East New York to Debut on Vibe

Sky’s entertainment channel Vibe has picked up the CBS crime drama series East New York.

Co-created by genre veteran William Finkelstein (LA Law, NYPD Blue), it stars Amanda Warren (Dickinson) as the newly promoted boss of the 74^th Precinct in East New York, a working-class neighbourhood on the edge of Brooklyn that is in the midst of social upheaval and gentrification.

It was well reviewed in the US and popular enough to earn an early renewal.

“It has more on its mind than one might expect at first blush,” Variety said.

East New York is relatively careful in its presentation of cops and policing as flawed tools in need of rethinking, and boasts a charismatic lead who can make you believe, for an hour of primetime, that such change might be possible.

The Hollywood Reporter thought it “a solid cop procedural that tries, with limited success, to brave thorny territory” while Decider cautioned:

A mess that displays some of the worst habits of CBS procedurals. But with lots of talent on both sides of the camera, and a neighbourhood that’s rife with true-life story potential, the show can become a solid, Blue Bloods-style staple for the network.

East New York will screen 7.30 Mondays from March 1 while one of its co-stars, Jimmy Smits, can be seen in a Vibe re-run of Bluff City Law from March 21 (7.30 Mondays).