HBO's Treme Does Justice to New Orleans

Critics seem thrilled with Wire creator David Simon's new HBO series Treme, about post-Katrina New Orleans:

• Dave Walker, New Orleans Times-Picayune: "This is the screen depiction that New Orleans deserves, has always desired, but has been denied."
• Locals want to know two things: "Is it real? and Is it good?" writes Kevin Allman for the Best of New Orleans Blog. "It’s as real as any television show ever about New Orleans" and "it’s already good…and it stands the chance of being great."

• "I wouldn't yet call it great," writes James Poniewozik at Time. "But at moments it's breathtaking. And it is always daring, fascinating, in love with detail and not quite like any fiction series I've ever seen made for TV, HBO included."
• Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune likes it, with a caveat: "It's hard not to wonder if the series' creators may have been better off creating a documentary about the city's musical scene."