Recovered, Reinvented, Reimagined
This article explores the role of scripted cable television in the making and remaking of place in the conjuncture of postdisaster crisis and the neoliberal transformation of urban space. I suggest that Treme contributes to the remaking of New Orleans by engaging conceptions of authenticity, dwelling on the elements of cuisine, music, and diversity that mark New Orleans as distinctive, and highlighting individual enterprise as a condition of possibility for remaking post-Katrina New Orleans. I also suggest that because it makes for compelling quality television and provides badly needed publicity and temporary economic stimulus for the local economy, Treme, the show and the HBO production, through no fault of its own, displaces critical engagement with public policy choices and state-centered redress for economic, cultural, and social injustice and inequality.