Treme

So with the launch of Sky Atlantic and the general release of a number of new shows we have picked up watching Treme - which is the new show from the chap that created The Wire (David Simon).  We saved up a number of episodes and then watched them in one sitting.  In part - this was because both Rob and I were nervous about watching the show, in case it was not very good, but one the other hand it let us watch a number of shows to get a feeling of what was happening.

Treme is an interesting show for a number of reasons:

Dialect

Much like the Wire it is shot with locals which means it can take a while to 'get your ear in'.  They do not make an effort to clean up the dialogue and make it more intelligible for those that are not local. Interestingly enough by the start of the second episode you tend to find that you suddenly understand what everyone is saying.  I am not sure if this is due to watching other shows where there are strong local accents, but never the less it is a bit disconcerting.

The Wire was much the same in this respect.  In fact for the first couple of Episodes of that show I spent 90% of my time asking Rob whether he understood what anyone other than McNaulty was saying.  In that case about 4 episodes in I suddenly found that I understood what people were saying and the show became more enjoyable.

The Actors

A large number of the actors have been in other HBO shows, indeed many of them were in the Wire. This means that as a viewer, you have a level of comfort around what to expect.  On the plus side as a producer you have to think that some of your viewers may tune in because they like the actor.  On the down side it can mean that viewers are put off when the actor does not behave as per their last character.  I found personally that despite having seen the actors in other HBO shows within the first 5 minutes I was absorbed in their new roles and did not even consider their old roles, or relationships within those roles.

Interestingly enough as well as the well known actors there are a number of extra's the majority of whom are actually locals and, occasionally are well known musicians.  Despite this being the case there are a significant number of occasions when they are there as 'dressing' rather than as main characters.  

From my point of view this use of relatively famous people as additional characters is interesting on a number of levels.  Firstly these, relatively well known people seem to have limited ego and seem happy to appear in the show in this nature. Secondly as a viewer you accept this.

The only time that you suddenly think that some things are quite peculiar, not least of which has to be having Elvis Costello, turn up and be Elvis Costello in a number of episodes.  It takes a while for you to understand what he is there to show, and when you get the reason he is here you cannot help but smile as it is the equivalent of the gesture which means 'I've still got my fingers'

The Music

From the opening shot of Episode 1 you gain an understanding of just how important music will be throughout the show.  The opening act is all about the first second line following Katrina.  The music is catchy and has the definite blues/jazz influence as you would expect, but it is also used to tell a story and in this case that story is the history of New Orleans.

Quite why some of the songs were picked will be unclear unless you know about the musical history of the area.  If however you look up the tracks you hear you will get a bit more of why they are important, and why they are used in the way they are.

The Point

Now having watched a number of episodes of the show I have to say that I am not sure what the purpose of the show is, other than to show that following Katrina the people of New Orleans were left to deal with things themselves.  This being the case I am left wondering why I find the show entertaining, after after all there are a number of shows that I have stopped watching because they had no point, or they have lost the point.  

Perhaps it is because of the acting, or the simple humanity of the story, but in truth I have not got a clue why I like it but I do.