By Tom Jackman
Washington Post
FAIRFAX, Va. — If you’ve ever wondered what life in jail is really like, you’ve got two options: Get arrested or watch “Lockup,” a reality show on MSNBC that was shot in various county jails, and some state prisons, around the country. Soon, you’ll be able to see what life in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center is like, because “Lockup” has just finished four months of filming inmates, staff members, families and others at the 1,000-inmate facility in Fairfax City.
As with most reality shows, the network that broadcasts the program is not its originator. The shows are typically created by independent production companies. In this case, it’s California-based 44 Blue, which has been doing “Lockup” since 1999, though MSNBC is closely involved in the process, from site selection to writing and editing, and bears ultimate responsibility for the content. 44 Blue’s five-person crew spends about four months in a jail or prison, searching for interesting characters willing to share their stories on camera, then produces six one-hour episodes that are self-contained and do not form a story arc from one week to the next. The show airs on weekends on MSNBC, gets high viewership and has more than 260,000 fans on Facebook.
Some corrections officials say no when approached by 44 Blue. When the producers approached then-Fairfax Sheriff Stan Barry last spring, he said he spoke to them at length and that “they were really open” about their intentions. “They gave me a list of all their shows, so we called around to some of [the jails featured],” he said, adding that none reported much of anything negative. He also thought he didn’t have anything to hide in the Fairfax ADC.
“The deputies do a good job,” he said. “Most people in Fairfax don’t even know we have a sheriff’s office. I thought it’d be good for morale, plus give us a public face.” He said he told 44 Blue “they might find our place a little boring. There’s no yelling, just pretty quiet and calm.” Barry has since retired, and new Sheriff Stacey Kincaid said the crew was “very professional and gave us an opportunity to showcase our facility.”
Full story: ‘Lockup,’ MSNBC reality show, films six episodes in Fairfax County jail