Treme

<p>In <em>Treme</em> Jaimey Fisher analyzes how the HBO television series <em>Treme</em> (2010-13) treads new ground by engaging with historical events and their traumatic aftermaths in particular with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and subsequent flooding in New Orleans. Instead of building up to a devastating occurrence David Simon's much anticipated follow-up to <em>The Wire</em> (2002-08) unfolds with characters coping in the wake of catastrophe in a mode that Fisher explores as "afterness." <em>Treme</em> charts these changes while also memorializing the number of New Orleans cultures that were immediately endangered.</p><p>David Simon's and Eric Overmyer's <em>Treme </em>attempts something unprecedented for a multi-season series. Although the show follows in some ways in the celebrated footsteps of <em>The Wire</em>-for example in its elegiac tracking of the historical struggles of an American city-Fisher investigates how <em>Treme</em> varies from <em>The Wire</em>'s work with genre and what replaces it: <em>The Wire</em> is a careful even baroque variation on the police drama while <em>Treme</em> dispenses with genre altogether. This poses considerable challenges for popular television which Simon and Overmyer address in several ways including by offering a carefully montaged map of New Orleans and foregrounding the distance witnessing of watershed events there. Another way in which <em>Treme</em> sets itself apart is its memorialization of the city's inestimable contributions to American music especially to jazz soul rhythm and blues rap rock and funk. <em>Treme</em> gives such music and its many makers unprecedented attention both in terms of screen time for music and narrative exposition around musicians. A key element of the volume is its look at the show's themes of race crime and civil rights as well as the corporate versus community recovery and remaking of the city.</p><p><em>Treme</em>'s synthesizing m?lange of the arts in their specific geographical context coupled with political and socio-economic analysis of the city highlights the show's unique approach. Fans of the works of Simon and Overmyer as well as television studies students and scholars will enjoy this keen-eyed approach to a beloved show.</p>