History Series / Treme

** Davis is based partly on Davis Rogan, a neer-do-well DJ who, as one of the commentaries points out, has been explicitly banned from at least one bar with a sign saying "If you are Davis Rogan, please leave." It was Rogan who actually wrote many of Davis' songs as well.

* TedBaxter: Davis likes to pretend that he is really hip and a great musician when in reality he's just a DJ on a local radio station.

* ProtestSong: Davis' "Shame, Shame, Shame", a HailToTheThief about GeorgeWBush (with a jab or two at Barbara Bush as well).

* BasedOnATrueStory: In addition to the RealLife musicians, at least one character (John Goodman's professor Bernette) is based on a real person. Also subverted; fans speculated that Sonny and Annie were based on a real musician couple who broke up a few months after the hurricane, followed by the man murdering the woman and then jumping off a hotel roof a few days later. The producers have thoroughly denied it, and the real event is mentioned in season two.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: The title and the neighborhood it comes from is pronounced "Tre-MAY", "TRE-May", or "Tremmy" (in the documentary ''Cutting Loose'')

* BookEnds: The season premieres: season one begins and ends with a second line, and in season two it's a kid walking down the street practicing his trumpet.

* BlackSheepHit: Davis considers "The True" this. Nobody really agrees with him.

* SilentCredits:It happens in the series finale, which is also included as a Finale Credits as a tribute to the musical and cultural community of New Orleans, and also one to writer/producer David Mills, who died on set late in production of season 1

* ActorAllusion:
** Creighton disparagingly references ''{{The Big Easy}}'', a film John Goodman was in. The writer had actually forgotten this, and at first Goodman was suspicious that it was an insult.
** Wendell Pierce channels his [[Series/TheWire inner Bunk]] and proclaims that "Antoine Batiste is strictly a cooked-fish eating motherfucker."
* ActorSharedBackground: Lucia Micarelli is a professional violinist making her acting debut as Annie; both started on the instrument at age seven.

* BlackSheepHit: Davis considers "The True" this. Nobody really agrees with him.

* TooSoon:
** There are some folks who've left New Orleans and can not watch the show or anything dealing with Katrina.
** In-universe, the citizens find disrespectful the existence of "Katrina bus tours."

** Annie's first scene features her giving a subtle lesson in how to say New Orleans ("Or-lens," not "Or-leens," as it's sometimes pronounced in songs for a better rhyme).

* AddedAliterativeAppeal:

* NoPlaceForMeThere[=/=]ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Terry]] leaves New Orleans in the finale after rationalizing he's burnt a big bridge. As he drives away from Luisiana, its music radio station becomes garbled, marking the sad end of an era.

** And an actor one, as Michael Showers, who played Captain Guidry in season 2, was mysteriously found dead in a river.

-->''"Play for that money, boys, play for that mother-fuckin' money."''

* BigApplesouce: A few characters work and reside in New York for a while.

-->'''Terry:''' I've come to believe that there's a big difference between vice and sin. New Orleans gets it.
The rest of the world... Well, vice... you know, vice, it's human. It's one drink too many. It's an illegal smile in a coat pocket. It's a bet on a wrong horse. It's a wrong prick rubbing against a wrong piece of ass. Sin is those bodies over in Central City, the ones that we just keep rolling up on and doing so goddamn little about.

* OnceASeason: A Mardi Grass episode, which needless to say it's some SeriousBusiness. The Creightons will loop Professor Longhair's [[Go To The Mardi Gras http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wAMr3V5lN4]].

Creator/DavidSimon's followup to ''{{The Wire}}'' which has garnered just as much critical love right off the bat.

* {{Determinator}}: Put any bereaucratic roadblocks in front of Toni, and you'll just make her try harder to get to the truth.

* MeaningfulEcho: David Simon works in quite a few of the most famous lines from TheWire. Examples include Davis saying "and all the pieces matter" and Terry saying "the game is rigged" in season 3.

* NWordPrivileges: Again, Davis. Or so he thinks, until he ends up getting the crap kicked out of him by someone who overheard him. Ironically, in the scene where he gets punched out for this he was quoting Antoine word for word rather than throw it around casually.

* ProtestSong: Davis' "Shame, Shame, Shame" about GeorgeWBush (with a jab or two at Barbara Bush as well).

* ShoutOut: A friend of Sonny's mistakenly calls Amsterdam [[Series/TheWire "Hamsterdam."]]

* TooSoon: There are some folks who've left New Orleans and can not watch the show or anything dealing with Katrina.

* MoodDissonance: It's in the blood of New Orleans, its inhabitants will always find the time to cheer up and celebrate during the direst circumstances, come hell or high water. Not being able to would be the biggest of the tragedies. [[TheFunInTheFuneral Second line funerals]] are a prominent example.

* CatchPhrase: Davis' "Right? RIGHT?"

* EmbarrassingFirstName: Davis was named after his ancestor Jefferson Davis; he tells people it was actually for various celebrities like Sammy or Ossie.
* EverythingBigInTexas: Mentioned when Sonny takes a gig in Texas; it turns out some things are small in Texas.

* MoodDissonance: It's in the blood of New Orleans, its inhabitants will always find the time to cheer up and celebrate during the direst circumstances, come hell or high water. Not being able to would be the biggest of the tragedies.

* FriendsWithBenefits: Discussed by Davis and Annie. Annie looks down on this kind of relationship, but Davis remarks the friendship part is the important one.