Great topic and potential, questionable direction
From the beginning this show seemed very reminiscent of a UK show called "999," which chronicled the duties of emergency services in Blackpool, England (which shares some broad similarities with New Orleans). "999" featured outstanding camera work and a superb soundtrack, leading to a great, somewhat dark, yet polished tone.Unfortunately this show is formatted like the rest of what airs A&E. The drama seems forced and the difficult duties faced by emergency services are clouded over by sound effects, predictable music, and thrilling camera shots. Not to mention there seems to be a fair bit of staged scenes (which is I guess is still commonplace in reality-TV).
But honestly, what turned me off the most was the dubbed-in siren sound effects. There is basically one sound effect that is almost everywhere in post-production sound editing for emergency vehicle sirens. It's distinct and it's obviously fake. In several places throughout the show you can still hear the original siren of whatever vehicle they're filming while the fake one is overlapped. I guess the idea is that the audience doesn't feel a police car or an ambulance is in a hurry unless you can clearly hear a siren (emergency vehicles respond without sirens all the time). While obviously the siren itself is a stupid issue to get hung up on, to me it has become a blatant indicator that a show is less interested in reality and more focused on cheap production quality and satisfying the perceived unintelligent audience.
What fascinates me are people. When I sat down to watch this, I wanted to know more about the lives of the people they were filming. What impacts does seeing the dark-side of society have on these men and women? What I got was action shot after action shot: stick around through the commercial break.
This show and its producers have the potential to make this something truly special. New Orleans is a perfect setting for showing how much really goes on "behind the scenes." Unfortunately it plays out like any other C-grade "documentary" on A&E, and much to my dismay, I'm afraid that won't change. But overall, it's definitely worth a watch.
score 7/10
i_imdb-512-34240 23 January 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3168935/15009
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