A Real New Orleans show?

Apparently, HBO is going to be running another show set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Initial reviews are good. I hear from friends who are big into the TV scene that it's going to be fantastic, and the write-ups say that it's spell-binding.

Much of the praise seems to be a result of the co-creators. The pair are responsible for a little-known show called The Wire.

I haven't seen it, and I know few who have. But those chosen few give reviews that border on the fanatic. They say The Wire is not just good television, it's high art and something that proves film can rise to the sublime.

I hope they're right. Because Treme has the potential to do justice to New Orleans and the whole sad Katrina saga.

It seems to me that a post-Katrina NOLA is the best setting a writer could hope for. The high drama and unique culture provide as compelling a basis as a writer could ask for.

But I have not yet seen (and granted, my expertise is slim) any form of art that does it justice.

The most laughable attempt I can think of is the ill-fated show K-ville. It had all the right ingredients; a cop in that setting seems like instant drama. But the show devolved into a generic cop drama, and the attempts at summing up New Orleans' fantastic culture degenerated into routine pots of gumbo and boiled crawfish.

Upon reflection, it seems that the spirit of New Orleans would be difficult to encapsulate. New Orleans' culture, like a Mardi Gras, is a spirited, intricate dance. To an outsider it appears like a gaudy, colorful party, but the complex emotional machinery that drive it are made up of infintessimally small, but vital cogs of experience. Thus any outsider that tries to capitalize on New Orleans uniqueness ends up only catalogueing stereotypes and cliches.

I certainly hope these folks get it right. By all indications, these aren't just a few guys who want to capitalize on a compelling story; instead, it appears they are two genuine lovers of New Orleans and the culture, and they intend to do that culture justice.

I hope they do. The real New Orleans, and the real tragedy the city experienced after that dreadful storm is a story and a setting too good to go unrecognized.