Televison's Fall Season Schedule Lineup
Sunday, September 16, 2007

This isn't going to be a good year for television: that was my first thought when I saw the fall season schedule lineup.

CBS has a show called Men in Trees. Does that sound like a winner to you?

One new dramatic show, K'Ville, has a black male lead, with the sexy Cole Hauser as co-star.

I think Heroes and Lost killed eliminated most, if not all, of their token blacks. And don't hold your breath expecting to see a normal black woman anytime soon: the strident, asexual, best friend is back in style.

I didn't see Law and Order or Law and Order: Criminal Intent in the lineup. So there goes my favorite crime shows. Yeah, I know they're on cable.

Television shows get canceled so quickly these days, that when I'm ready to get around to watching - the program is off the air. Damn.

If Seinfeld was broadcast today, it'd be gone already. Seinfeld took nearly three years to hit its stride or groove. It became a hit once it was moved from Wednesday to Thursday completing NBC's heavy duty lineup. I doubt any show gets that kind of nurturing love anymore.

There is one show I'm willing to pay for and that's Kyle XY. I think the young man is hot. The storyline, his personality and character development is a vast improvement over Smallville's superman.

Maybe there will be a show worth downloading or web watching this fall. I doubt it. Hey, that may not be a bad thing, I may have a more active social life then.

Labels: internet, iTunes, networks, television, YouTube

posted by GoldenAh
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iTunes Show: Lincoln Heights - ABC Family
Saturday, September 1, 2007

I wanted to like this show. I am not going to discourage anyone from watching it. Maybe it will improve over time.

Right now I have to admit that I am disturbed over the level of violence I saw in just the pilot episode.

I know this is hard for people in the entertainment business to believe, but not all blacks live in the 'hood, know people who carry guns, or are gang members. I wont deny that kids can get themselves into sticky situations and commit a lot of mischief, but what's presented as "keeping it real" for black children today is downright scary to me.

Even if some of it may be true, why reinforce the negatives? I believe the entertainment industry has more influence with black children due to the sheer number of hours devoted to watching television. There has to be something positive for them inculcate too.

Plot summary: The story is about a black police officer, Eric, his wife Jenn, and their three kids: two girls and a boy. They are living couped up in a small apartment with not enough room. In the opening scenes he helps to close down a crack / drug den. His partner makes a crack about living conditions.

In the next few scenes we see him trying to convince his wife to move into the house - after extensive repairs. Not only is the condition of the house a problem, the area is too. The back story here is that this is the neighborhood Eric grew up in so he wants to give something back.

I can understand his sentiment, but I felt that part of the storyline meant he didn't mind putting his kids on the front line of his redemption. It's fiction, but disturbing fiction.

Two teens get killed in this pilot. Handguns and machine guns are brandished about.
There's a botched robbery, a teenager is held hostage. A child is bullied and robbed.
Another teenager is shown bleeding after having been stabbed.

I can see kids who are tuning in across the country saying, "Yeah that's how it is in the hood."

I only wish that for every Lincoln Heights, there could be two to three predominately black shows without the violent and with a more upscale outlook.

Yeah, I said it, upscale, bourgeoisie, upper income, something that would make having Lincoln Height more palatable.

Labels: ABCFamily, Erica Hubbard, iTunes, Lincoln Heights, Mishon Ratcliff, Nikki Michaeux, Rhyon Brown, Robert Adamso, Russell Hornsby

posted by GoldenAh
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