A&E, Cube do 'Good' works

Reality series deals with reform

By JOHN DEMPSEY

Ice Cube

A&E has signed a deal with Ice Cube to produce "Good in the Hood," the pilot of a proposed hourlong reality series dealing with reform and redemption.

Plan is for Ice Cube to introduce each hour, in which a reformed gang member, drug dealer or robber agrees to take on the responsibility of helping people in similar circumstances (a relative, friend or even a stranger) turn their lives around.

Rob Sharenow, senior VP of nonfiction and alternative programming for the net, said, "One of the most powerful elements in the show is the personal connection of the two subjects." People who are still in thrall to drugs or violence "are more apt to respond to someone who has walked in their shoes," Sharenow said.

A&E is counting on "Hood" to deliver the same kind of eye-opening tension that has drawn sizable audiences to such original reality shows as the net's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and "Intervention."

Shows like these, he said, have helped make A&E into a hot network on Madison Avenue, driving its average age down from 61 in primetime early in 2004 to its current 47.

These reality shows, plus reruns of "CSI: Miami" and "The Sopranos," have catapulted A&E into the top-10 ad-supported cable nets in primetime in January and February.

Sharenow said Ice Cube "plans to be very involved" in the show all the way from pilot to series because "he comes from very difficult beginnings, growing up in a bad neighborhood in South Central L.A. He transformed his own life."

In a statement, Ice Cube said, "This show is a way to demonstrate what is going on in a positive way in the urban community."

Exec producers of "Hood" are Ice Cube, Dave Broome("The Biggest Loser") and Matt Alvarez (FX reality series "Black White"). Co-exec producers for A&E are Sharenow and Colleen Conway.