| COPS | |
|---|---|
 Cops intertitle. |
|
| Format | Reality Documentary |
| Created by | John Langley |
| Starring | Harry Newman (announcer) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English SAP Spanish |
| No. of seasons | 20 |
| No. of episodes | 700 (As of Nov 11th, 2007) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 22 min. (excluding commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | March 11 1989 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
COPS is an American documentary television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriffs' deputies during patrols and other police work. It is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States and the second longest-running show on Fox. Created by John Langley and Malcolm Barbour, it premiered on March 11, 1989, and has aired 700 episodes as of November 10, 2007. It won the American Television Award in 1993, and has earned four Emmy nominations. [1] On September 30, 2007, COPS began its 20th season with a highlight episode called "20 Years Caught on Tape". COPS is broadcast by Fox (with repeats from earlier seasons syndicated to other networks) and follows the activities of police officers by embedding camera crews with police units. The show's formula follows the Cinéma vérité convention, with no narration or scripted dialog, depending entirely on the commentary of the officers and on the actions of the people with whom they come into contact. The show has followed officers in 140 different cities in the United States, and also has filmed in Hong Kong, London, and the former Soviet Union. Each episode is approximately 22 minutes in length, and typically consists of three segments, with each segment being one or two self-contained police incidents. The show is well known for its theme song, "Bad Boys", sung by reggae group Inner Circle.
Contents |
History and background
COPS was created by John Langley and his producing partner Malcolm Barbour. In 1983 Langley was working on Cocaine Blues, a television series about drugs in which every one seemed to enjoy South Florida. As part of his research he went on a drug raid with drug enforcement officers, and was inspired to create a show focusing on real-life law enforcement. In the late 1980s, after producing a series of live syndicated specials called American Vice: The Doping of a Nation with Geraldo Rivera, Langley and Barbour pitched the COPS show concept to Stephen Chao, a FOX programming executive who would one day become president of the Fox Television Stations Group and later USA Network. Chao liked the concept and pitched it to Barry Diller, then CEO of the FOX Network. As fate would have it, a Writers Guild of America strike was occurring at the time, and the network needed new material. An unscripted show that did not require writers would be ideal for FOX. The first episode aired in 1989, and featured the Broward County, Florida, Sheriff's Department. The original concept of the show was to follow officers home and tape their home lives along with their work. After a while this concept was deemed too artificial by Langley and was abandoned. Eventually, the format of three self-contained segments with no narrator, no music and no scripts would become the show's formula. The first segment is usually an action segment to hook the viewer, followed by two unrelated segments. On May 29, 2007, "Cops 2.0" premiered on G4tv, featuring repeats of episodes with trivia, expert commentary, live web-enabled chat and facts about the law enforcement officers featured in each program.[2] It should also be noted that COPS ends each episode on the credits screen, using the line "132 and Bush, I've got him at gunpoint...Okay, 132 and Bush, cover's code three." This is a sound clip from a conversation between a Portland, Oregon police officer and the radio dispatcher during the arrest of a suspect in the 13200 block of SE Bush St. Along with Florida, other early episode localities include the Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, OR and Tacoma, WA.
DVDs, books and syndication
Recently, several themed DVDs have been released, some of which include profanity and sexually explicit footage cut from the network version. They are entitled COPS: Shots Fired, COPS: Bad Girls, and COPS: Caught in the Act. A COPS: 20th Season Anniversary two disc DVD is scheduled to be released in the US and Canada on February 19, 2008.[3] In 1993, COPS went into syndication on cable and over-the-air channels. In 1999, Hank Barr published The Jump-Out Boys, a book giving a behind the scenes look at the production and taping of COPS.
COPS in popular culture
As one of the longest running shows in the history of television, COPS has many references to it in popular culture, and is a popular subject for parody. The success, longevity, and popularity of COPS has also influenced many different television shows and documentaries on law enforcement (see List of television series influenced by COPS).
References
- ^ http://www.cops.com
- ^ "Cops 2.0 Press Release", G4. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ TVShowsOnDVD.com: COPS DVD news. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
External links
