The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
A Year After Uproar, Reality TV Police Return
Fox News has snapped up Cops, while Dan Abrams says he’s shopping former hit Live PD
Last year, the end seemed near for police-focused reality TV. Public outrage over police brutality following the murder of George Floyd sparked fresh criticism over the whitewashed portrayal of police in many programs. Paramount Network would cancel Cops, which was also syndicated, in June, while A&E’s Live PD — one of the channel’s most-watched shows — was dropped a few days later.
But now, those shows are set for a comeback. On Sept. 13, Fox News revived Cops for its Fox Nation streaming service (and picked up a slate of other first-responder shows in the process, including a series that will highlight “good deeds” that police do in their communities).
The original producer of Cops, Langley Productions, led by Morgan Langley, son of the late John Langley, is back producing the new episodes. Fox, which has offered free Fox Nation subscriptions to active-duty military personnel and veterans, is doing the same for police officers and other first responders, tied to the return.
Meanwhile, Dan Abrams, the host of Live PD, is hinting that his program might return too. In a blog post Sept. 9, Abrams wrote that there has been “significant interest within the industry to bring the show back.”
Live PD had been a big hit for A&E, averaging nearly 2 million viewers in the weeks before it was canceled. In fact, A&E had ordered 160 new episodes of the program in May 2020, just before it canceled the show.
In the meantime, Abrams wrote that Sgt. Sean “Sticks” Larkin, a regular on the A&E program, has agreed to become a contributor to Abrams’ primetime show on Nexstar’s NewsNation, bringing a little piece of that show back to cable, controversy and cancelation aside.
“Fox Nation’s decision to revive [Cops] is repugnant,” says Amity Paye, senior director of communications at Color of Change. “The outlet is elevating cops as vigilantes fighting a nonexistent crime wave, while Black people continue to be harmed and murdered by police violence.”