Cops patrol a grim beat in ‘K-Ville’

Many people use television for escapism. It’s a chance to get away to a sunny climate or a far-off world.

“K-Ville,” debuting at 9 tonight on Fox, is set in a place only a Weather Channel junkie could love – New Orleans, two years after Hurricane Katrina hit.

“K-Ville” is a throwback cop show, without the forensics that’s all the rave but with a difference. Instead of a station house, the Felony Action Squad at the center of the series works out of a FEMA trailer.

The emotional center of “K-Ville” is Marlon Boulet (played by Anthony Anderson), a cop who doesn’t understand why thousands are deserting his hometown rather than rebuilding it. During Katrina, his then-partner drove away in their squad car at the height of the storm, and Marlon has never been able to forgive him.

His new partner, Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser), a soldier who fought in Afghanistan, has chosen to resettle in New Orleans, for some mysterious reason.

Part of “K-Ville” is about solving crimes in a city where law and order are more concept than reality. It’s also about living in a war zone largely neglected by the rest of the country, whose attention has been drawn elsewhere.

Anderson, electric on his stay on “The Shield,” is again compelling and heads up a strong cast that includes Tawny Cypress (“Heroes”) and John Carroll Lynch as squad leader James Embry.

But are viewers ready for a fairly grim drama, especially with such offerings as NBC’s magical “Heroes,” CBS’ comedy block and the tail end of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” opposite it?

No, it’s unlikely “K-Ville” will attract strong enough ratings to keep the time slot warm until “24” returns in January. It’s more probable that the nation will opt to forget about what’s happening in New Orleans once again.