A new trailer has arrived for “Shots Fired,” a 10-hour TV event from Fox. The police drama was created by wife-husband duo Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Beyond the Lights,” “The Secret Life of Bees”) and Reggie Rock Bythewood (“Biker Boyz,” “A Different World”). The series won’t play it safe: racially charged shootings are at the center of the story, and specifically racially charged shootings committed by police officers. The show promises to take “an explosive look at the criminal justice system.”
“Shots Fired” is set in small-town Tennessee. The trailer kicks off by depicting a Black Lives Matter-esque rally calling for justice: a 17-year-old boy has been murdered and no police investigation has occurred. But then an unarmed white kid is shot by a black cop. Cue all hell breaking loose. “All the murdering of unarmed black men by police across the country and this is the one the government is investigating?” asks an incredulous activist.
The show re-teams Prince-Bythewood with Sanaa Lathan (“The Best Man”), the star of her 2000 romance “Love & Basketball.” Lathan portrays an expert investigator who works the cases. She’ll be joined by Stephen James (“Selma”), a special prosecutor sent to get answers. “The department is obviously corrupt,” Lathan tells him.
Check out the dramatic trailer below. Lathan and James’ costars include Helen Hunt, Richard Dreyfuss, Tristan Wilds (“The Wire”), and Stephen Moyer (“True Blood”). Prince-Bythewood wrote and directed the pilot, which will air sometime in 2016. She also directed episode eight. Other directors include Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”), Ami Canaan Mann, and Millicent Shelton.
