Despite being set in crime-ridden Chicago, Fox’s “APB” hopes to offer an “optimistic” view of policing, according to showrunners.
“This is clearly a city that — between gun violence, drug violence and gang violence, socio-economic disparity of all kinds — is in the midst of a crime-ridden crisis,” executive producer Trey Callaway said during the show’s panel at the Television Critics’ Association’s winter press tour Wednesday in Pasadena, California.
“Are we going to solve those problems on ‘APB’? Absolutely not. Our job is to entertain folks. But to the extent that we are able to showcase some of those issues and weave them into the real fabric of our drama, and use Chicago as this powerful, potent character as we try to make it in every episode, the show benefits from it.”
Matt Nix agrees, and wants the show to present a more positive view of the justice system than is often portrayed in the news and on other police dramas.
“At a time when people are looking at policing and issues of crime and violence as really kind of a two-sided issue, like you’re either on one side or the other,” he said.
“‘APB’ — it’s fun, certainly — but what we’re trying to do is present a sort of optimistic vision of what policing can be, if people engage creatively, and they bring — I’ll say it — an American spirit to engaging with problems of crime … So part of it is, not trying to white-wash anything, but to say, ‘hey, if we get together and really engage with these things and put some resources into it, there’s something we can do that’s not just dreary pessimistic all the time.”
“APB” premieres Monday, Feb. 6 on Fox.