Second Look: Lincoln Heights
Sunday, January 20, 2008

The show has improved, and I am delighted with it. I still dislike the storyline with the gangs and violence involved. Yet, all in all, the characters on Lincoln Heights have grown on me.

I also want to thank the person who sent me a link to the ABCFamily website. It is free - my favorite word - and makes it easier to clarify the cast and plot.

Story recap: police officer Eddie Sutton (Russell Hornsby) moves his family into a rehabbed crack house (the refurbished place is a masterful and massive beauty) in his old neighborhood.

His wife Jenn (Nikki Michaeux) was reluctant at first. The kids weren't thrilled either, but they grew to like Lincoln Heights.

I'm shocked by how fast the last child, Tay (Mishon Ratcliff) has grown in one year. He looks like he doubled in height. I see him as a bit miscast. He bares no resemblance to anyone who plays his parents or grandparents. Perhaps he was chosen because he was the best actor for this role.

Lizzie (Rhyon Brown) is such a can-do young teen. Can't help but love her character. She looks like Cassie. I suspect the show doesn't know what to do with the girl's hair. I only wonder, as a natural hair advocate and borderline natural hair nazi: Is a perm really necessary for someone this young? There are plenty of hair stylists that know textured hair who can provide gentle and non-damaging care.

There's a sweet, interesting, young-love, interracial storyline between oldest daughter Cassie (Erica Hubbard) and the hot, white hunk Charles (Robert Adamson). She's a lovely and beautiful BAP (Black American Princess). Her kind of a character has not been on television since A Different World. If there were others, I cannot recall.

The cutest thing is watching how wide-eyed and confused Charles looks when Cassie is in one her moods.

It's a great show and well worth watching.

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

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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