Treme

David Simon, who created the HBO series Treme is from this area. He grew up in Silver Spring, went to University of MD and began his writing career in Baltimore. He created both "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and "The Wire", two shows I admired. Now he is doing Treme, set in New Orleans. Interestingly, one of the themes of the show is about who "belongs" in New Orleans, who is authentically from there and who are the "tourists" and the 'carpetbaggers". It is interesting and ironic because Simon is from another place and feels free to offer his own heartfelt take on the city- while being highly-critical of others who are doing the same thing. I found Treme to be adequate in the episodes that I viewed. The ideas of the connectivity of humanity, the sprawling novel, the multi-layered stories, the ensemble cast, all hit a predictable yet satisfying note. The music incorporated into the show is true New Orleans jazz and extraordinary. But I kept wondering why they couldn't get a native to take on the subject of this city's rebirth from Katrina? (And why are the more heroic and redeemable characters in Simon's work white people working hard to save the "wayward" black man..but that is a subject for another post) Anyway, do yourself a favor- skip the TV show and go to the Crescent city itself.