There’s no question about it – The Wire is the TV show of the moment. And rightly so. Every time I’ve watched it I’ve been drawn, magnetically into it. Before I knew it I was knee-deep into the show’s rich, syrupy, tangled detail and depth. I think I’ll have to have a boxset blow-out really get the full benefit, and I’ve already slated a rainy weekend sometime in October to watch all the series. But anyway, as you must all know by now, The Wire’s creator David Simon has penned a new series, Treme, which will air on HBO very soon. He’s also signed up some familiar faces too.

The title of the show, Treme, refers to the neighbourhood of New Orleans called, erm, Tremé. A post-Katrina drama series, it will be set in the music community of the city. I think that pretty much means jazz.

“It’s basically a post-Katrina history of the city. It will be rooted in events that everybody knows. What it’s not going to be is a happy stroll through David Simon’s record collection. It should not be a tourism slide show. If we do it right, it (will be) about why New Orleans matters.”

That’s what Simon says about the show, and I like his approach. I bet it’ll be great.

As far as the cast goes, he’s gone back to The Wire to hire Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters. Pierce will play Antione Baptisite, an accomplished jazz trombonist who scratching around for gigs, trying to support a live-in girldfriend and a new baby, while still he still holds candle for his ex-wife, the mother of his two children. Peters, meanwhile, will play Albert Lambreaux, a member of the White Feather Nation.

More news when we get it…