New TV show a bang or bust?

[Richmonopoly]

"Line of Fire"
Is Richmond-based drama good for city's image?

http://images.richmond.com/images/storyimage/12-05-03linefire_story.jpg

Robb Crocker
Richmond.com
Friday December 5, 2003

ABC's new FBI drama "Line of Fire," which is based on organized crime in and around the city of Richmond, debuted Tuesday night. Within the show, scenes filmed on the James River, at the Canal Club and at various other downtown locations were showcased in the crime drama. With an already sub par reputation, does Richmond want the nation to view it as a city that is a hub for organized crime?

A recent ranking of cities in the United States by Morgan Quitno Press ranked Richmond as the 14th most dangerous. With the violent crime and murder rates high this year, that assessment can be considered a fair ranking.

But having covered the police beat over the past 10 months, I have yet to observe or hear about a rash of organized crime; that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but it is not indicative to what goes on in Richmond.

We have similar problems that most urban cities have, which are social issues. When I think of organized crime I think of New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, not Richmond. Having grown up in the suburbs of D.C., I would even consider it believable that the D.C. area could be a hub for organized crime (something we like to call Congress), but Richmond?

When I talk to my family in D.C., New Jersey and Mass., they all have an impression of Richmond as being a city riddled with violent crime and gun-blazing maniacs shooting and killing anyone who gets in their way. When I interviewed Charles Moose, who was the Montgomery County police chief in charge of the sniper investigations last year, he said that Montgomery County doesn't see the level of violence that Richmond does. My father, who lives outside D.C., works in the city and has his car broken into on a regular basis, was worried about my safety when I moved here for college five years ago.

What these people don't understand is that Richmond is a city like any other. Social issues like teen pregnancy, drugs, unemployment and lacking school systems are a common problem throughout the U.S. Unfortunately, surveys like the aforementioned Morgan Quitno Press survey and media attention on the murder rate have given Richmond a black eye and put the city under the microscope. What does a television show about organized crime do to clean up that image?

The argument for the show being good for the image of the city is that the series will explore how crime can be fought successfully in an urban setting. Basically sending a positive message through a negative situation. That could just as easily have been done with a hospital show. I'd even be more content to see a new version of the "Golden Girls" based out of Richmond.

Anything would be better than a show that displays more of society's evils. Aren't there enough "NYPD Blue," "Law and Order," "Dragnet: Los Angeles," and "CSI" type shows on television?

It was great to watch and see parts of Richmond on a television show, just like it was exciting to see parts of "Hannibal" filmed in the Fan and Downtown (but in "Hannibal," Richmond was supposed to be D.C.). And I have to admit, the show was good.

Don't get me wrong. Hollywood's exposure of Richmond is great for the city, region and state. But with an already tainted reputation, is it exposure or exploitation?

[Richmonopoly]

You can spot the city of Richmond's skyline on primetime television!

http://a.abc.com/primetime/lineoffire/images/gallery/episode1/360x240_pilot_2.jpg

Line of Fire is a new drama series which parallels the lives of FBI agents and the underworld criminals they have sworn to take down in Richmond, Virginia .

In the premiere episode, rookie FBI agents Paige Van Doren (Leslie Bibb) and Todd Stevens (Jeffrey D. Sams) are assigned to the Richmond, Virginia branch. Van Doren is overly eager with a strong moral center and a deep sense of purpose. Stevens is fast and smooth — one who's willing to take shortcuts. Their new boss is Special Agent in Charge Lisa Cohen (Leslie Hope), a tough, no-nonsense leader. The branch is rocked by the violent death of Agent Bert Somers — the first such tragedy for most in this group. Agents Amiel MacArthur (Michael Irby) who was with Agent Somers when he was killed, grieve his loss tremendously, as does Agent Jennifer Sampson (Julie Ann Emery), who is a law enforcement officer by day; wife and mother of two by night.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Jonah Malloy (David Paymer), the local crime boss who runs his organization with an efficiency usually exhibited by much more legitimate businesses, meets with his team of henchmen. Donovan Stubbin (Brian Goodman) is one of Malloy's chief lieutenants. They, too, are rocked by the shootout that killed the FBI agent as well as one of their own men. Malloy realizes that the heat from law enforcement is about to get much more intense, so he readies his team to prepare for war.
assigned to the Richmond, Virginia branch

[nostyle]

Haven't watched it...too many shows like this nowadays...

[spark317]

The Dec 9 episode was set in Norfolk.

Norfolk is in ABC's ''Line of Fire'', but not really

By LARRY BONKO, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 2, 2003

IN A FUTURE EPISODE of “Line of Fire,” which premieres tonight at 10 on ABC, the FBI descends on Norfolk to intercept a fishing boat carrying $3 million in heroin from Bogota, Colombia.

The special agent in charge issues the order.

“There could be $3 million in drugs on that vessel. Let’s take down the shipment!” In the episode titled “Take the Money and Run,” the producers filmed in El Segundo, Calif., and called it Norfolk, Va.

Norfolk isn’t Norfolk in “Line of Fire” but Richmond is Richmond.

Let me explain.

All of tonight’s premiere episode was filmed in and around Richmond, where the show’s FBI special agents are based. At the heart of the series is the FBI’s pursuit of malevolent mob boss Jonah Malloy, played by David Paymer.

Producer Rod Lurie’s crew returned to shoot for seven days in Richmond after doing the pilot there. Come next Monday, cast and crew arrive for 11 more days of filming in Virginia.

Lurie would like to do all the episodes in Richmond, but with most of his actors and crew living in Southern California, he’d have a mutiny if he moved the entire production to Virginia. “I’d have to put money for divorce lawyers in our budget.” The way they see it at the Virginia Film Office, even a little of Virginia in prime time is better than no Virginia at all.

“Norfolk will definitely pop up again in our series,” said Lurie. “When it does, we’d love to film on the water in Norfolk. We’d also love to film in Virginia Beach.” Until then, the rather shabby El Segundo waterfront will stand in for Hampton Roads. I dare say that Norfolk and Virginia Beach would welcome Lurie and his cast, which includes Leslie Bibb, who grew up in Nelson County and attended St. Gertrude’s Catholic High School in Richmond. She plays FBI agent trainee Paige Van Doren, a West Point grad and a young widow.

The series begins as Van Doren and fellow trainee Todd Stevens (played by Jeffrey D. Sams) report to the Richmond field office soon after a special agent was shot and killed by one of Malloy’s thugs.

ABC will caution viewers about “some violent content.”

Bibb is the only likable character I could find in the show’s first three episodes. That could be a problem for Lurie and ABC. Paymer’s Malloy is a despicable, sadistic villain who tortures, murders, kidnaps the young and innocent. He introduces his wife’s cousin to prostitution in the brothel he owns. I was repulsed by him. Then there’s Special Agent in Charge Lisa Cohen, played by Leslie Hope, formerly of “24.” It won’t be easy for the audience to like her. She’s an iceberg with a badge. It’s OK for Cohen to be forceful when dealing with kidnappers but does she have to be so drill-sergeant rigid with her agents?

Come on, Agent Cohen. Cut the new kid, Van Doren, some slack. She’s still grieving for her husband, who was killed in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

While Richmond and the Virginia Film Office may be tickled pink to have a film company investing large sums of money in the commonwealth, I wonder how easily shocked Virginians will react to hearing a young woman say she became a hooker because “there’s no work in Richmond for a 21-year-old girl”?

New Jersey has Tony Soprano.

Richmond has the Malloy Crime Syndicate. In tonight’s episode, Lurie puts much of Richmond on display, from its back alleys to the James River to the State Capitol. “I fell in love with the town when I shot a movie, 'The Contender,’ in Richmond about three years ago. Richmond looks great. Some places in the city look very modern. Others look classically Southern. The city has a river, railroads, converging highways. It’s a very pleasing place to film,” Lurie said.

“The film commission, including locations manager Andy Edmunds, made us feel comfortable in Richmond. They’ve made life easy for us.”

After doing so well in Richmond with “The Contender” — it earned Oscar nominations for Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges — Lurie returned to the city in 2002 to film a TV pilot, “Capital City,” which was never picked up by a network.

Bibb, coming off the role of Brooke McQueen in “Popular,” was among dozens of young actresses who auditioned for and won a part on “Capital City.”

“I saw then that she was a brilliantly focused, very devoted actress,” said Lurie of Bibb, who recently got married. When Lurie started to cast for “Line of Fire,” he picked Bibb to play Van Doren.

Her character helps in the arrest of a low-life who offers to trade information for a lighter sentence.

The perp: “Let’s talk about something serious.”

Van Doren: “How serious?”

The perp: “Drugs coming into Norfolk.” And so Norfolk is introduced to the ABC audience, which will find “Line of Fire” in the “NYPD Blue” time slot tonight at 10. Andy Sipowicz and his band at the 15th Precinct return early in 2004.

As for the future of “Line of Fire,” it depends on how many viewers will love to hate Lurie’s villains — and how many wish to spend an hour with the impassive special agents of the FBI’s Richmond office.

[willy]

Yeah, I watched about 30 min. of the second episode where the drugs were coming in to the port of Norfolk. Then they showed the cargo port, palm trees and everything, what a joke.

I will probably never watch it again. The whole mafia and Richmond plot is really hard for me to swallow. They could have picked a more believable city like NYC, Philly, Boston, Chi-town but Richmond? Please!!! I know those cities are kind of played out when it comes to mafia, but the mafia does/did exist there.

[willy]

Orrr, maybe it was the first episode.

[Henricus]

I've watched the first two episodes of LOF. The first, filmed in Richmond, wasn't too bad, and it was neat to see all the Richmond locations. The second episode was kind of weak, and it was very obvious they weren't in Virginia. The plots are thin, and the premise of the show - mob activity in Richmond - is a real stretch. And, nobody even speaks with a Southern accent! Still, it's just fun to see Richmond on the small screen, and it'll all be over in a few weeks.

[Jasonhouse]

IU would assume that it's good exposure regardless. Look what Miami Vice did for Miami.

[VAGator]

Sorry, but Richmond has alot of violent crimes(murders) for a city of its size. Both Hampton Roads and Richmond have gang issues , but they are usually in the form of New York drug gangs who branch off and move down south...i.e. "The New York Boyz"

[Jazzman]

I didn't even know about Richmond's reputation as a violent city until I stumbled upon this thread.