Things had been looking positive for the upcoming action drama L.A.'s Finest, a televised offshoot of the Bad Boys film franchise. Set for a mid-May debut, L.A.'s Finest actually had to shut down production this week after a fairly major on-set vehicular accident resulted in multiple injuries.
The accident, which was confirmed by the Los Angeles Port Police, occurred on Thursday afternoon around Warehouse One at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. According to Deadline, a scene was being filmed where a stunt car had to crash into a cargo crate, but the crash was more destructive than everyone was expecting.
After the car hit the crate as planned, the crash then continued on into video-viewing station that was set up behind the crate. This was the area where video monitors were placed for the producers and directors to view filming and footage on the day, and it sounds like there were at least a few people back there when the crash occurred.
According to Los Angeles Port Police authority Lt. Philip Heem:
I can confirm there was an accident. We had two injuries, one being worse than the other.
Both of the injured parties, which were unidentified at the time of this writing, were taken to hospitals by ambulance. One of them went to San Pedro Peninsula, while the other was transported to Harbor UCLA; one of them was reportedly released from the hospital on Thursday evening. Philip Heem also confirmed that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was informed about the accident. It's likely that an investigation of some kind is to follow shortly.
The L.A.'s Finest production was reportedly planned to continue through Friday, and was possibly set to wrap over the weekend. However, filming was shut down after the accident happened, and it's currently unclear when filming will resume.
This is the just latest publicized on-set accident at a time when the industry is started to get viewed more judiciously over the workplace safety of stunt professionals. The issue really got put under the large-scale microscope for the tragic death on the set of the unfinished Gregg Allman biopic Midnight Rider, but television shows such as The Walking Dead and Power have both had members of their stunt crew die after accidents that occurred during production.
L.A.'s Finest, which would be the first high-profile release for Charter Communications' Spectrum cable service, features Bad Boys star Gabrielle Union as both a lead actress and an executive producer. Union's Syd Burnett now has her drug cartel-stopping past behind her, and is now working as an LAPD detective partnered with the well-rounded working mom Nancy McKenna, played by Jessica Alba.
Though the two partners don't have a lot in common, they're both dedicated to the job. And as time goes on, Syd starts to realize that her specific lifestyle choices may be hiding a greater truth somewhere below the surface.
You can watch the first full-length trailer for L.A.'s Finest below.
Originally set up at NBC, L.A.'s Finest is still currently set for its end-of-midseason premiere on Spectrum on Monday, May 13. The first three episodes will be available to subscribers on Spectrum's On Demand service, and new episodes will release every Monday thereafter.
