Report: HBO Renews Treme for Fourth and Final Season

HBO's Tremé is getting ready to play its swan song.

The New Orleans-set drama has been renewed for a shortened fourth and final season, creator and executive producer David Simon revealed at a Season 3 premiere screening Saturday, according to The Times-Picayune.

"We are going to be back for a season 3.5," Simon said during his opening remarks Saturday. "HBO, upon viewing the 10 that we gave them [for Season 3] and what we've done, they want to see the end of the story. They fought very hard to give us half a loaf. We're going to take it and run."

Tremé Season 3: Money flows, but it's the culture that's rich

This "half a loaf" means that the fourth season of Tremé will likely consist of four to six episodes, Simon later told HitFix. "HBO has offered us a lump sum to budget a conclusion to Tremé and we are trying to figure out how to stretch that amount in the best possible way.  Right now, we are tentatively looking at anywhere between four and six hours of programming, depending on a variety of things," Simon wrote in an e-mail. "We'll do the best we can with the story arcs and try to conclude Tremé in a resonant way."

Tremé, which centers on the culture of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina, averaged 2.2 million viewers last year, far below the averages of other HBO dramas like Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones. The new season premieres on Sunday at 10/9c on HBO.

HBO could not be immediately reached for comment.

Are you sad Tremé is coming to an end?