If there's anybody who should be executive producing a show that explores gang life, it's Ice-T. After nine years playing a detective on "Law & Order: SVU," the man still reeks of hustling and hood-ness. Even without the ponytail.

And so with that pedigree Ice-T brings us "The Peacemaker: L.A. Gang Wars" (A&E, 10 tonight), a five-episode half-hour series that follows a gang mediator as he tries to calm tensions between rival gangs in South Central L.A. While the series feels authentic, I can't say it's all that compelling.

Malik Spellman, a violence prevention counselor born in Queens, N.Y., has lived in L.A. for 30 years; he was a troubled youth and spent four years in jail. Upon his departure, he vowed to do something about gang violence. So, at night, he tries to instill peace. In fact, he was one of the people who helped organize a 1992 gang true between the Crips and the Bloods.