Culture, Family, and Tradition Entwine When TREME Returns for its Final Season Dec. 1, Exclusively on HBO Canada

“The series evokes superbly a world anchored in music, food, muttered conversations, laughter, and tradition. It has soul.” – John Doyle, The Globe and Mail

“This series will have done more for jazz than anything in the history of television.” – Robert Cushman, National Post

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TORONTO (November 7, 2013)  – HBO Canada, a multiplex channel of Bell Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada), announces the premiere of the fourth and final season of TREME, airing Sunday, Dec., 1 at 9 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada, day-and-date with HBO in the U.S. Beginning in Nov. 2008 and culminating at Mardi Gras 2009, Season 4 revisits the musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians, and other familiar New Orleanians who continue to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their culture in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. TREME is created by Emmy^® Award winner David Simon (THE WIRE) and Emmy^® Award  nominee Eric Overmyer (HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET).

Heightened by a historic presidential election, the promise of economic and cultural recovery in New Orleans is tempered by sobering economics, continued police corruption, and the ongoing specter of violence and crime. More than three years after the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina, nothing in the civic firmament seems to work as it should. This season, as one major character bravely faces his mortality, others look to make headway in careers, relationships, and artistic endeavors, all amidst hope that an Obama administration will bring renewed attention and financial aid to New Orleans. The results are mixed, as opportunities end up in the hands of outsiders looking for quick financial gain, while the guardians of the flame struggle to make their voices heard over the din of construction and local politics.

** Media Note ** – Download photos at http://mediacentre.corusent.com or BellMediaPR.com/Network/HBO-Canada.  

In this improbable city, which is responsible for some of America’s greatest cultural gifts, the protagonists of TREME can rely on little, other than a sense of what they can, and must, create that gives life in New Orleans power and value. In New Orleans, the multiculturalism that has created and sustained the Crescent City – a blend that is French and Caribbean, Spanish and African-American, and American – is a value embraced and understood by those who can’t imagine living anywhere else. By such currency, New Orleans keeps its people committed to it, despite the odds.

The ensemble cast of TREME includes: Wendell Pierce (THE WIRE) as Antoine Batiste; Khandi Alexander (THE CORNER) as LaDonna Batiste-Williams; Clarke Peters (THE WIRE) as Albert Lambreaux; Rob Brown (Stop-Loss) as Delmond Lambreaux; Steve Zahn (A Perfect Getaway) as Davis McAlary; Kim Dickens (DEADWOOD) as Janette Desautel; Academy Award^®-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) as Toni Bernette; classical violinist Lucia Micarelli as Annie Tee; Michiel Huisman (The Young Victoria) as Sonny; Emmy^® Award-nominee David Morse (JOHN ADAMS) as Terry Colson; Jon Seda (THE PACIFIC) as Nelson Hidalgo; India Ennenga (The Women) as Sofia Bernette; and Chris Coy (TRUE BLOOD) as L.P. Everett.

Season 4 of TREME will feature live performances of New Orleans music in the clubs, streets, and homes of the city. Musicians featured in Season 4 include jazz singer John Boutté, jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, Cajun fiddler Michael Doucet, musician Davis Rogan, producer Don B, rhythm and blues purist Guitar Lightnin’ Lee, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, trombone and trumpet player Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Aurora Nealand, guitarist Corey Glover, music supervisor Ed Gerrard, drummer Christie Jourdain,  funk and R&B musician Jon Cleary, jazz saxophonists Donald Harrison Jr. and Kidd Jordan, pianist and guitarist Dr. John, entertainer Jon Batiste, Charmaine Neville of the Neville Brothers, and pianist and composer Tom McDermott. Culinary guest actors this season include chef and entrepreneur David Chang and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

Below is a chronological listing of TREME’s programming synopsis for its fourth and final season. All programming is subject to change (all times ET/MT; visit hbocanada.com to confirm local broadcast times).

Sunday, Dec.  1

9 p.m. – TREME – “Yes We Can Can” – Season 4, Episode 1 of 5

While New Orleans celebrates the election of Barack Obama, Desautel (Kim Dickens) opens her own Bywater restaurant, LaDonna (Khandi Alexander) rebuilds Gigi’s bar, and school band director Batiste (Wendell Pierce) gets invested in his students’ lives.

Sunday, Dec.  8

9 p.m. – TREME – “This City”– Season 4, Episode 2 of 5

Lambreaux (Clarke Peters) learns his cancer has spread and Delmond (Rob Brown) plays with jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard in New York. Meanwhile, Annie (Lucia Micarelli) wins song of the year for This City and violence strikes one of Batiste’s students.

Sunday, Dec.  15

9 p.m. – TREME – “Dippermouth Blues”– Season 4, Episode 3 of 5

McAlary (Steve Zahn) and Desautel spend New Year’s Eve together. Batiste picks up a movie job, LaDonna  comforts Lambreaux, and Colson (David Morse) offers to testify when the New Orleans Police Department retaliates.

Sunday, Dec.  22

9 p.m. – TREME – “Sunset on Louisianne”– Season 4, Episode 4 of 5

McAlary celebrates his birthday and Bernette (Melissa Leo) finally gets a break in her case. Meanwhile, Annie dumps her band, Lambreaux insists that Delmond carry on as “Big Chief” after he’s gone, and Everett (Chris Coy) returns to New Orleans.

Sunday, Dec.  29

9 p.m. – TREME – “To Miss New Orleans”– Season 4 – *Series Finale*

Colson is offered a transfer and the guardians send Lambreaux (Clarke Peters) home. Plus, Batiste takes his sons to a Dr. John gig, Hidalgo (Jon Seda) returns to Texas, and McAlary revisits his newly decorated pothole.

In addition to David Simon and Eric Overmyer, executive producers include Nina Kostroff Noble (THE WIRE), George Pelecanos (THE PACIFIC), and Carolyn Strauss (GAME OF THRONES). Joe Incaprera (THE WIRE) is producer. Along with Simon and Overmyer, the writing staff includes George Pelecanos. Directors this season are series veterans Anthony Hemingway (THE WIRE), Ernest R. Dickerson (DEXTER), Agnieszka Holland (THE KILLING), and Alex Hall (BLUE BLOODS).

In Eastern Canada, episodes will be available in High Definition and on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand.

In Western Canada, episodes will be available in High Definition on HBO Canada HD and On Demand, via mobile and online with participating service providers. 

About HBO Canada

HBO Canada brings Canadians HBO’s current slate of signature dramatic and comedic programs, together with new and never-before-seen programming including comedy series, live specials, sporting events, behind-the-scenes content and titles from HBO’s extensive library – all in an uncut and commercial-free environment. HBO Canada is offered in high definition on HBO Canada HD and programming is accessible on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand.where available by service provider. For more information, please visit www.hbocanada.com. In Eastern Canada, HBO Canada is a division of Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company. In Western Canada, HBO Canada is offered by Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada).

About Movie Central

Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B), a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

-HBO Canada-

For more information:

For The Movie Network (Eastern Canada)

Jessica Charbonneau, 416.956.8638 or jessica.charbonneau@bellmedia.ca

For Movie Central (Western Canada):

Owen McCorquodale, 416.479.6068 or owen.McCorquodale@corusent.com