Ryan Cormier

The News Journal

"Murder Town" was a television show to be set in Wilmington.

The show caused an uproar locally, and ABC passed on the project.

A spokeswoman for the production company said "we're not doing anything with" the show now.

After sparking outrage among Wilmington officials and residents, the ABC legal drama "Murder Town" won't happen after all.

The show, which was going to be set in Wilmington and star Jada Pinkett Smith, is "probably dead at his point," said Lynn Gardner, spokeswoman for A+E Studios, the producers behind the project.

The show's title was a nod to the now-infamous December 2014 Newsweek article about crime in Delaware's biggest city. It was headlined "Murder Town USA (aka Wilmington, Delaware)."

Gardner said the controversy and ensuing protests about the title, including a petition supported by Wilmington-born actress Aubrey Plaza, did not play a role in the show's demise.

STORY: New ABC drama, 'Murder Town,' set in Wilmington

"I don't think it had anything to do with where it was set," she said. "That was a working title. Those are log lines that are used as a very brief description of what this could be. And it would not have been that anyway."

ABC passed on the project after buying it in November. A pilot had been ordered, but never happened, Gardner said.

"We looked into doing something with another network and right now we're not doing anything with it. It's not going forward," she added.

Variety reported last fall Smith would play "Delaware’s first African-American district attorney" on the show, which she was going to also executive produce.

“She finds herself confronted by old loyalties and loves, a shocking revelation about her murdered husband and a polarizing, racially charged case that threatens to burn her and her city to the ground,” Variety wrote, detailing the program's premise.

Shortly after "Murder Town" was first announced in November, both Wilmington officials and religious leaders called for the show to be set elsewhere. At the time of the announcement, there had been 25 homicides by gunfire in the city, nearing the 2010 record of 29. (There were a total of 26 by the end of the year.) There have been 16 homicides due to guns in Wilmington this year.

At the November press conference organized by religious leaders, Rabbi Michael Beals of the Congregation Beth Shalom in Brandywine Village slammed the show's producers with some of the harshest criticism.

“If you call a show ‘Murder Town USA’ and you attribute it to Wilmington, Delaware, the next murder will be on the hands of ABC,” said Beals, who was on vacation Friday and unavailable for comment. "I want you to feel that, blood will be on their hands, and they can answer to the families that are bereaved."

Richard Smith, president of the Delaware NAACP at the time, also fought against the program. On Friday, he said he was relieved that "Murder Town" won't land on network television and reach a national (and possible) global audience.

"I'm glad Jada Pinkett Smith is not coming here to try to bring our city down and scare visitors and tourists away," said Smith, now president of the Bear branch of the NAACP. "It would have been horrible. If that went out on TV, we'd have a black eye."

A Change.org petition to replace the show's "Murder Town" title was created by Wilmington resident Sarah Green and garnered more than 2,100 signatures. It even drew the support of Plaza, former star of NBC's "Park and Recreation," currently appearing in the summer film "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates."

Plaza tweeted a link to the petition last year with a simple message: "HELP MY HOMETOWN."

Green, 33, co-founder and former executive director of the Wilmington-based Urban Bike Project, was elated when she heard "Murder Town" would not air.

"It's really great that it's not happening. That's so awesome," she said. "The way that things worked out seems to be good – it got people's attention, got them worked up and there's a lot of good energy out there now going toward fixing some of Wilmington's problems."

And even though A+E Studios denied that the controversy around the show's name had anything to do with its downfall, Green has her doubts.

"I'm going to just personally believe that the voices that stood up against that name did make a difference," she said. "That makes me feel really hopeful."

Both Mayor Dennis P. Williams and Wilmington City Council sent a letters to ABC asking them to reconsider the title and setting of the program.

When the show was first announced, Williams criticized the proposed show, but added that he was open to hosting the production if it wanted to shoot scenes in the city.

"If they want to come into Wilmington and spend some of that money, go to the West End, the Hotel du Pont, bring in 500 people to spend at our restaurants – I'll take their money. I just hope they get somebody good looking to play me," he told The News Journal.

Three days later, Williams changed his mind, saying, "They are not going to get any cooperation. We are not even going to shut the streets down for them.”

Williams did not return a call for comment Friday.

Wilmington City Councilman Nnamdi Chukwuocha said the show's apparent demise was good news, something the city "needs more of." In the meantime, he said, the city should be rallying to combat the crime problem.

"We have work to do," he said. "And the work we have to do is internal, to improve the conditions in our community with our schools, our businesses, our faith-based organizations – all of us working together to make Wilmington better.

"That's what's going to matter. Not a TV show."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).