by Karl J. Paloucek
Now here’s an appealing and relevant idea for a new series: According to Variety, HBO has given the green light to a new series called Treme, named after the New Orleans district in which it’s set. The main characters, including various musicians and a restaurateur, try to rebuild their lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Executive produced by David Simon (The Wire) and Eric Overmyer (Law & Order franchises, The Wire), the series is being considered for release in spring 2010.
This is an encouraging sign, as I see it. I’m sure I’m far from the only person out there who periodically says to himself, “What’s going on in New Orleans? Why don’t we hear more about what’s going on down there?” But most of us know the cycle of information — once it’s been used to sell newspapers, garner hits on blogs and other sites, extruded for maximum sensationalist coverage on television, a topic gets blanched out. The public gets inured to the images and concepts that emanate from it, and pretty soon it drops from our collective focus, and sadly, from much of our collective memory.
But this is where a project like Treme is most useful — by using the still-dominant medium of television to tell a story that has obvious universal appeal, but is set in this incredibly unfortunate corner of the country. It’s too early to say anything about the show’s eventual success or failure, but if it catches on, week after week, viewers will have their attention refocused on the ongoing plight of this historic city’s vast struggle to come back from so much destruction and hopelessness. Even if it doesn’t become a phenomenon, the attention the series likely will continue to receive for its bold setting may spawn other projects that will help stimulate revived interest in the predicament of New Orleans’ citizens, and hopefully will translate into more and better assistance for the beleaguered city.
So far, it looks like Elvis Costello is slated to take part in at least one episode, appearing as himself, and it looks like some genuine New Orleans musicians — like trumpetist Kermit Ruffins — also will take part in the series, which is a positive sign. Let’s just hope that if the series is a success, we don’t look at episodes 10 years from now and see the same New Orleans that we do today.
