HBO renews 'Treme' for abbreviated fourth and final season
New Orleans musical drama's producers have 'half a loaf' to finish their story
HBO has ordered a fourth and final season of "Tremé," co-starring Rob Brown.
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HBO has ordered a fourth and final season of "Tremé." It's just unclear how long that season will be.
As first reported by Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "Tremé" co-creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer announced at a premiere screening in New Orleans tonight that HBO had given its approval for a fourth season, which would close out the story arc that Simon and Overmyer had planned for the series and its characters.
Simon also explained that this wouldn't be a season the length of the first three, which ran 10, 11 and 10 episodes, respectively, and that HBO executives "fought very hard to give us half a loaf" to finish things.
UPDATE: I emailed Simon to ask for clarification on what "half a loaf" means, and he wrote, "HBO has offered us a lump sum to budget a conclusion to 'Tremé,' and we are trying to figure out how to stretch that amount in the best possible way. Right now, we are tentatively looking at anywhere between four and six hours of programming, depending on a variety of things. It's half a loaf, but it represents a sincere effort by Mike Lombardo and Richard Plepler to end the narrative properly. We'll do the best we can with the story arcs and try to conclude 'Tremé' in a resonant way."
Because the nature of this final half-season doesn't fit the terms of the actors' contracts, the entire cast was free to walk away at this point. The producers spent the past week speaking with each actor, and Simon told the premiere audience, “To a person, they all came back, We’re happy for a chance to finish the story on our own terms.”
It's not an ideal solution, but given the ratings for "Tremé" relative to HBO's other original series, the existence of any kind of fourth season is something to be celebrated.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMike
September 22, 2012 at 9:31PM EST Reply to CommentYeah!
It's funny, this isn't very different than the treatment Community got from NBC (delayed season 3, truncated season 4), and here we are celebrating HBO for it. I guess it just goes to show how much of this business is about perception.
Pro Tip: Don't fire your showrunner--I shudder to think of a Treme run by someone other than Simon.
lztouchthedream It's also strikingly similar to what happened with The Wire, though they got 5 seasons instead of 4.
September 23, 2012 at 7:17AM ESTRazorback It isn't really anything like what happened to COMMUNITY. The reason COMMUNITY got renewed is because Sony is trying to make it to syndication numbers and offered the season up for pennies on the dollar. NBC couldn't resist making free money on Friday.
September 23, 2012 at 7:23AM ESTWhat HBO has done is far more generous. It was more about art and being respectful to the creators.
Ben I think a closer parallel for Treme is how Showtime is finishing up "The Big C". Apparently, they're going to give Laura Linney, Oliver Platt et al. four one-hour episodes to wrap things up there. In both cases, it's certainly the half a loaf deal but it's certainly better than, just as an example, NBC gave "Homicide: Life on the Street" two hours to do a sort of extra-series finale movie that aired nine months after the final 7th season concluded.
September 23, 2012 at 8:35AM ESTzlasdfa9
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September 22, 2012 at 11:51PM EST Reply to CommentThanks HBO and co. for giving us a final season next year! Hopefully the Bored to Death movie and the 'N1 Ladies' Detective Agency' specials will be greenlighted also!
I just wish instead of an Entourage movie, they would make a 'How to make it' special, just to say goodbye!
alynch
September 23, 2012 at 12:20AM EST Reply to CommentHey Alan, Stuart Levine appears to have confused you for David Simon:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059685.html
wallywalters
September 23, 2012 at 2:58AM EST Reply to CommentHow about some loaf for Deadwood?
Fliegender DEADWOOD IS NOT COMING BACK! Just face it. We all would like more, but it's not happening.
September 23, 2012 at 2:01PM ESTSareeta
September 23, 2012 at 9:04AM EST Reply to CommentI'm so happy for everyone involved and especially happy as a fan of the show. I hope that like The Wire, Treme finds an audience this season and that it continues to build after going off the air. It really is a prime example of superb acting and it is so nice to watch a series that makes you feel good after almost every episode, or at least feel something in the case of the sadder episodes. Now when is the writing and acting going to get some award ceremony recognition??
Poor Manz Maher
September 24, 2012 at 4:30AM EST Reply to CommentCannot believe it. Everything this show had to say was said in the first season, shoulda been it's final one as well. Especialy considering the harsh & disrespectful manner in which HBO treated the stars & fanz of such stellar shows like 'Bored to Death' & 'Hung' ... shows MUCH more deserving of new seasons, and if cancelled, the least they coulda done is give us the "half a loaf" approach. Screw the program directors at HBO, it IS tv when their program directors start behaving like their peers at networks!
mike Trololololol
September 24, 2012 at 11:28AM ESTCaptain Planet LOL, I like Bored to Death and Hung but both are pretty average shows. In all honesty Bored to Death deserved to be cancelled after that third season, that show just got progressively worse the longer it went on
January 8, 2013 at 8:25AM ESTLJoy
September 24, 2012 at 3:10PM EST Reply to CommentThis series is made with pure love and respect for its subject matter and I'm heartened - though I don't think I would have expected less - that every actor has chosen to return. Treme is excellent, excellent television. From the way it's written to the way it looks to the way it SOUNDS.
Mary C Let me add a few more...EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT television.
October 14, 2012 at 11:07PM EST......it is a pure pleasure to watch such an outstanding cast of actors do their stuff
lin
November 26, 2012 at 2:33PM EST Reply to CommentI figure the same thing is going to happen to True Blood after next season. The actors contracts will be up and it's my bet that not all of the main characters will want to return for a 7th season.
lin
November 26, 2012 at 2:36PM EST Reply to CommentI bet they will do the same thing with True Blood after next year. The actors contracts are going to expire and I'm betting that some of the main characters won't opt to return.
Wendy
December 23, 2012 at 5:16PM EST Reply to CommentTreme is the best episodic show on cable TV since The Wire. Its a shame they didn't promote it with the same gusto that they put towards Boardwalk.