Paris Barclay brings Hate to Showtime

Veteran TV writer-director and Advocate columnist Paris Barclay is developing a one-hour drama pilot at Showtime about a New York Police Department hate-crimes unit. Titled Hate, the gritty project is a fictionalized take on the NYPD's real-life bias unit. Barclay was inspired by police officers he met while working on NYPD Blue. "I thought it was a subject with a group of people who were fascinating characters," he said. "This is a different way to do a show that's really about tolerance." The main character in Hate will be a female inspector who is the highest-ranking woman in the NYPD. She leads the unit while dealing with pressures from the mayor's office and the detectives under her supervision. The crimes detailed in the story lines will encompass issues of race, religion, and gender, which leaves a broad palette to draw from, Barclay said. "It's sort of strange what they get," he said. "The crimes range from being ghastly to being hysterically funny." Barclay is writing the first draft with James DeMonaco (The Negotiator).