 Taking You to New HEIGHTS:
BET brings reality TV uptown in the fabulously fun Harlem HeightsBy Elon D. Johnson
Consider it a postmodern Harlem Renaissance in the age of reality TV, the Real World without the glitzy, high-priced, network-funded apartment in Big City USA. Or better yet, a contemporary rendition of W.E.B. DuBois's "talented tenth" running around the gritty city with much less weightiness. Either way you look at it, one thing is for sure: This young, black, and fabulous set is invading uptown, and it's all being televised for your viewing pleasure. Harlem Heights is the new BET reality series consisting of eight twentysomethings who descend upon the upper regions of Manhattan in an attempt to find something or become someone. There is the ringleader (Brooke), the actress (Ashlie), the model type (Pierre), the silver-tongued politician (Landon), the trust fund kid (Christian), the headstrong fashion diva (Briana), the swaggerfic rapper-in-training (William), and the big mouth (Bridget). The nucleus is budding television producer Brooke, a name that may sound familiar from her well-publicized erstwhile romance with Kanye West. "My first experience in the public eye was in a high-profile relationship that was about the other person," Brooke proclaims. "It wasn't about me, and I was more of an accessory. So I had to sit back while people framed what I was, and I wasn't able to correct them." So call this Brooke's second chance at making a first impression. And despite the Internet thrashing she took from the bloggers, she's ready to start dating again. But that's after she and bartending beauty Ashlie deal with a friendship that somehow went awry, which is where the series begins. "Sometimes people just kind of venture off. We just needed something to bring us back together," Ashlie says, barely stifling a nervous giggle while remaining tight-lipped about the situation. The circle takes a dizzying spiral from there. Christian, a White Plains, New York, native from an affluent family who deems himself the "nice guy," is reportedly plotting the possibility of hooking up with Ashlie—when he's not running around with his childhood friend Landon. Landon is Brooke's neighbor, a fast talker with large shoes to fill and a political agenda to push. "My dad has been in community development for 30-plus years, so he's instilled in us that we have to give back," says Landon, who's aiming to make good on his expensive degree. Close to Landon is Pierre, who, despite his pretty looks, is dealing with a previous drug addiction in his family while trying to preserve affordable housing in Harlem. "My father was an addict when I was younger. Now we've reunited, and he and I are getting closer," Pierre says. Together with William, the reticent Harlem-centric rapper who's raising his 8-year-old daughter on his own; Briana, Brooke's best friend who never minces words; and Bridget, Briana's cousin who's never at a loss for words, the cast plays hard, works harder, and tries to navigate adulthood in front of rolling cameras in Harlem, New York. Harlem Heights airs this March on BET. 
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