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New Reality TV Series Follows Lives of First Responders

COMPTON, CA – A lot of reality shows featuring singers, actors and rappers are for those with a career on the way out, said actor-singer Tyrese Gibson.

Not him.

So, rather than go that route, Gibson is getting into reality as a producer and narrator of “First In,” a 10-episode series launching Wednesday at 10 on BET that follows firefighters and paramedics in Compton, Calif.

“At some point, I’m going to be on camera, but it’s going to be a very organic thing,” he told the Daily News. “I might show up and surprise kids at an event with the firefighters, but it’s going to be organic, not me riding the firetruck.”

And that’s the point, he said, of the entire show – the firefighters riding the trucks and ambulances around the clock, day after day, in a neighborhood known for being one of the toughest spots on the planet.

“I’m not a firefighter,” he said, “I don’t put myself on the line everyday. I didn’t want to make the show about me.”

Instead, the show follows a format pioneered two decades ago by “Cops,” where cameras tail the firefighters as they respond to calls ranging from gunshots, to car crashes, to fires.

“We definitely capture some drama,” Gibson said. “There’s going to be some rough television for viewers.”

However, he’s also quick to note that there’s a reason behind the show beyond showing blood and guts, or burned-up buildings. He wants to focus attention on a group of folks doing good work in Compton.

“This is a way of shedding light on a lot of serious issues going on in the community,” said Gibson, who grew up in nearby Watts. “And then we can have the politicians, the Arnold Schwarzeneggers in the world, pay attention and give some dollars and funding.”

Part of the goal, he said, was to put a face on the people doing the work, too, and what they go through. Among them is Marcel Melanson, one of the youngest battalion chiefs in the nation, who tries to balance work with his family.

Camera crews spent six or seven weeks following the firefighters. If the show clicks, Gibson and his team have plans to take it to firefighters in Baltimore or New York.

“It was amazing how human they were, as weird as that may sound,” Gibson said of those profiled. “In the midst of the things they’re exposed to, that dramatic, they were just regular guys.”

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