'Cops' Cancelled by Paramount Network
by EG
The long-running police-ride-along series Cops has been accused of casting police tactics in a favorable light by editing out anything that doesn't look good for the cops. In the face of nationwide protests alleging that police often use excessive force and then hide their actions from the public, the series suddenly doesn't look so innocuous. The Paramount Network has cancelled Cops, and other networks are reassessing other series that showcase on-the-street police work. Read on for details.
Paramount Network has pulled the plug on Cops for good.
The ViacomCBS-owned cabler had removed the long-running show from its schedule in the wake of nationwide protests following the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25. Now, the network says it's dropping 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.
A high-ranking Philadelphia police officer accused of striking a protestor with a metal baton last week has surrendered, according to a public relations representative working with the police union https://t.co/EM6m8zEe93
— CNN (@CNN) June 9, 2020
Paramount Network's forerunner, Spike TV, picked up Cops in 2013 after it ended a 25-season run on Fox. The series continued following the 2018 rebranding of the channel as Paramount Network, which also had syndication rights to many past seasons.
Old episodes of Cops currently air on WGN America and the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service Pluto TV. WGN America's commitment to the show expires at the end of June and the cable network, owned by Nexstar, doesn't plan to renew it, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. The Pluto TV channel remains active, however.
Trump says without evidence that an elderly protester who was seriously injured by police in Buffalo, New York — an act caught on video — was a "provocateur" https://t.co/xCo67oLtEx
— Bloomberg (@business) June 9, 2020
The show's 33rd season had been schedule to premiere on Monday, but no episode has aired on Paramount Network since at least June 1 as protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement continued across the country.
A&E also pulled last week's episodes of Live PD — which also follows officers on patrol, albeit in real time. A source told THR that new episodes Friday and Saturday are "unlikely," although A&E is still evaluating things. A spokesperson for Discovery's ID channel says its similar show, Body Cam, is also off the schedule for the foreseeable future.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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