we’ve gotten is boring character studies.
I just hope nobody ever finds out I was pronouncing it “treeme” in my head until I finally saw the first episode.
I’m not to happy with way it shows the Marines. in BoB they didn’t show 101st knocking out kraut teeth for the gold or something of the kind– in every single episode. So far, it seems like we’re the bad guys. I dunno, maybe just me. I’m still going to watch every episode.
I did enjoy Anna Torv from Fringe getting pounded by Basilone
McNulty’s Revenge would be outstanding. First stop: wherever they make Bushmill’s.
/Steve Zahn was ridiculously annoying in the premiere which opened with his ass shot…not cool
I thought “Treme” got off to a good start. I haven’t seen “The Wire” so I had nothing to compare to “Treme.” But I love the city of New Orleans and the music and I thought the show portrayed it all well for a first episode. I’m interested enough to stick with the show. And I’ve got The Wire in my Netflix queue.
How could anyone say “The Pacific” is boring? I was on the edge of my couch last night when they hit the beach at Peleliu. That was a really intense episode.
you’re crazy about The Ricky Gervais Show.
In my opinion, I’ve always thought that every “Wire” season premiere was terribly boring. David Simon just has so many different character arcs and subplots to introduce that it takes the whole first episode to do it. I’d wait until 3 or 4 eps for Treme to really flesh out what it’s doing.
I thought the writing and acting was on par with the Wire. The plot, however, bored me to death. It was basically an hour and twenty minutes of “Waaah, our homes were destroyed. But we still like loud, awful music!”
@ Enrico Pallazzo
Bushmill’s is a Protestant Whisky, I’d start at the Jamison distillery.
@petercavan- agree 100% on the Steve Zahn character. I enjoyed Treme and think it has a good story to tell, but christ I wanted to shove the Bunk’s trombone up Steve Zahn’s ass
yeah, but does it have a smoke monster?
Please please please please please tell me they cast the guy who played Clay Davis as Ray Nagin.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
For me, at the end of the day, a show about cops chasing drug dealers in Baltimore is going to be a million times more entertaining than a show about struggling musicians in New Orleans.
I enjoyed the music a ton. I also felt that while it was slow moving that isn’t a bad thing. This is not a cop show people it is a show about New Orleans and music and the people that live there and work there. I hesitate to call a show good or bad after one episode. But I am willing to say I did enjoy it enough to watch another one.
Looks like Bunk has dropped his pinstripe lawyerly affectations and adopted the brash tweedy impertinence of Lester Freamon.
New Orleans was an overflowing cesspool before Katrina hit. Katrina just tore the lid off. Then their cops went looting while their people died. A show about the “proud, noble people” of New Orleans? Give me a friggin’ break.
Hey asshole, my step-mom is a sandwich artist, not a blowjob artist! And she’s really more of a blowjob auteur, if you must know.
The first episode of the first and second of The Wire are literally the two weakest (and worst ranked) in the entire series. Shit this layered takes time to establish, thia many three-dimensional characters take time to introduce.
Certainly this first episode of Treme was light on plot and a bit slow, but the salient point is that I like ALL the characters (even Zahn). Thus, I anticipate a long, beautiful feature between me and this show.
Dave Frankel for the win. Just cause New Orleans got pwned by Katrina doesn’t make its residents heroes, it sort of makes them idiots. “Oh no, they suck as human beings but their houses got destroyed, so let’s give em a sappy show about how music brings them together. Sentimental up-its-own-ass kAtrina bullshit just like I said. Done, cancel the show and bring on boardwalk empire.
And “The Pacific”, are you still defending this show? Like you said, we we’re promised flamethrowers and epic battles and so far all we’ve gotten is boring character studies.
I particularly enjoyed last night’s close character study of that marine who was charging the beach and had his head explode like a fucking melon. And that scene with the mortar shells raining down severed hands and feet on Sledge, that was just a statement on the ennui of modern man.
Last night was like the first 20 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan.” If you found it boring, you might want to stop injecting speed directly into your eyeballs.
Just cause New Orleans got pwned by Katrina doesn’t make its residents heroes, it sort of makes them idiots.
Right, and don’t get me started about the Jews in the Holocaust. What a bunch of idiots.
“Treme” started slow, but so did every single season of the Wire. Aside from way too much Steve Zahn and a little too much Clarke Peters in feathers, I thought it was damn hell good.
And this is the fifth episode of the season right? So I take it back, in the 5 hours of “the Pacific” we’ve gotten so far, there was actually 20 minutes or so that we’re pretty cool. So yeah, best show ever right? Did you really just compare that to the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, Come on Otto Man, your reaching and you know it. It’s just not that good, it’s okay, we thought it was going to be awesome and it disappointed us, this happens, don’t try to justify crap.
And comparing the incompetent residents and leaders of New Orleans to the jews in Europe during the holocaust? I don’t want to do an essay for you here, but let’s just say the connection is spurious.
@Mfillmore I’m sorry if your grandad told you otherwise, but American Marines did some bad things in WWII. Doesn’t mean you can’t be proud of them, but they’re men at the end of the day, not saints.
Treme was really boring. A city full of jazz musicians and soul food restaurants. And people wonder why rebuilding it wasn’t a priority.
I’m late to the party as usual. As Sepinwall and everyone else says, Treme is primarily character-driven, where as The Wire was plot driven. That’s fine, but my concern is that, at least in the premiere, which is admittedly a small sampling, a couple of the characters didn’t really endear themselves to me. Bunk is obviously awesome, and I liked Khandi Alexander and the chick running the restaurant.
But John Goodman was an annoying mouthpiece, and Steve Zahn made me want to punch my television. Why is one of the feature characters the most annoying fucking douchebag hipster in history???? Listening to him bitch in the record store and whine about the playlist at the station was torture, and he absolutely deserved a kick in the cock for that bullshit stunt with his neighbors in the garden. Fuck him. I hope his character doesn’t end up destroying the show.
@Otto: Your response to the Pacific criticism is spot on, but you’re going a bit far with the Holocaust comparison, since the Jews, you know, sort of COULDN’T LEAVE Auschwitz. I’m not saying everyone should just abandon New Orleans, but there’s a certain assumption of risk inherent in living 15 feet below sea level right next to the Mississippi River in a known hurricane alley and flood zone.
Come on Otto Man, your reaching and you know it. It’s just not that good, it’s okay, we thought it was going to be awesome and it disappointed us, this happens, don’t try to justify crap.
No, it disappointed you. I liked it. In fact, I liked it a whole fucking lot. I’m sorry you didn’t, champ, but I did. You sound like my mother-in-law clucking about how “The Hangover” wasn’t funny. I don’t care what you think.
@Otto: Your response to the Pacific criticism is spot on, but you’re going a bit far with the Holocaust comparison, since the Jews, you know, sort of COULDN’T LEAVE Auschwitz.
This may come as a shock to you, but not everyone who lived in New Orleans had a fully-gassed SUV parked in their driveway. With no public evacuation plan, they didn’t have much of a choice.
And since then, there’s no reason for people to abandon the city. It’s weathered a number of bad storms in the past and can do so again. This was a disaster because the levees weren’t as good as they should have been and the FEMA response was a goddamn crime.
If you think we should abandon New Orleans because it’s in a known flood zone, you might want to spend as much time convincing those shitheads in Malibu to quit building mansions on mudslide hills, getting suburban developments in California to move back from the zones of the yearly forest fires, having much of the Midwest relocate because of the tornado threat, and get Buffalo to close up shop. (Not because of the snow, but because Buffalo is just sad.)
As a matter of fact, it does not come as a shock to me, and to suggest that it does it to imply that I am not aware that the majority of those displaced by the hurricane were of a lower socioeconomic standing, which is insulting. To suggest that everyone who ultimately remained in New Orleans did so because of a lack of opportunity is to argue that NO ONE left there COULD have left had they chosen to do so, which has the same erroneous premise. I agree Nagin had no feasible plan, and I agree the levees failed due to negligent construction and maintenance. This has less to do with people than with politics and science. I merely highlighted your analogy because it was, taken to its conclusion, extreme.
There is reason to least argue that New Orleans should not be fully rebuilt and restored. It does not pose the average natural hazard threat that Malibu and Californian suburbs do, though I would argue those shitheads run a risk by living in those places too. But New Orleans is BELOW SEA LEVEL, adjacent to North America’s primary waterway that has most natural flood plains leveed off, with the ocean encroaching on it as sea levels rise. With global warming continuing at its present pace, New Orleans will eventually (a long time off, admittedly) be IN the ocean. With Copenhagen a failure and Republicans having killed cap and trade, can you really conclude that its present location is ultimately sustainable?
Man, I’m in a shitty mood. Someone skim 10% of the anger off that last one for me.
Dialed it down too late.
Yes, New Orleans will eventually be in the ocean. But so will Miami and countless other coastal cities. In my opinion, as long as we’re still building there, we should still build in New Orleans.
And for the record, no, not all of New Orleans is below sea level — the French Quarter, for instance, is about 10 feet above sea level. I can see the point about the low-lying areas, though I disagree, but that’s still no reason to scrap the whole city.
Fair point. I can see the argument for maintaining the areas above sea level. This discussion obviously arose from Treme, which is plainly below sea level, and therefore, I would argue that it is shortsighted to rebuild it as though nothing happened. I would not, however, expect the neighborhood’s residents to agree, or to examine their homes, families and livelihoods that objectively, and from so far removed a standpoint.
You people realize that the story takes place a year after Katrina right? Of course it will focus on rebuilding. I loved Goodman and I liked how his character went after everybody. I like how Zahn’s hipster character is supposedly annoying. However the hipsters typing said opinions are not. Maybe if the character was in Soho he would be just fine.
Zahn pissed me off, like scott said it’s because he’s a Bayou hipster who ironically plays Mystikal.
It’s going to be interesting following this series in its original run, because I don’t think I can handle waiting a week for each glacially-paced episode.
The first ep of Treme was fantastic. The Wire was a slow burner for 4 episodes in the first season, and you motherfuckers didn’t appreciate it then, either. HBO likes setting up the chessboard, if you haven’t figured that out yet.
…and with that, I just fell in love with Otto Man. Thanks for a reasoned argument.
I’m from New Orleans, I live in New Orleans, and yes, I got the hell out of New Orleans for Katrina. Stayed out a month. I also know lots of people (of means) who stayed…because that’s what they do. It was a choice for some, not for others. It sucks what happened and it still sucks for us living here.
But, to talk shit about NOLA and try to justify not rebuilding? Give me a break. Like Otto said, why should we rebuild California houses built on the sides of hills/mountains? Why should we rebuild/save anyone living anywhere NEAR the Mississippi River floodplain? What about all the idiots that continue to have to evacuate and then rebuild because of forest fires? EVERYWHERE in America is prone to some sort of natural disaster. And we all rebuild because we have roots in the area and we love that city/state/area.
As for Treme? Loved it. It was spot on – the accents were perfect, the dialogue was true. The city looked as fucked up as it was/is in some areas. But it also showed the spirit of the people. No, not everyone who stayed was a hero…but a lot of them are/were heroes. It takes a lot of balls to rebuild your life and then deal with the bullshit aftermath (high insurance rates, etc).
Great show – I’m thrilled it’s on and I’m glad they’re focusing on the musicians.
At first I was upset over the hate and ignorance spewed by a few here, then I remembered where I was. God love the internet.
Now for the show. It totally got it right. I didn’t find it slow or boring but maybe that is because I felt like I was reliving parts of my life. Even though the character of Davis is freaking annoying and totally unlikable, he is a near mirror to the real life person he is based off of. And Kermit, well he was himself and awesome. The music is important, the food is important, the city is important. And as John Goodman’s character put it, if you don’t like those things, why the hell are you watching the show.?
my great uncle who is close to dieing was just telling my dad a story about some of his guys knocking their teeth out and taking the gold. amongst some other pretty foul sh*t he saw happen
I’ve seen the first 45 minutes on DVR and had to stop. Holy God that’s some borin stuff. I really, really want to give it a try, but it ain’t easy. I hate jazz, so every time they played music I had to fast forward through it. I know jack about NO, so seeing a black guy dressed as a giant chicken was strange. What the hell is a “second-line” parade? Why are they jumping around with stupid-ass tiny umbrellas with fur on the rim? Are there any characters I will ever care about (because, so far, nada). Steve Zahn is a douche, but I can deal, if something happens.
I’m new to these guys: Never seen a single episode of The Wire (but have heard all the hype) so I feel like I should give this show a chance, but, damn, it’s like pushing water uphill.