K-Ville is Kaput.

Really.

And that's disappointing to me because the show was starting to develop a voice other than that of "Starsky and Hutch: NOLA."

Here's to hoping the writers' strike can be soon resolved so that production can resume and we can go back to making fun of gumbo parties.

K-Ville and Hickory-Smoked Vanilla Ice Cream

Last night, D. and I got home only to find that the power grid in our neighborhood was off. It came on just in time for us to set the DVR to record the series premiere of "K-Ville," pick up a to-go order from Parasol's (mmmm, oyster po-boy and gravy cheese fries), pick up some beer from the A&P on Magazine (wherein we, along with the amused staff, witnessed an incredibly audacious shoplifting incident) and head over to Dave the Banker's place to watch the first half of Monday Night Football - the Eagles vs. the Redskins.

We stopped at the Creole Creamery to pick up some ice cream, and the following conversation took place.

Clerk: What can I get for you folks?

D: She'll have a scoop of the bananas foster ice cream. As for me...hmmm. Oooooh, I'll take the hickory-smoked vanilla bean ice cream.

Clerk, looking dubious: Um, have you ever actually tried it?

D: Noooo...

Clerk, handing him a sample: It tastes like barbeque ice cream.

Me, cracking up: That's an interesting flavor.

Clerk: You're not kidding. We've even had garlic-flavored ice cream in the past. But the blue cheese ice cream had to be the absolute worst.

D: Mmmm. I like this! I'll have a scoop!

And like it he did.

More to the point, we missed the season premiere of "K-Ville" because our DVD only recorded the last 19 minutes of it. Fortunately, I had already seen it. Here's NOLA.com's review - what were your thoughts? Did you watch it? Will you watch it again?

K-Ville Premieres Tonight

I'm certainly not going to repost the link to the series premiere of "K-Ville," but despite the somewhat outlandish writing, I'm really pulling for this show to develop and work. This could be so good for New Orleans, and hey, it's not as if the national perception of the area could get that much worse.

Here are some reviews of the show - they're very, very harsh (like the Orlando Sentinel calling it "loathsome"), but they're also pretty on target. The pilot is cartoonish and trite, and I REALLY hope they can adopt some of the grittiness that successful, truly poignant cop shows radiate.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/09/k-ville-shines-.html

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070917/LIFE/709170349/1005

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2007/09/fox-starts-new-.html

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-09-16-kville-review_N.htm

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/09/17/new_orleans_provides_turbulent_backdrop_for_k_ville/

But there is one positive review amongst the detritus:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070917/ENT03/709170304/1038

The K-ville Pilot...

Here it is, folks - what are your thoughts?

http://www.nola.com/entertainment/video/index2.ssf?content2.ssf/Kville

I'll write more later - I'm just worn out from Air Force One delaying my flight out of Kansas City yesterday. BAH!

(But I'm so glad I got to have a nice dinner with D.'s wonderful parents!)

P.S. Tom-ba juice? What are the rules of said drinking game, people?

Fox's Preview of "K-Ville"

This just gives me goosebumps. I truly hope this show succeeds. Unfortunately, Fox has lined it up against "Monday Night Football," so unless the network execs really take interest in this show, it's going to fail...miserably. But if it works...wow.

Some righteous uptown residents are flipping out about the show, claiming that it will only cast NOLA in a poor light. Um, yeah? People? Guess what? The national perception of New Orleans couldn't get that much worse. As it is, 40% of people nationwide think we're still underwater, and the rest DO think criminals roam the streets with AK-47's. (The first is totally untrue, and the second is only true in select neighborhoods. People definitely don't get gunned down on Bourbon St. like the show's trailer portrays it.)

I say this, though - "NYPD Blue" showed the darker side of New York, and "CSI" shows that Las Vegas isn't all glittery debauchery. Any show about cops in New Orleans would have to address what happened in the immediate aftermath of the storm to have ANY credibility.

So if you aren't a football fan, or DO own a DVR...please watch this show. It pumps millions into the local economy - and this place needs that.

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/foxbc/shows/kville/kville_internet_1_300.wvx

Black Water Transit

So FOX has picked up "K-Ville" for its fall schedule. As most of y'all probably know, it's a buddy cop drama set in post-Katrina NOLA starring Anthony Anderson (from "The Shield) and Cole Hauser ("Pitch Black" and "Paparazzi"). I had heard they'd been filming down in the warehouse district and in the French Quarter, but I tend to avoid the Quarter and hang out in uptown, since parking is plentiful and cheap (as is beer).

A couple of weeks ago, D. and I were driving in to New Orleans around 11:00 PM, the end of a two day drive from south Florida. We were tired and cranky, and yawning our way down St. Charles Ave. towards our house. And then we saw lights, from a parked police car. Hmmm, that's kind of random. St. Charles is a relatively safe road, even at night. As we continued down the road, we saw that right across the street from where we turn to head up to our house, film crews were set up, filming a scene on the front porch of a mansion on the Avenue. Tractor-trailers and catering vans were everywhere, and the cop car was just a prop for the scene.

Random, I know, but still kind of cool. So we assumed at the time that it was filming on "K-Ville," which is a reasonable guess. But last night, as we made our way down to The Bulldog to meet up with K., A. and M. for Free Pint Glass Night (woot!), we noticed a crap ton of trailers and lights and cameras. Hmm...the same house, at the corner of Peniston and St. Charles (a scant 3 blocks from La Maison)? Couldn't be "K-Ville."

We shrugged, and went on our merry way. A couple of beers later, we made our way back up Louisiana to St. Charles, and decided to stop and grab a drink at The Superior Grille. As we parked, a guy stumbled across the streetcar tracks towards his van (parked in front of D.'s car), decrying the strength of Superior's infamous margaritas. He beseeched us to help him guide his car out of his spectacular parking spot, rambling semi-coherently about margaritas and parallel parking and Cheetos. (At least, I *think* he mentioned Cheetos.) We helped him out of his spot, and he took off, on his drunk and happy way home. Only in New Orleans, right?

So we sat down at the bar at Superior (no kidding, those margaritas ARE strong) and began chit-chatting with the bartender, who pointed out good ol' Larry Fishburne's trailer through the window. That's right - MORPHEUS IS FILMING A MOVIE IN NEW ORLEANS.

It's called "Black Water Transit," and it's a...well...post-Katrina crime story. It's based on the book of the same name, which was, oddly enough set in New York. ::shrugging::

The IMDB entry on it: http://imdb.com/title/tt0490087/

Here are the pics we took last night on my handy little camera phone...

(The actors' trailers, right on Amelia Ave. next to Touro)

(Production trucks)

(This was the third time we saw them filming at this house on St. Charles.)

So yeah, very cool, all in all. Earlier that afternoon, as D. went to deposit our rent checks downtown, he texted me to tell me that he thought he saw Bernie Mac. Hmmm.