FAMILY HAS THE BLUES IN `LINCOLN HEIGHTS'.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic `Lincoln Heights'' is sort of ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Family's answer to HBO's ``The Wire,'' with all the attendant positives and negatives such a description implies. While it aspires to present an earnest depiction of inner-city life, it's likewise hamstrung by its need to serve its target audience. ``The Wire'' treats its audience as intelligent adults; ``Lincoln Heights'' can't quite afford to do that. Russell Hornsby Russell Hornsby was born in Oakland, California. From the beginning, he was interested in Theatre and acting. So he attended Boston University with advice from his highschool drama teacher. After graduation, he studied at Oxford University's British Academy of Dramatic Arts. is immensely likable as Eddie Sutton Eddie Sutton (born March 12, 1936 in Bucklin, Kansas) is the former head coach of several NCAA Division I men's basketball programs, most recently at Oklahoma State University. Sutton retired as head coach of Oklahoma State University men's basketball following the 2005-2006 season. , an idealistic L.A. police officer who moves his family back into the tough neighborhood he grew up in as part of an incentive program for cops to live in the areas they patrol. ``It's not Disneyland,'' he concedes of the neighborhood, and indeed, his kids are bullied and taunted at school, and their home is broken into. Still, Eddie's wife, Jenn (Nicki Micheaux Nicki Micheaux (born Detroit, MI) is an American actress. She has had many recurring appearances on various tv shows including The Shield, Six Feet Under and the series . She is currently on ABC Family's Lincoln Heights. ), remains supportive, and the neighbors begin to warm to his presence, sort of, though one tells him, ``Folks around here see the police as more dangerous than the Ebola virus Ebola virus (ēbō`lə), a member of a family (Filovirus) of viruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers. The virus, named for the region in Congo (Kinshasa) where it was first identified in 1976, emerged from the rain forest, where it survives in .'' But before the drama behind that tension can be played out, the show's writers jump the gun and have Eddie shoot and kill a young thug during a convenience-store holdup- hostage situation involving his daughter. Then they up the ante with an Al Sharpton-type condemning Eddie and the police force rabidly engaging in a witch hunt, even though he shot the man in self-defense (Law) in protection of self, - it being permitted in law to a party on whom a grave wrong is attempted to resist the wrong, even at the peril of the life of the assailiant. - Wharton. See also: Self-defense . If that's how the police department treats its cops who move into bad neighborhoods, one doesn't see much of a future for the project. And anyway, the story line seriously distracts from the show's intentions; it's an OK plot, but it should've been saved for later in the series rather than dominating its first episodes. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com LINCOLN HEIGHTS Lincoln Heights may refer to:
What: An idealistic L.A. cop moves his family from a cramped apartment into a large home in the troubled neighborhood he polices. Where: ABC Family. When: 7 tonight. In a nutshell: Earnest but likable. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Nicki Micheaux and Russell Hornsby move their family into a rough L.A. neighborhood in ``Lincoln Heights.'' |
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