Hurricane Katrina left such devastation in its wake that New Orleans and the surrounding area in gulf coast Louisiana are still suffering. Much attention has been paid to the levy system that broke and allowed waters from the Gulf, urged on by hurricane force winds, to flood much of The Big Easy, but little attention has been paid to those who struggle daily in a city gutted by festering devastation and teeming with mold and rats of both the two and four legged variety, who hold on to the belief that their once great city can be great again.

When we see reports of problems or hear of the current status of New Orleans, we usually see some white, middle aged person who lost a significant portion of their lives to Katrina and who, against odds that would break lesser people, push on to rebuild what they once had. What we seldom see, however, are stories of those most affected by Katrina, the Black residents who often lived in the lowest areas of the city and so were most likely flooded.

I’m reminded of a recent HDNet World Report episode that showed the slow, and sometimes unsteady progress of the many parishes affected by the flooding. The only person of color shown in the episode was a man who, before the flooding, was a small time crook and after the floods he had turned away from a life of crime and was dedicating himself to help rebuild.

In 2003 the U.S. Census reported the 63 percent of the population of New Orleans was Black. Or, if you must be politically correct, African American, yet few news reports focus on that majority unless it is in some less than favorable light.

What’s more, the New Orleans Police has been under intense worldwide scrutiny after several highly publicized incidents has made them look less than professional.

It is from this back drop that I’d like to direct your attention to a new Fox show called K-Ville (Katrina-Ville). The pilot episode is available for free from the iTunes Store.

K-Ville stars two somewhat recognizable actors; Anthony Anderson as Officer Marlin Boulet, and his new partner Cole Hauser, played by Trevor Cobb. Both actors have served time as big screen bit players, thought Anderson is arguably the more recognizable of the pair.

The pilot episode attempts to cover a lot of ground, hitting on race relations, how the police is viewed inside and outside of New Orleans, even how some of the police force had left their jobs for whatever reason when they were most needed during the first 48 hours after the storm struck. Because there is so much to cover the episode tends to be a bit formulaic, but I don’t see it as a problem.

My attention was grabbed the moment I fired up K-Ville on my iPod. What I saw was what I believed is closer to the truth of how people coped with the sick and injured before the news crews showed up. There were people who were shocked, dazed, confused, who had just lost homes, pets, families, and friends, and who had no idea what the next moment held. In the middle of it all are two cops doing what they can to help.

One says to the other, "I had to shoot a dog, it was tearing at a dead body. I thought it would turn on the living next."

In another scene, shift change takes place in what looks like an old storage yard. In the background to see huge metal wire spools instead of police station paraphernalia and you can’t help but wonder where these people are working from.

We also see a man who firmly believes in the resurrection of his city and is doing what he can to help while keeping the seedier elements that threaten to kill off all hope for the city away. This man is not white and he is not rich. He’s a slightly overweight black cop who has lost a lot and is losing more, but somehow he keeps hanging on.

I hope all of this talk about black cops and black people won’t dissuade non-blacks from watching K-Ville, it is not a "Black Show," it is a cop show that happens to have an atypical main character.

I’m not a fan of cop shows, but I think I can watch this one. I think if you give the pilot a chance you’ll get hooked like I did.

More free stuff at the iTunes Store:

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.