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COPS
COPS is an American reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police work. It is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States, and is often considered the original reality television program. Created by John Langley and Malcolm Barbour, it premiered on March 11, 1989, and has aired over 600 episodes. It won the American Television Award in 1993, and has earned four Emmy nominations. It celebrated its 650th episode on May 20, 2006.
COPS is broadcast by the Fox Network, and follows the activities of police officers by embedding camera crews with police units. The show's formula calls for 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
COPS was the brainchild of John Langley and Malcolm Barbour. In 1983, Langley was filming a show called Cocaine Blues, which focused on the South Florida drug scene. Langley went on a drug raid with drug enforcement officers as part of their research into the film. Both were taken in by the adrenaline rush of the raid and the unpredictable nature of the events that unfolded before them. “Just the adrenaline rush of not knowing what would happen at any time,” Langley says. “It seemed natural to do a TV show in the shoes of police officers.”
Langley and Barbour were unsuccessful at first selling their concept of a new form of show that would put the viewer in the car with real police officers. The unpredictable nature of an unscripted show, and the relative newcomer status of Langley and Barbour, proved to be fundamental roadblocks to the concept being picked up.
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 then unknown FOX programming executive. Stephen Chao 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 was desperate for new material. An unscripted show that did not require writers seemed perfect. After the pitch, Langley recalled that an "accountant-looking guy", who turned out to be Rupert Murdoch, wanted to see four episodes.
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" and was abandoned. Eventually, the format of three self-contained segments with no narrator, no music and no scripts would become the show's hit formula. The first segment is usually an action segment to hook the viewer. The second segment is typically humorous or more emotional.
This recipe has consistently proven successful, as COPS routinely wins its 8pm and 8:30pm repeat time slot on Saturday nights every year, and paired with the companion show America's Most Wanted following at 9pm, has created a strong and consistent night for Fox with steady ratings, allowing their Saturday night schedule to remain unchanged since November 1996. Its consistent performance has allowed COPS to maintain a relatively stable stream of advertising revenue. Each first-run episode of COPS costs advertisers about $60,000 (US) for a 30-second spot.
