Wistful.  That’s how I feel on Sunday nights because I wish the weekend could last just a little longer.

Sunday nights are trickier now than ever because there are so many shows I like that air between 9 and 11 p.m.  There are too many of them to even record.  Thank goodness for Primetime On Demand and other On Demand Services.

So, Sunday night I had some work to do to prepare for Monday classes and meetings (another reason Sunday nights wear me out) and didn’t watch any television.

Monday night I had an hour before bed and decided that I could watch one of the shows from the night before.

Would it be The Good Wife, Boardwalk Empire, Treme, Homeland, or Masterpiece Classics?

I sat on my chartreuse, leather sofa and pondered for a moment.  Of all those great choices (and I do enjoy them all very much), which one did I have to see first?

Treme won the day.  It’s probably impossible to beat David Simon (The Wire) when it comes to episodic television.

Some people have been slow to warm to Treme because of the pacing, but I think they just don’t get it.  This is the story of New Orleans, and after Katrina, the city was chaotic and struggling to gain a toehold on recovery.  That’s precisely the tone that the first season struck.

Music and food and colorful characters have always been part of the story, but now that the institutions of the city are lurching back toward what passes for normalcy in the Big Easy, those elements are balanced by various storylines explored through more traditional structures.

Season One?  Season Two?  Season Three?  I love them all.  Can’t wait to see what next week brings…