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Axed: Cops

"Bad boys, bad boys, whatchya gonna do when they come for you...?"

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Bad boys, bad boys, whatchya gonna do when they come for you…?

Long-running observational series Cops has been axed after a whopping 33 seasons.

Screening in the US on the ViacomCBS-owned Paramount Network, it had been yanked off air last month following the death of George Floyd.

Now the network says it is done with the show altogether.

“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a network spokesperson said.

Cops first debuted on FOX during a writer’s strike in 1989, and into US primetime in 1991. It ran until 2013 before moving to Spike TV, later rebranded as Paramount Network.

The Hollywood Reporter notes a podcast called Running From Cops detailed how officers would sometimes coerce subjects into signing releases to be filmed for the show, and that crew members have carried weapons and assisted police.

A&E also pulled last week’s episodes of Live PD — which also follows officers on patrol in real time.

Cops screens in Australia on 10 BOLD while Live PD airs in Australia on 9RUSH.

10 Responses

  1. I occasionally watch Cops and found it a mindless show to pass away 30 mins. What I did find interesting was watching the difference in policing tactics used by the different police forces around the world. When you compare the USA, Australian and NZ versions of this show (or variations) it was like chalk and cheese. The fear that many American cops had when approaching a stopped vehicle was palpable. While the NZ cops almost got in the car and drove them home.

  2. Last week Viceland pulled “Live PD Police Patrol” assumingly for the same reason and replaced with Southpark, is that really a suitable replacement?

  3. That’s really sad, especially as they were meant to start the new season on June 8th. It was literally a last minute decision. What will happen to all the new, unaired episodes that they’ve completed? I think Paramount just didn’t want to be associated with anything that could negatively impact their ratings. Hopefully another network will pick it up eventually, but probably not right away in the current climate. After all, this show was already “cancelled” once before, in 2013 (by FOX).

  4. We are entering a scary new normal, after seeing many shows pulled off BBC and Gone with the Wind also taken down – now this, where will this silliness end?

    1. I think it’s obvious that it’s not just a few bad cops in the U.S. This happens every day in the U.S. and racism is often written explicitly into federal or state laws. In general I don’t agree with the cancel culture regarding TV shows & movies and I’d much rather see a disclaimer added and / or additional content to put it in the correct historical context. We have these disclaimers already for e.g. graphic or violent content so it would be quite easy I think to extend the use of these. I’m much less forgiving though regarding bad people or other entities who have committed such egregious acts that I think they should just go away forever in the public eye.

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