On the Scene | HBO makes a comeback

By Sebastian Fryer
Arts Editor 

A few weeks ago, in my column titled “In defense of TV,” I made reference to HBO failing to be the big premium cable powerhouse it was once was.

I’ve found that after this weekend, I’m eating my own words.

HBO premiered “Treme” on Sunday. HBO premieres shows every season, but for the last few years, to relative success.  The last critically-acclaimed show to premiere on HBO was “Flight of the Conchords” in 2007 and before that, “Rome,” in 2005.  In between those shows, miniseries and failed television series filled time slots.

So what’s going to make “Treme” any different? For one, it’s being led by David Simon, creator of one of the most critically-acclaimed series of all time, “The Wire,” which went off the air in 2008.  Second, the series focuses on post-Katrina New Orleans, a topic sure to bring some much-needed quality and thoughtful drama to the station.  Third, it’s been getting stellar reviews from almost every publication that has reviewed it.

David Simon need not worry about the future of his show either – it was recently announced to have already been picked up for a second season.

And “Treme” isn’t the only reason to start tuning into HBO – the channel has even more interesting things on its plate.

“The Pacific,” the spiritual sequel to the super-mega-hit “Band of Brothers,” is still airing with a few episodes left.

And future premieres look bright, too – “Boardwalk Empire,” set to begin this fall, is a Prohibition-era drama with such big names as Martin Scorsese, Steve Buscemi, and Terrance Winter (who wrote and produced for “The Sopranos”) attached.

The channel will also be premiering “Luck,” a drama chronicling the world of horse racing, sometime in the future, with stars such as Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, according to online entertainment news site Deadline.com.

However, all of this begs the question – how are we going to be watching these shows? College students especially don’t usually have immediate access to premium cable, so are they going to be missing out on these fantastic new shows?

I don’t think so. Whether it’s through Netflix, Amazon, DVDs, or other, “frowned-upon” methods, students will have plenty of opportunities to catch what’s going on.

What about Showtime? Well, it still has “Dexter” and “Weeds.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Apr 14 2010. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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