Remember K-Ville? Yeah, it’s still on the air, but still… remember it? Remember how we were discussing that there was a great story in there, about New Orleans and reconstruction and what has become of the city, if only Fox hadn’t turned it into a mediocre cop procedural? Remember how we were thinking that it would have been great if somebody got the chance to make that show?
Well, suppose that somebody was The Wire’s David Simon. [Bob Ryan voice:] Is that something you’d be interested in?
The New Yorker is reporting that the next series Simon hopes to make for HBO is a drama about musicians getting their lives back together in New Orleans. (It’s in the context of a massive Margaret Talbot profile on Simon and The Wire, which is worth reading top to bottom.) Among the real musicians Simon plans to base characters on “once ran for state representative on a platform of legalizing marijuana and using the revenues to fix the city’s streets—’Pot for potholes!’ was his slogan.” Shades of Hamsterdam.
Of course, “hopes to” doesn’t mean “definitely will.” But the way it should work is: (1) David Simon finishes the greatest drama your network, or any other, has ever aired, (2) he suggests an idea perfectly suited to his talents, (3) you open up your checkbook and get the hell out of his way. Keep your fingers crossed.