Fox cop show ‘K-Ville’ not up to snuff
I like cop shows. Not police procedurals like
”
Law and Order
”
that follow the same pattern every week, but gritty
hard-as-nails cop shows. Shows where the cop breaks all the rules,
has no family or friends, is burned out and isn’t good at anything
except catching bad guys. I was hoping this season’s
”
K-Ville
”
was going to be that show.
Fox cop show ‘K-Ville’ not up to snuff
I like cop shows. Not police procedurals like “Law and Order” that follow the same pattern every week, but gritty hard-as-nails cop shows. Shows where the cop breaks all the rules, has no family or friends, is burned out and isn’t good at anything except catching bad guys. I was hoping this season’s “K-Ville” was going to be that show.
It isn’t. I watched a special sneak preview of the premiere episode online and I was disappointed.
“K-Ville” is the new FOX drama about two cops who patrol a post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. It stars Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser as officers Marlin Boulet and Trevor Cobb. Boulet is a New Orleans native who is desperately trying to put his struggling city back together. Cobb is an ex-army ranger and a Cincinnati transplant that becomes his new partner.
Anderson has been in dozens of movies including “Kangaroo Jack” and “Hustle and Flow” and had his own short-lived sitcom on the WB. He has a likeable, easygoing screen presence. He’s slightly overweight and not a classically handsome guy, which I like. It helps make his character more believable. He is mostly a comic actor, but does a good job as Boulet. You can see the pain in his eyes as he looks over his once beautiful city.
Hauser is the son of “B” actor Wings Hauser. He’s starred in the films “The Cave” and “Paparazzi.” He’s the opposite of Anderson. He’s a good looking, tough and athletic guy. Together they have pretty good chemistry. His stoic demeanor works well against Anderson.
The show has a good supporting cast. John Carroll Lynch plays their Captain. He played Drew Carey’s brother on “The Drew Carey Show” and recently played the killer in “Zodiac.” He was born in Colorado and raised in Minnesota so sometimes his Louisiana accent fades in and out. He should just try to forget it for the remainder of the series.
The rest of the police squad has colorful names, but the actors who play them are mostly forgettable. Tawny Cypress plays Ginger “Love Tap” LeBeau, Blake Shields is Jeff “Glue Boy” Gooden and Maximilanio Hernandez is Billy “K-9” Faust.
K-Ville is filmed in New Orleans and the city still looks like the hurricane was yesterday. It has a good soundtrack. There is plenty of action.
So what is wrong with the show?
The show commits the No. 1 sin for any movie or TV show. It’s boring. The action scenes were unrealistic. They looked like they were shot with a handheld camera that jumped all over the place. It was hard to see what was happening. There were a couple of car chases and the torturing of a suspect. The two cops chase people down the streets with guns in both hands firing bullets everywhere, not worrying about innocent bystanders. I was actually upset because the action was interrupting the rest of the show.
The first episode didn’t really make good use of the exterior city shots or capture the feel of New Orleans, but I’m hoping if the show goes on that will change. The two characters did talk about going to eat gumbo, but that was about it. The best thing about “Miami Vice” was the fact that it captured the feel of Miami in the 1980s. “K-Ville” needs to capture the feel of a post-hurricane New Orleans.
The plot turned out to be pretty routine and not very original. I’m sure there must be plenty of stories out of New Orleans since the hurricane. These stories are far better than anything a screenwriter can come up with. The writers would be wise to listen to some locals and incorporate their stories into the show.
I liked the premise of the show and the two main actors. I was disappointed with the premiere episode, but I’m hoping the shows will improve. The cop show that it needs to pattern itself after is “Homicide: Life On The Street.” That show was always gritty and it didn’t just use the city of Baltimore as a location; it was more like a character on the show.
The show has a lot of promise. It just needs a little work. Hopefully Fox will keep it on the air long enough to give it a chance.
