Previously unpopular storm makes a comeback in the 2007 fall season
HOLLYWOOD, CA - Hurricane Katrina, the catastrophic 2005 storm that wreaked havoc on the entire Gulf Coast and caused almost 2,000 fatalities, turns out to have been a blessing in disguise for the American television industry. Writers have eagerly pounced upon the disaster, utilizing it as a plotline almost as often as surprise pregnancies and missing nuclear bombs.
One prime example is the gritty crime drama K-Ville, which chronicles the daily lives of cops living in post-Katrina New Orleans. Heroes has supplied another notable instance with the introduction of the Dawson family, a small but optimistic clan of survivors who have lost everything and are desperately depending on the sole breadwinner, an ambitious and mysteriously gifted girl named Monica, to grant them a better life.
“We didn’t want it to get too preachy,” states Heroes writer Sean Ericson. “So we limited the Katrina-strife dialogue to only 40% of the episode.”
With Katrina survivors making the rounds on other popular television programs such as House and Extreme Home Makeover (no affiliation), it looks like this trend is here to stay. Other shows are already trying to squeeze Katrina characters into as many plotlines as they can, no matter how illogical the fit.
“Word on the street is that a New Orleans jazz man, having been swept out to sea in the hurricane, is going to wash up on the shores of the island during the season premiere of Lost.” claims television gossip columnist Anita Kanigan. “I also heard that a bedraggled family of refugees will somehow end up on the main deck of Battlestar Galactica. Plus, ever since Kanye West claimed that George Bush hates black people, VH1 has been dying to plan a reality show to disprove just that. The leader of the free world living with a houseful of sassy soul sisters - think of the possibilities!”
~TVoD
Posted in Heroes on October 17th, 2007 | |