A new pilot called "Murder Town" has created waves in the First State. The planned show is set in Wilmington, and City Council, for one, is not pleased by the title.
All 13 members of council have signed a letter written to the network and the company producing the show urging them to reconsider. Council President Theo Gregory says Wilmington can’t afford to host a show like "The Wire."
"We are a small city of 72,000 people. We are not a large city. So to bring this kind of stigma to our small city would take some time to overcome," he told Delaware Public Media Friday afternoon.
Gregory added that it would be possible to tell the story of what he called “inner-city America,” through a TV show, but it would be better to use a fictional town with fictional characters.
"So it can be told and it should be told, to bring that kind of empathy, but I don’t think you tarnish the reputation of one city," he added.
Mayor Dennis Williams says his office has also reached out to those producing the show about reconsidering.
“There is nothing more disappointing and hurtful than a national platform defining your city as ‘Murder Town,” said Williams in a statement. "Naming Wilmington as the setting for a crime fighting drama titled ‘Murder Town’ is insensitive to the families who have lost loved ones due to gun violence, as well as, insensitive to those who proudly call Wilmington home. All of us, government, business, education, community and faith-based leaders, must come together and stand against the production of this program."
Williams added that the controversy also offers an opportunity for those who care about Wilmington to seek ways to take action to lower the level of violence in the state's largest city.
So far, the show is just a written pilot, and, according to Variety, Jada Pinkett-Smith is set to executive produce and star as Wilmington’s first African-American District Attorney. In reality, Wilmington does not have a District Attorney’s position.