Kevin D. Lofton

A riveting police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department's District 21 who put it all on the line to serve and protect their community. District 21 is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.

A relevant, timely and distinctive coming-of-age story following a half dozen interrelated characters in the South Side of Chicago. The story centers on Brandon, an ambitious and confident young man who dreams about opening a restaurant of his own someday, but is conflicted between the promise of a new life and his responsibility to his mother and teenage brother back in the South Side.

Downtown is an animated series on MTV on urban life, based on interviews with real people. The show follows a diverse and multiracial cast who live in New York City, and presents their everyday lives through quirky, humorous, and imaginative perspectives from the characters. It was created by Chris Prynoski, a former animator on Beavis and Butt-Head and produced by David McGrath. In 2000, Downtown was nominated for an Emmy in the category of outstanding animated program. Downtown faced a similar fate to many of MTV's other cartoons - it only lasted one season. The use of an original score rather than licensed music makes a sanctioned DVD release unlikely. Some of the show's staff have gone on to work on the action animated series Megas XLR, which uses the same quirky humor found in Downtown as well as the character Goat, reprised by Scott Rienecker.

An intense pressure cooker drama centered on the chaotic affair between two interrelated lesbian couples. The story first chronicles the mentally draining relationship between Lynn and Stacia who have been dating for only a few months. Stacia is hopelessly in love with Lynn, a very beautiful and successful corporate exec who really doesn't reciprocate the same feelings as Stacia does. To Lynn, Stacia is liken to her "girl toy". She's fifteen years older and amusingly manipulates Stacia's sincere feelings toward her. On the flip side is the physically tumultuous journey between Rhonda and Toi. Rhonda, who happens to be Stacia's best friend from their time served in prison, is an aggressive butch lesbian who physically controls Toi, a passive woman who has acclimated herself to ill-treatment. As this intriguing story unfolds, we find where Lynn and Rhonda share similarities as abusers while Stacia and Toi are comparable to being their victims.