The Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead will have its TV debut this weekend as the set of the latest season of Lockup, the MSNBC series that documents the lives of inmates.
The six-episode season, Lockup Extended Stay: Long Island, returns at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 30. The first episode in the series is titled Sufferin’ County. The show is sure to shed light on the darker side of eastern Long Island that is best known for its lively summer beach season.
“A lot of people glorify Long Island like it’s a great place great tourist attraction, don’t come here,” one of the inmates tells the camera during one of two trailers for the upcoming season—but viewers will have to tune in to hear why this defendant dislikes LI so much.
The popular TV show follows inmates as they attend court hearings, family visits and interact with other inmates. In some of the episodes inmates are given their own camera to show what prison is like from the inmates’ viewpoint.
Suffolk County Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Sharkey said the show is beneficial because it can educate the public on what corrections officers do and teach young viewers that a life of crime isn’t as glamorous as portrayed in movies.
A TiVo listing of the first episode summed it up like this: “A female inmate finds romance with an alleged gang leader and the jailhouse prepares for a wedding; a very powerful inmate must make a choice between his crime family and his real family.”
