Simon Back With HBO

"The Wire" may not have gotten a lot of love from the Emmys over the years, but that hasn't stopped series creator David Simon from teaming up with HBO once again for a new series, to be called "Treme."

Simon also produces the current new HBO miniseries "Generation Kill."

And, in a case of putting the band back together, Simon has signed Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters from "The Wire" to play the leads in the new series, about New Orleans residents struggling to put their lives back together post-Katrina. Also in the cast is Khandi Alexander ("NewsRadio," "CSI: Miami").

Hopefully, it will do better than Fox's "K-Ville," which fizzled earlier this year following two cops who tried to keep the peace in New Orleans after the floods.

8-8-08: People keep saying the convergence of eights will make this a lucky day. I hope so; Happy Anniversary to my brother, whom I guess you can call the "DVR Guy," and my sister-in-law.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: With the Olympics running the next two weeks, I won't be offering too many highlights. You can refer to the schedule I posted the link for on Thursday to find out when your favorite events are running. Odds are, it will mostly be the so-called "Redeem Team" anyway as NBC short-shrifts the other, less glamorous sports. Tonight's opening ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m. and will run the rest of the night.

If the Olympics aren't your cup of tea, there are a few options. "Monk" (USA, 9 p.m.) and "Psych" (USA, 10 p.m.) are new, as is "Swingtown" (CBS, 10 p.m.)

On Saturday, BBC America kicks off a new series called "Primeval," (BBC America, 9 p.m.), a fantasy series in which dinosaurs mysteriously start popping up in modern-day England. I don't know much about "Primeval," but given the network's recent history with fantasy-oriented shows - "Torchwood," "Life on Mars," "Jekyll" - this series deserves at least a look.

In case you missed it the first time around, FX is re-running the entire season of "Damages," starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson" in a marathon from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. "Damages" picked up 16 Emmy nominations, tying it with "Mad Men" for most nominations.

On Sunday, "Masterpiece: Mystery" (PBS, 9 p.m.) kicks off a new series of "Inspector Lynley Mysteries" as the title hero is arrested for murder.

USA offers new episodes of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" at 9 p.m. and the penultimate episode this season of "In Plain Sight" at 10 p.m.

Finally, the pick of the night is, of course, "Mad Men" (AMC, 10 p.m.)