It’s official: the media machine hates Lincoln Heights. Why? For this reason. Courtesy of the nice people at ABC, in Jan. 2007 the rest of the country will add one more name of a SoCal community that they can pretend to understand, our very own Lincoln Heights. Though Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, The O.C., and similar forgettable shows created a problem of false expectations for their namesakes, it must have been easy to manage the eventual letdown when people actually visited those shimmering streets packed with monotony. We face a different fate, the prospect of diminished assumptions: the short promo video managed to pack in a police raid, the revealing statement “Gross…the way these people live”, a crack house, and “what kinda schmuck would move into this dump”, all in reference to LH. Aw geez, you little pricks are so kind! Did I mention it’s a cop drama? Yawn. And in a final nod at authenticity, the “drama” focuses on a Black family trying to make it in the “old neighborhood” along with a supporting cast of white people. Hmm, no Mexicans, no Chinese? That’s about what I’d expect.
It’s got flop written all over it, so it’ll be hello and goodbye soon enough, but it’s annoying that the media still has such a dysfunctional relation to the Eastside and Latinos. We tend to not exist in that world of representation, which is ultimately better because waiting for an accurate portrayal is a pipe-dream. I look forward to the disappointing ratings and eventual cancellation, maybe throw a good riddance party, and get cozy once again with the couch of obscurity. Besides, maybe this new perception of LH will make it the new Compton and slow the pace of gentrification, I guess it ain’t that bad! Screw them all the same, I’ll follow the lead and perpetuate my own myths about their drug-addled-neurotic-filled neighborhoods. Won’t you join me in this campaign?
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Is this supposed to be Lincoln Heights in LA? I’m not at all surprised by the depictions of “inner city” neighborhoods or the omission of Mexicans and Chinese. Television doesn’t have a great track record on accurately portraying neighborhoods or cities.
Yeah, the shot of County USC/General Hospital is what gives it away, but the homes they show are just like those you find here. It’s only a matter of time before someone figures out which house they’re using for the main story line.
too bad it’s not a mexican family. totally underrepresented on tv. 🙁
wow. u sound really angry for some reason. Have you seen the show?? Did you know that there are Latino cops, residents, and a Latino Police Chief? As well as other minority characters such as Asians…? Also a Latina paramedic? I guess people just like to talk.
Did you also know that the show DOES NOT take place in California??? There are countless Lincoln Heights in the U.S. Look on the map. It takes place on the East Coast. They shoot it in Los Angeles, yes. So what if u caught a glimpse of the USC medical sign or the houses look the same. It does not take place in California. Its actually a very positive show… but i see that you have already passed judgement based on promo clips. More haters should be like you… Its quite funny!! If you have enough time to wait for the show’s demise and throw a “good riddance party, and get cozy once again with the couch of obscurity”, then you have a major problem. As long as you stay away from the snacks!!! KEEP HATING!!!
Where did you acquire so much info about the show? We had to assume it was about Lincoln Heights LA due to all the panoramic shots with palm trees. I don’t remember seeing any palm trees on the east coast.
You have to understand, we’re not too keen about a neighborhood with our same name being called a crack infested dump.
i understand where you’re coming from. I would probably feel the same way if it was my neighborhood. I have a friend who works on the show and i’ve been to the set many times. Met many of the actors and also read some of the scripts. Maybe they’re not doing the best job at creating a different environment from the LA Lincoln Heights which would definitely lead people to believe it’s LA… especially those in Los Angeles. Don’t quote me, but i believe it’s the Lincoln Heighs in the DC area which is actually a pretty rough neighborhood. But that Lincoln Heights has nothing to do with the LA one. Just as there are many people named Mike in this world. One may be a serial killer… another may be a Firefighter (good natured person). Nothing to be offended by. The location question was asked many times on set and they made it very clear it wasn’t LA. I even heard it was a fictional city, but i’m pretty sure that is so they don’t offend someone’s city being that it’s an ABC Family show. But i’m pretty sure it’s based off of the DC/Maryland area. I even faintly remember Maryland Badges on some of the officers. Nonetheless… It does represent all cultures. I haven’t seen a full episode myself, but i will wait to see a couple before i pass judgement.
Hey John,
Thanks for the info, and I really hope you are right, it would make much more sense if it wasn’t based in LA. Please do post any more details if you get them, maybe some link even, because there’s a few people in LH that would really like to know. A shot of General/USC hospital, and another shot of palm trees, that kinda doesn’t point to anything but our LH, but i’ll give them that maybe they’re just using it for the promo, since it’s still in production, maybe they’ll make the east coast connection clearer when it releases.
I’m not trying to “pass judgement” on the quality or content of the show, I have no idea what it’s going to be like, but it’s fair, if it IS about our LH, to critique the hollywood system for once again dumping on our neighborhoods. To them, anything east of their little prison communities is a shithole but many of us that live here disagree. And it’s also fair to take them to task for once again looking right through all the Latinos and Asians that are here, to the media industry, we are always mere background scenery.
C’mon man, you can’t call me a hater just for trying to stand up for my neighborhood, can you? Oh well, as long as you think I’m funny, then I don’t care if you think I’m right! EL CHAVO!
The facts:
1. It’s a fictitious town in an unnamed state, much the same as the unnamed town in Hill Street Blues.
2. The show is filled with all ethnicities you’d find in an American inner city, including Blacks, Latinos, Asians (one story deals with human trafficking of Chinese), and yes, even whites (the oldest daughter will deal with the ramifications of a mixed race relationship).
3. It has a pedigree of some of the best writers, directors, and actors working in hour dramas today.
4. Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and The O.C. were all multi-season hits beloved by their fans. Lincoln Heights should be so lucky.
I won’t bore you with uninformed opinions. The author of this blog seems to have that covered.
Good to know someone has access to “the facts”, those of us outside the media loop get our speculations from youtube. When it comes to TV, I make it a solemn commitment to ensure my opinions are as uninformed as possible, thanks for noticing! EL CHAVO!
Man, do folks like Charlie and John even read what El Chavo writes? From their leaps of logic, it sounds like they’ve just skimmed the above posts without really reading them.
Here are the points AGAIN:
A bunch of us who live in the REAL Lincoln Heights have watched the clip for ‘Lincoln Heights’ the TV show on You Tube. We all believed the show was about our neighborhood due to the shots of:
palm trees
County USC Hospital (in the real Lincoln Heights)
and the turn of the century homes straight from our neighborhood.
How are we to assume it’s about a fictitious city?
Secondly, because we believed it was our neighborhood, we were dismayed by the unrealistic demographics of the show. The clip on You Tube and the original IMDB cast list had no Latinos or Asians. Lincoln Heights has a majority Asian and Latino population. Now that you have brought it to our attention that the show is about a fictional place, the ethnic representation doesn’t matter as much. You TV people can put in all the token people of color you need for your make believe crack infested neighborhood.
Lastly, we’ve all been searching the web to get more info on this show. It might be surprising to you, but many of us that live in Los Angeles have no insider showbiz connections and therefore we were unable to find any other info about the program besides the clip on You Tube.
I appreciate both Charlie and John coming on this blog to explain things but please read and try to understand the posts thoroughly before responding so curtly.
Little passe’ to be chastising a show that hasn’t even aire’d simply because of stereotypical opionions about race and the fact that it is set in a real Los Angeles County Neighborhood, don’t you think? Here’s an idea, why don’t you act like intelligent #&*$ human beings and wait to see what the show has to offer before going on an arbitrary rampage about the message that, by the way, you haven’t even been privy to seeing. Stop waisting your time. If it bothers you so much, hears some food for thought, watch the show, and if the message still bothers you, then relate a warranted, intelligent comment about its success or failure. Your ignorance is annoying. But I guess I shouldn’t expect less, I mean, you must be from Lincoln Heights right? As you would put it, its the new compton commercialized. If ignorance is bliss, you must be on Cloud 9 right now.
“Annonymous”, I don’t mind when insults are thrown my way, but man, you need to sharpen up that dull pencil cuz your comment ain’t no eggsample of intelligent, I can barely figure what you are saying. Your claptrap about “ignorance is bliss”, “cloud 9”, “must be from LH”, that’s not working. Do me the favor of supplying a proper insult, you can try the following if you need them: You suck, dumb motherfucker, meathead philistine, you got the cooties. That’s all easy to spell and it gets to a point.
Just my opi onion, EL CHAVO!
I personally enjoyed Annonymous’ misuse of the word «passé».
what I don’t like about the show
is why does the black girl have to have a white boyfriend, living in a neighborhood like thatI don’t think there would be a lot of whites, It Is so stupid that a white male always have to be loved by everyone when in reality that is not the case. and why doesn’t some of the lily white girls don’t have black boyfriends, black men don’t get anything from a black female in a movie with a white man. that’s 50% of your audience lost right there.
From the ABC Family Lincoln Heights website:
Episode Summary – Show 1:
For a chance at a better life for his kids and as a way to give back to the community he serves, Eddie Sutton, an idealistic L.A. cop, moves his family to a house in Lincoln Heights, a rough inner-city neighborhood. The transition isn’t easy as the Suttons discover the harsh realities of living in their new home. Can Eddie balance doing good for his neighborhood and doing right by his family?
Plus… look at the photos on the site. They say “to protect and serve” on the LAPD uniforms and they drive LAPD cruisers.
Am I the only person who has noticed that the house the family lives in on the show is different from the house they show in the opening credits? I saw the pilot and it seemed to me like the house from the pilot was much closer to the sidewalk, was smaller, did not have a stone wall around it, and looked slightly different. Now all of a sudden the house is way back from the street with a grassy lawn and a stone wall around it. Huh?
so are all these posters who are dissing the original post missing (or disagreeing with) the point that tv doesn’t do a good job of reflecting real life? especially of latinos, et al?
or that neighborhoods (and cities) aren’t affected by having these shows promote simplistic views about them?
cause those’re the points, no? and if these john-etc. people disagree with them then is there any point to a discussion?
i was googling for lincoln heights-the-tv-show and this blog was third. accounts for the high quality of posts.
seriously el chav, be happy about potential for plummeting yuppie-ness/land values.
I finally did get a chance to see the show which turns out to be on ABC Family (?), which is luckily available only to those with cable; and now I can safely declare that it IS a crap show, what a surprise! The scary thugs in the hood are laughable, the storyline is predictably lame, somehow I don’t think anyone is going to be scared away! People are just going to think of LH as some forgettable town and show. Strangely, much of the first episode was shot in Chicano Park in San Diego, I wonder why they would use such an iconic background for a show having nothing to do with Chicanos?
gdmt. i mean neighborhoods *are* affected…
makes me wonder what (if anything) has changed in baltimore since the wire started.
your anti-spam words are awesome. i especially like getting to enter pendejo…
Why are all the hot guys in Shows and movies what about us girls is what i say! lol but siriously you shouldnt worry about them they’ll kiss when the time is right for them and they are not carrying the charles and Cassie thing out too long that is how relahionships are. i know. i have had alot of them.
Okay okay i feel stupid…. i posted without looking at the other posts before hand thats just the shallow sh!t everyone else is talking about so i asumed that it was the same here. Anyway, the mix of race is evident so give it a rest! who cares where the story is placed as long as you can whatch it right? And over all you should not be passing judgement on a show you have never seen or dont plan to.
we have seen the show and it’s no good. totally cliche and full of stereotypes!
ok ok umm its not too bad i mean its tv its not supposed to be bad
Lincoln Heights just got renewed for a second season.
Personally, I don’t think the show will affect our neighborhood in a negative way any more than we (the residents) have done ourselves. Take the time to think back to all the negative things that have happened here way before this show was even a thought in a producer’s mind. We have been the ones to give our neighborhood a bad rep. I don’t mean ALL of us, but you know what I mean (I hope). I would understand if our neighborhood was in much better shape and our residents had more respect for where they lived and protected it instead of vandalizing it and what not. But this is far from the truth so having a show that shares the same name as our community showing what some or most of us, residents don’t agree to be true here, is not something to blame the show for making us look bad. We’ve done it ourselves. I have great pride in my neighborhood, Lincoln Heights. I was born here and still live here. I have been involved throughout my life in the community. Have volunteered on “clean up” days since I was a teenager. And I try to be a good example of the positive that is Lincoln Heights. But that doesn’t blind me to all the negative that also is Lincoln Heights. So if a show like “Lincoln Heights” comes on the air and shows what some feel is a negative perception of the real Lincoln Heights, then you really don’t know your own neighborhood. I personally know of a couple crack homes in the neighborhood. I grew up with the gang members in my neighborhood. Having them as next door neighbors all my life, I’ve gotten to know them and know a lot about what’s ‘going on’ in the hood. So I know that the show won’t show half of the real LHTS. If the show was made to show the REAL LHTS then maybe I would be more concerned as to the truth being shown to the rest of the counrty.
I really feel like Lincoln Heights is a good show. Yes, it is in southern California, however, it is not about the neighborhood its about the family. Furthermore, I feel like it will not affect that neighborhood anymore than the Wire has affected Baltimore(and yes I am a Baltimorean). The wire has been here for 4 seasons and the most I’ll hear is “Is Baltimore really that wild?” my repsonse is “Absolutely”. As with any city you take the good with the bad. This should have absolutley no affect on Lincoln Heights so please, “chillax”. The show is depicting a strong African American family with morals and principles. We can laugh as Flavor Flav disrespects females but we are quick to boot a good wholesome family show. Everyone should be ashamed of themselves. This show is as diverse as California is sunny. I mean Eddie just got a Latina partner. The kids play with all types of other kids. Its not a Black show….Its a people show and we as Americans should want to hold on to something that we all can relate to.
Well said Carla. I happen to like the show too. It gives a lot of actors the chance to be on a tv show. With shows like The Hills, Laguna Beach, The OC, Smallville, and One Tree Hill out there. It’s hard for a teen of color to find shows with people of different races on it. The cast of these shows are 99% white and most are 100%. So when people start dissing a show because over 50% of the cast is black. It’s sad to me. When a cast is all white. People look at it as a “normal” show. Wildfire’s lead character is latina and she is in a love tri with two white males. No one is calling for more latino men on that show. Let’s face it tv is not real life. And the writers are going to get some of it wrong. TV as a whole needs more shows that showcase different types of families.
FUCK!@ I live in Lincoln Heights and this show makes us look bad. I hope they cancel this show ASAP!!
Okay so its okay for a white woman to be with a black man,but its not okay for a white man to be with a black woman,i’ve seen plenty of show with lil white girls with black girls,this show is freakin awesome and its time for black women to stand up and go for what ever man they choose,heck i’m a black woman and there are white mean as well as other all over me thats whats up.screw black men and”bills”50% of the lost audience hell they were never there watching a show with a black woman in it anyways were not pink remember.
i agree with carla and gracie. people need to stop fuckin complainin. us miniorities finally got a show that we can relate to (racism, home life, interraical dating, school and etc) and people want to complain? so what if its based in Lincoln heights, maybe you should start cleaning up your city then u wouldnt have to worry about being portrayed in a negative light. im NOT from lincoln heights and in my opinion its just like any other city. your going to have ur lil gangsters, your crackhouses and etc. and then your going to have your working class families, single moms and etc. lincoln heights is just like any other city in america. so why u complainin?? like that one girl said, your soo fuckin quick to laugh at idiotic flava flav and new york embrassing theirselves (and their people) but u wanna get mad at a show that portrays latinos, blacks and asians in an ordinary way??
Hooray for innaccurate representations! We should be happy with what we get, massa
i dont know any black people living in lincoln heights , i think the show is racist. if the shoe was on the other foot and the was called ”africans” and all the actor were mexican can believe black people would be angry and all there interacial supporters. if your going represent someone do it right. same thing with a city , plus not to bring racism in agian but if there were blacks they wouldnt last log becuase the mexicans dont want them there. a………………. and vice versa
dont know any black people living in lincoln heights , i think the show is racist. if the shoe was on the other foot and the was called â€africans†and all the actor were mexican can believe black people would be angry and all there interacial supporters. if your going represent someone do it right. same thing with a city , plus not to bring racism in agian but if there were blacks they wouldnt last log becuase the mexicans dont want them there. a………………. and vice versa
anthony you are so stupid ok you are right in one aspect all people should represented respectfully but on the other hand black people and hispanics are alot alike , hispanics and black people get along just fine whre i come from,besides black might play in the show but they didn’t right it ok so maybe your mad at the wrong ppl.
i live in lincoln heights an i never seen so many black people in this neighborhood
This again is the Hollywood la la dream land misrepresenting. I concur with all the vociferous protest of the show’s misrepresentation. I grew up in Lincoln heights until and lived there for 16 years. I know the community as well as anyone can possibly know it. I went to Lincoln High school… let me tell you, there was but ONE or TWO BLACK kids in all four years of my attendance there. The town is predominantly Hispanic and Asian. the only white people who live there are seniors who’ve lived their all their life and, and they make up less than 2%. Lincoln High school was about 72% hispanic and 25% asian, the rest were just “other”. yes, it’s a poor neighborhood, there are gangs, there are gunshots at night that you can hear on occasion, there is a lot of graffiti, but it’s not that bad a dump as they make it seem on the show. And, there is certainly not black people in LH (very very few).
reality is it’s a Hispanic/Asian town. The only white people are school teachers at the schools – schools constantly concerned why there is such a big performance gap between the poor hispanics and equally poor asian immigrants.
What a joke. Barely any mention of hispanics on the show, and when they show Asians it’s illegal trafficking of Chinese? Fuck that….
Suppose they had a show about the Baldwin Hills, and there were no upper-middle-class Black people represented. It’s just unrealistic and the residents would focus on that, a lot.
I think the gripe here is that the real LH is around 80-90% Latino mostly Mexican American and around 10-20% Asian w/lots of Vietnamese, and a little bit of everyone else. The show didn’t represent that.
This is a sore spot for Asians and Latinos living in Los Angeles, because there are so few representations of them on TV. You’d think a show about LA would have the right demographics…
(But then again, they did have a show about Arcadia, and Asians complained for the same reason. When they show Pasadena, they never show Black people – and there has been a large African American community there for over 150 years.)
The soreness is getting even more extreme, because of the internet. We go on sites like Yelp, and write about food or shopping or whatever, and, all the races get some representation in the writership, but it’s obvious there are a lot of people in LA who are neither White nor Black. Not only that, but, these “minorities” write up miles and miles of words. So why is it on TV that we’re often these foreigners without lines?
Forget TV.
I haven’t really watched it in 20 years, and it’s clear that I haven’t missed anything.
PS – regarding the racial tensions. It’s terrible that the gangsters and their racism are used as representatives for the whole community.
so this prediction of cancelation was completelyyyyyy wrong the show is awesome and i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it …. I don’t think they set out to represent LH… it’s about the beautiful family making it in hard times and the show could easily take place anywhere else….. no one gives a crap about LH it’s about the people. so everyone needs to shut the hell up
John, to put it straight – you don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course its the one in Los Angeles because it even says so in the show description. And yea, Lincoln Heights is a rough neighborhood. I lived there for a while and it was pretty bad, but that TV show is going to make people think that they know what’s going on but they won’t. They’ll just say they feel sorry for them and think thats all. Plus, there isn’t any black people in Lincoln Heights. It’s all Mexicans, Chinese and Vietnamese. Black people would probably get roughed up there.
shut the fuck up you don’t even know what your talking about bitch
I caught a marathon of the show this weekend. Not bad. But so many of the stories were just unrealistic. I never watched the show when it was on. I was turned off from day one by the black girl dating the white guy. And the focus on crime. African American life does not revolve around crime. There were just too many cliches for me to get past. And I must agree about the silly gangsters. The Wire is the only show that has ever captured gang culture the right way. Hollywood gangsters are so sill it\’s laughable. As is the idea that a cop with two daughters would live in the hood. There are cops living in the hood but not with two daughters. I would suggest next time you do a black dramma…forget about crime and cops. That would be a good start.
i may not be from LA and have nothing bad to say about LH but i do not understand why people make it out to be bad for the show being called Lincoln Heights who cares where they are at. If thats not how LH is dont let it bother you. As far as the show goes it shows so many problems we have in this world the gangs yeah they might not be scary on the show but still its just showing the problems some cities do have. The racial problems people still to this day have problems with inter racial couples believe me i get it all the time but the show was here to show people like me im not the only one who goes through that which many of you do. I really enjoyed the show because the content was more to help people than to put down a neighborhood if you would have watched all the seasons you would have seen that the neighborhood got better it made a great place to live at the end of season 4. Just like they would have been if they lived in the suburbs so until you see how dedicated the actors were to this neighborhood you really shouldnt dismiss the show. Let me guess you watched a couple of first season shows and said you hated it but in reality the shows got better to where you could see they were helping the comunity. Do you know they had a army verteran who served in iraq based in the show to. They showed how its hard to get medical help without insurance they made a clinic in lincoln heights to better support their community so next time you want to hate on something do a little research it may change your perspective on the whatever you dont like. I personally would love to see lincoln heights back on TV it was an inspiring show that is fictional not about a certain hood or anything but about stating the problems we have in the world today which is something most shows wont show but this one is extrodinary. Yes there are a lot of bad that come with so much good but the point of the show is to help people to show them there are other ways to solve the same problems in this show that so many deal with in real life.
It’s on “based” on the east coast. I was watching it, and when Eddie and the police chief were talking there’s a plack in the background with the state of California on it.
I just recently started watching Lincoln Heights on UP and I am hooked. I’m really sorry though that it only lasted four seasons. The acting is superb and the intensity in each episode is deep.
I can only hope that one day new episodes will be made, hopefully with the same cast (even though the kids are now older).