At a screening of the first episode of season three, producers David Simon and Eric Overmyer announced the news.

"We are going to be back for a season 3.5," Treme producer David Simon announced Saturday night at the Joy Theater. "HBO on viewing the 10 that we gave them and where we left it, they want to see the end of the story. There are people there who fought very hard to give us half a loaf, and we're going to take it and run.

"I'll be doing a lot of babysitting and car care for HBO execs," Simon joked. "But we're very happy to be back, and we're happy to finish the show on our own terms." All of the cast members have committed to the final season, and according to producer Eric Overmyer, members of the crew turned down other work to be a part of the final season.

They made the announcement at the Joy Theater for a cast and crew screening of the episode, which will debut Sunday night at 9 p.m. Central on HBO. Cast members Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, Michiel Huisman, Larry Nichols, Vernel Bagneris, Rio Hackford, Henry Griffin and Sean-Michael Bruno were on hand for the screening of the episode, which takes place in October 2007 with a depiction of the police efforts to break up an impromptu memorial second line in the Treme for Kerwin James. As depicted in the show, Pierce's Antoine Batiste is also part of the event.

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