New CBS drama 'The Red Line' explores (but doesn't excuse) a Chicago police shooting
CHICAGO - Last October, when former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, the cast and crew of the new CBS drama "The Red Line" were busy filming a similar - if fictional - story of a fatal police shooting in Chicago.
The limited eight-episode series premieres Sunday. A convenience store robbery sets the narrative in motion: A bystander to the crime - a black man wearing a hoodie, picking up milk on his way home from work - is shot and killed by a white officer who is the first to arrive at the scene.
The emotional aftermath of that shooting is explored from various angles and forms the basis of the show, which promises to be something quite different from the Dick Wolf procedural world of a series like NBC's "Chicago P.D."
The entirety of "The Red Line" was filmed in Chicago late last year and it comes from two Chicago theater veterans, playwright Caitlin Parrish and director Erica Weiss, who have worked as a team since meeting at DePaul University. They are both credited as creators and showrunners on the CBS series, which is their first joint foray into television. Parrish is based in Los Angeles these days, where her TV writing credits include "Supergirl" and "Under the Dome"; Weiss has remained in Chicago where she continues to direct theater, most recently "Twilight Bowl" at the Goodman Theatre.
Last fall, Parrish made a short trip back to town and met with Weiss at the Chicago Studio City soundstage on the West Side where the series
