Title When: 7 p.m. Monday, ABC Family. Starring: Russell Hornsby.

The history of prime-time television is littered with the carcasses of failed family dramas and ratings-starved African-American dramas. So give ABC Family credit for trying to combine the two in "Lincoln Heights" (7 p.m. Monday), an earnest drama about an African-American family that moves into an undesirable neighborhood.

The show's focus is squarely on Eddie Sutton (Russell Hornsby, "Playmakers"), a dedicated Los Angeles police officer who moves his wife, Jenn (Nicki Micheaux), and family into the inner city neighborhood that he patrols and that he grew up in. That would be the Lincoln Heights of the title.

Their new home is a former crack house that they got for a steal at auction. After four months of work, they move from their cramped apartment into this spacious new abode and then troubles start. Some neighbors look askance at having a cop in the neighborhood, and the Sutton children don't have an easy time at school.

Tay (Mishon Ratliff) gets his lunch money stolen, Lizzie (Rhyon Brown) can't get any time playing on her new basketball team and Cassie (Erica Hubbard) begins to fall for the hunky white guy (Robert Adamson) in one of her classes.

And then things go poorly for dad on the job.

This is where "Lincoln Heights" gets a bit schizophrenic. I was surprised by the initial outcome of Eddie's work troubles, though the eventual, final outcome is too easy of a resolution. Still, it's more compelling than the kids' stories: Getting your lunch money stolen is pretty "Leave It To Beaver," even if mom's high-tech solution to the problem is not.

"Lincoln Heights" is an unremarkable family drama, but it showcases some likable performances from Hornsby and Micheaux. It's not a bad show by any stretch, but it's by no means revolutionary.

In the past, networks have tried dramas with African-American leads, and though they sometimes succeed on premium cable (Showtime's "Sleeper Cell" recently aired its second season, "Soul Food" ran for multiple years while "Barbershop" lasted just one season), just as often they flop on the broadcast networks.

CBS gave it a shot with Steven Bochco's "City of Angels" in 2000, and despite tons of media coverage viewers ignored the show. Fox also tried with "413 Hope Street" in 1997 to no avail.

"Lincoln Heights" is probably most similar to CBS's "Under One Roof," a 1995 family drama starring James Earl Jones that lasted just a half-dozen weeks.

If "Lincoln Heights" fails to attract an audience, it won't be the first family show on the network to go belly up. The decidedly caucasian "Three Moons Over Milford" was also rejected by ABC Family viewers last summer.

The ABC Family audience seems to prefer shows that concentrate on teen characters, particularly if they're involved in romantic entanglements. That's certainly been the formula for the ABC Family hit "Wildfire" (8 p.m. Monday) as well as "Falcon Beach" and "Kyle XY," which both return in the summer.

"Lincoln Heights" lacks those key ingredients -- their absence could be the show's fatal flaw.

TV REVIEW [REview is CQ]

'Lincoln Heights'

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