K-Ville

The fights, the action, drama. K-Ville was a great premiere. Set in NOLA after the storm Marlin(Anderson) is trying to get his life, and more importantly a city back to together. Cole Hauser and the others provide great cast support. The special effects were real. The first pilot story was about, a company that was sent to protect NOLA after them storm. Turn out they were buying the houses so the displaced would not come back home. Marlin and Trevor go to investigate this and get turned back every time. That's when the fights and action happen. A car chase followed by a show down on the docks ended a great story. This show is almost perfect. I have never seen a show start as well since the Fresh Prince, Cosby or the Wayans Bros. 10 out of 10

Network: Fox; Genre: Crime Drama; Content Rating: TV-14 (some fierce violence and adult content); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Series (1 season)

In the immediate aftermath of the 2006 Hurricane Katrina disaster, the city of New Orleans begins to rebuild. Marlin Boulet (Anthony Anderson) plays a cop who stayed behind rescuing citizens off roofs while his partner wigged out and fled the city. Boulet is assigned a new partner, Cobbs (Cole Houser), who has a secret of his own - he survived the storm by drowning his roommate, hoping the water wouldn't rise past the ceiling of his prison cell.

At it's best ("Ride Along", "Melissa", "AKA"), the show sticks up for the city's rich culture and heritage, making the case that "Nawlins" is widely misunderstood by the east and west coast dwelling pundits who proclaim it "a welfare state that is never coming back" (as a reporter voices in "Ride Along"). Anderson sells a love for the city, and Houser sells a respect for Boulet's love for the city. The title itself is a reference from inside New Orleans showcasing the city's subversive sense of humor.

At it's worst, many in the short series run, the show simply appears to use the current event climate of New Orleans as a backdrop gimmick to run several routine crime stories through. Mississippi, Alabama and Florida post-Katrina don't make nearly as interesting a setting, I suppose. Even when extolling the character of New Orleans we only get to see the city as 2nd unit stock footage passing by a car window or a narrow shot of the front of a house. This works against the show. I want to feel like I'm there. Right in the middle of it. Immersed in the middle of a war between reconstructionists like Boulet and thugs and drug dealers who take this opportunity to drag New Orleans back into the wild west.

There is a lot of potential here, that "K-Ville" doesn't realize. "Rescue Me" started as a post-9/11 look at firefighters in New York and while it always holds to that truth it has also fleshed itself out into a rich, humorous universe of it's own. "K-Ville", on Fox is handcuffed to a cop drama template. It's got a few splintery shoot-outs and a few dry humorous smirks but is largely humorless, thrill-free and uninspired in it's shallow, predictable stories. The characters have yet to flesh out although it appears "K-Ville" was really working at them. In Too bad because the show is pretty well made. There is an intensity to some of the action, a shaky camera technique and a willingness to blow things up and shoot-up and rip apart sets that gives the show a movie quality. "24" on a smaller budget.

You can become attached to any show you watch at length. I really wanted to like "K-Ville", mostly for the strong, likable lead performance from Anthony Anderson. Anderson came into his dramatic own with his startling turn on "The Shield" and this is further good work from an actor who could easily become great. Vic Mackey would be pleased with Boulet. But "K-Ville" as a whole doesn't rise up to it's potential and it's made up of elements that might seem different and freshly brutal for those only christened by network TV, but will come off a little been-there-done-that from those who have experienced FX's aforementioned cop thriller.

* * / 4

No, I'm not a shill, but I did type this originally for the FOX forums, I'd like to get the word out, because so many NOLA films aren't this good, and/or full of potential. Let's keep it from being canceled, and watch it grow!

(7/10 now, perhaps better after I see a few more episodes)

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For once, I think this series on NOLA has potential, others have tried, and, well, were quite horrible.

First off, here's what I like : Though not perfect, they've actually got a lot of the lingo down, something a native might not pick up on so much, but when you're from New Orleans, and have since lived all over the U.S. and the world, you become impressed with the volume of your original, indigenous language.

They've got awesome uniforms, which, by law, must be at least slightly varied from real ones. Hell, I'd buy one.

They did an eerily good job on the outdoor Katrina-flashbacks, that include the characters.

They try to (and usually succeed) in adding a 'The Shield' - style action to the episodes, without stepping on actual toes, yet addressing real and/or suspected goings-on in post-K New Orleans.

The protagonists and antagonists aren't a bunch of ultra-unrealistic sex symbols, overcompensating in style, detracting from the story, they're realistic.

The cons? Forgivably few.

The juxtapositions of chase scenes, from the Quarter to Algiers under the bridge, back to the old River City casino lot, and back to Uptown... in one straight scene? There's scenic ways around that, easily, and if not location-wise, there's ways to shoot it where belief doesn't get suspended by locals.

The overuse of the word 'gumbo.' The accents are wonderfully varied (as they are in NOLA,) but there's too much drawl, and not enough '9th ward' and/or 'Yat' accents, depending on who they're talking to.

• All in all, being a writer, I can see a LOT of storyline potential here, hell, I could give a season's worth away.

I think they should work on the accents, I think they should include a lot more local talent (from Morning 40 Federation, Rock City Morgue, Gal Holiday, Suplecs, Galactic, etc....) It's too soon to deconstruct further, since I'm sure there's upcoming episodes that go into character development and background, some supporting cast (the other cops) having their own prominence in an episode, and, well, what I like to call the 'overcomplicated' episodes that are a thrill ride of possibilities, and turn out quite simple, due to character's overthinking... those episodes, if done right, can flesh out a character very, very well, and stretch their usual acting style.

• Most NOLA films are cheesy (No Mercy, Big Easy, Hard Target, Candyman 2, The Big Easy (TV,) Live and Let Die, and that latest one with Denzel Washington... and others that are actually good, like Angel Heart, The Pelican Brief...

...this one has a lot of potential, but is already far ahead of the game over most of New Orleans-filmed material.

Right now, they've got a lot of homework done, they've set a good stage, they've got a good cabal of actors, they've got good advertising, and they're local-conscious in their story lines...

...I wish them the best, and I'll watch.

If I were still in New Orleans, presently, I'd hit them up for a small job. :)

At first I couldn't wait to see the pilot....now that i've seen it I just can say that this show didn't reach the point which I expected. Some scenes are voluntarily cut; actors are running then in about 3 second they're chasing bad guys by car without transition. What's wrong with the director? Was he lazy enough to not film some parts? By the way, scenario is simply too predictable...I found the mystery of the crime in about 15 minutes: find the problem!!! So if you want to make your own point of view, check this show...Whereas I didn't say lot of great things about it, I really love Anthony Anderson (The Shield was is best performance for my part) and that's why I rated this show 5 stars unstead of 3.

FOX just never learns when it comes to good shows, K-Ville joins the roster of good shows that FOX cancels after 1 or 2 seasons. K-Ville is a cop show that takes place two years after Hurricane Katrina and the select few of officers that have remained on the New Orleans Police Department. Marlin Boulet (Anthony Anderson) is a veteran of the NOPD's Action Felony Squad and gets stranded by his old partner in the storm two years ago, Marlin is still attempted to keep some little bit of order to all the chaos that has happened and remains faithful to the city of New Orleans. He meets a new guy named Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser) who becomes his new partner but has ulterior motives than Marlin Boulet even though Trevor Cobb had a pretty bad criminal past. So Marlin Boulet and Trevor Cobb work together in order to bring justice back into New Orleans as the city continues to get back on it's feet. The show has great plots, Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser make a great team! FOX just can't seem to even open their eyes and realize that they are wasting good shows like this and keeping some crappy reality shows like "Kitchen Nightmares" and "The Moment of Truth". Overall, good show that FOX should have kept!