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'LINCOLN HEIGHTS' GEARS UP FOR SEASON 3: President of ABC Family explains reasons for green-lighting TV's lone African American series.
*The ABC Family series "Lincoln Heights" returns for its third season on Tuesday (Sept. 16) as the lone African American drama on television.
The show stars Russell Hornsby as a Los Angeles Police Department officer who moves his family back to his old Los Angeles neighborhood to start a new life and help out his old community.
ABC Family president Paul Lee says it's just the kind of drama that exemplifies the network's commitment to strong stories, as well as diversity.
"We picked it up because we fell in love with it as a show," Lee told EUR's Lee Bailey during a press event for the program Wednesday. "I mean we're super proud to have a very diverse crowd on ABC Family, but we picked it up because we burst out crying at the pilot."
"Lincoln Heights" has given ABC Family consistently high ratings while African American-themed dramas on broadcast networks have not proven as successful. Lee says his network's demographic has a lot to do with the show's crossover appeal.
"Our audience is younger than the broadcast networks," Lee said. "ABC Family goes for what we call the "millennials," which are the 14 to 28-year-olds. We do a lot of research on this audience, and this audience – I don’t' know who gets the credit for it, probably not us – is distinctly more, both diverse and colorblind than the older generations."
"Honestly, our audience sees a great story first, and then an African American story second," Lee said.
In addition to Hornsby, "Lincoln Heights" also stars Nikki Micheaux and Erica Hubbard. It's executive produced by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson.
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