Looking Back at K-Ville 6 Years Later

When "Sleepy Hollow" premiered three weeks ago, it was the highest rated debut on Fox in six years. The last show to debut that well on Fox? "K-Ville."

"K-Ville" was one of my favorite TV shows of the last decade. It premiered in September 2007 and revolved around the duties of NOPD officers Marlon Boulet (Anthony Anderson) and his partner Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser). The two men are an unlikely pairing in post Katrina New Orleans, as they and the city are fighting to regain their footing.


At first glance, "K-Ville" could be mistaken for the classic buddy-cop cliche. A black guy and white guy team up to fight crime, kick ass and take names. I never viewed K-Ville in that light however. Anthony Anderson's character, Boulet, is a native New Orleanian who's still dealing with ghosts of Katrina some two years later. In the pilot episode we watch as he tries to assist people in the immediate aftermath of Katrina only to watch his partner go AWOL and drive off in a police cruiser. Later, Boulet's partner returns to the unit and Boulet is forced to reconcile with the man who once deserted him.

A Shooting Breaks Out, But National Coverage Is Slow To Follow

Imagine being at a parade on Mother's Day in your neighborhood enjoying yourself. People are dancing and singing and just having a good time. Now imagine a shooting breaks out and people in your vicinity are shot and wounded. Sounds like a pretty frightful experience. This scenario needs no imagination for it's exactly what happened at a second line celebration in New Orleans last weekend.

Violence has been a problem in New Orleans for a few years now since the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Still, it's disheartening to hear 19 people wounded in a shooting when their only crime was enjoying a parade on Mother's Day of all days. Perhaps even more troubling however, is the lack of national media attention this shooting received.

I remember seeing the word 'New Orleans' trending on Twitter that following Sunday evening, and CNN did mention the shooting in their nightly newscast, but within a couple of days it seemed to blow over. At a time when guns and gun ownership is a hotly debated topic in our nation, you would think a shooting at such a public event would warrant more attention. But it didn't. Sadly, this lack of attention about the causes and circumstances behind these crimes has too often been missing in dealing with communities of color.