Remember Hurricane Katrina? It was tragic - right up there with 9/11.
So starting up a TV show about it might be a little premature.
For most Americans, it's been pretty hard to forget, but here's a recap just in case you missed one of the most catastrophic and harrowing events of the past decade: People spent days on the roofs of their houses before anyone came to their assistance. Families were separated. Those who weren't able to evacuate in time drowned, starved and were dying of thirst and lack of medical attention.
But the worst thing about the whole disaster was how poorly all of the New Orleans authority figures acted. Police did little to preserve peace, justice and order, and several New Orleans cops have since been accused of overstepping their authority and committing acts of unmitigated brutality.
But somehow, out of this complete vacuum of trustworthy authority figures, comes "K-Ville," a show about an upstanding New Orleans cop played by Anthony Anderson.
The pilot episode feels a lot like a movie, and that's not a compliment. It begins with Anderson fuming about people who are selling their houses and getting out of the battered city. (Really? Why would anyone want to leave?)
Over the course of the episode, a dirty real estate scheme is revealed and the whole thing ends with a neighborhood full of happy people applauding Anderson and deciding to stay in New Orleans and live their happy lives.
Anderson's former partner, who ditched him while they were rescuing people in the flood, does not get to re-join the force but is instrumental in catching the villains. Things are wrapped up rather too neatly, and the audience is left trying to figure out the point of the entire show. The plot is sappy and its theme seems a little late in the game.
After all, for those keeping score at home, Hurricane Katrina happened in Sept. 2005, roughly two years ago. When "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Boston Legal" both did New Orleans/Katrina-themed episodes last season, it already seemed a little wrong to pick at old wounds.
Now we have a whole television show about the disaster, and it doesn't feel too relevant. It even seems exploitative - would a television show about Pearl Harbor have been deemed politically correct in 1945? Probably not.
Very little about this "K-Ville" is interesting enough to hold viewers' interests past (or even through) the first episode. Anderson's performance is impressive, but watching him in re-runs of "The Shield" gives you a better idea of his serious side, and "Barbershop" is more worthwhile in terms of overall entertainment value.
"K-Ville," though an interesting attempt at making a show that addresses the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, feels a little late and focuses on all the wrong things.
For instance, it's been said that New Orleans itself is something of a character on this show; this is true, but it's a character that all the others basically worship. We see the jazz and the rap and the thriving community as though New Orleans was some kind of paradise before the hurricane.
Unless the show improves drastically, few will want to spend time watching a slanted, untimely cop drama.
