New BET Reality Show: Season of The Tiger

[AKA2D '91]

TV Press Tour: New Reality for BET

BY DIANE WERTS
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

PASADENA, Calif. -- There's the reality of pre-prison life for rapper Lil' Kim. And the hard-working role models of the Grambling State University football program. New BET program chief Reginald Hudlin promises an "expanded scope of original programing" as the venerable black-focus cable channel rebrands itself "leader of the new school."

Hudlin made his first appearance before TV critics as their midseason press tour kicked off yesterday, trying to boost a channel most writers consider a chronic quality underachiever during its first 25 years.

The 44-year-old director of films ("House Party") and TV ("Everybody Hates Chris") insists "BET is the ultimate platform for what it is I do" in telling stories.

Among those getting Hudlin's nod is "Lil' Kim: Countdown to Lockdown," premiering March 9 as a six-part chronicle of the two weeks before Kimberly Jones (aka Lil' Kim) went behind bars to serve a year for perjury related to the 2001 shootout outside radio station Hot 97's offices. "Mouth shut, head held high, as she refuses to snitch" was the description in a video promo shown critics, but Hudlin says the show "takes a very serious look at her life and her choices, and the consequences of those choices. It's absurd, and it's tragic. It's a very Fellini-esque situation."

"Season of the Tiger," debuting May 4, takes a verite look at the lives of the world-renowned football players and marching band of Louisiana's Grambling State University.

On the Sunday noon news show "Meet the Faith" (debuting March 19), anchored by CNN political analyst Carlos Watson, religious leaders discuss current affairs in a new way. Hudlin says they'll eschew "insider-oriented" political language to instead examine "what is right and wrong, what makes better human beings, what connects to our spirituality."