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"Cops" (1989)

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17 comments in total

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14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
About as close to a reality show as you can get, 11 September 2002
Author: bullions27 from USA

The recent wave of reality shows on television, or in more precise terms "wave of crap", still can not compare to the only true series of the genre, Cops. Survivor started off well, but it began showng signs of utter ridiculousness until its obscene state now. Everything else is just a plain hack of it. By the way, I'm confused by the point being brought up by the naysayers of this show. What the heck were you expecting, actors with scripts?

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14 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
The best comedy ever!, 24 November 2001
Author: Matt Jones

Believe none of those COPS-bashing reviews from the people you'll find on this site who don't even know what real entertainment is. I think COPS is the greatest show and the best comedy ever! You watch it and you always find two or three people on it who are worse off than yourself. You ask yourself, "My god! How could someone be so stupid and devious!?" and you feel so smart and law-abiding! And the best part is that the bad guys always get caught! You can't run from the long arm of COPS! I recommend my favorite show (COPS) to anyone I meet. Really. Besides being an awesomely ground-breaking, reality-based program, it sets a good example for your kids. Let them watch it with you. Cheers! -Matt

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17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Good, Basic Reality TV., 12 January 2004
Author: jwrowe3 from Tampa, FL

Personal Note: This one is a staple in our house. My wife and I have watched since SHOW #1, and will catch the first run shows on FOX on Saturday night, as well as the ones running on CourtTV and FX.

No hidden agenda. No arranged marriages. No tribes that form alliances. No forced drama between room mates. No fake mega-rich farm boy to pass off as a billionaire. No crap. That's Cops.

I watched on and off since the show began, and recently discovered reruns on BOTH (!) Court-TV, and the FX network in the U.S.

At times it's funny watching some pathetic moron try and get out of being arrested when we have him doing the crime on video. Some times it's sad, seeing folks, who will never be much more than what they are, get into trouble. I hate seeing shows where small children see their stupid parents get hauled away.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
"Bad Boys, Bad Boys"...You Know The Rest., 3 February 2006
Author: skin-and-bones from United States

Very long-running (17 years as of this writing) cinema-verite styled television show from Fox networks that follows cops and various law-enforcement officials from across the United States as they go about their daily routines of arresting numerous criminals and ne'er-do-wells. The situations that these "cops" find themselves in from show to show more often than not range from the disgusting, to the dangerous, to the unintentionally hilarious and most notably the absolute absurd! "Cops" became notorious back in the late eighties for being the first reality-based show that was totally unflinching in it's depiction of the risks that inner-city police officers were willing to take each and every day of their working lives, and ultimately because of this fact it put then fledgling network Fox on the map as THE channel to go to if you wanted to see television at it's rawest and most unhinged. In some ways, "Cops" has always tended to make my skin crawl due mainly to it's sleazy, low-level approach of showing the so-called seamier side of many people's lives that most of us (myself included) do not exactly consider entertainment as such. However though, it's ratings seemed to say different as American audiences couldn't keep themselves from watching, and as a result it has been tops on the Nielsen's list of most-watched weekly television shows for close to twenty years now. The catchy reggae themed opening rap song entitled "Bad Boys" eventually became the inspiration for the popular 1996 tongue-in-cheek cop-actioner of the same name that starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

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22 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Hard to believe something like this could be on the air., 12 February 2000
Author: Wokel from Logan, UT

Cops is the best thing that you will ever see on television. Its difficult to believe that it gets on network television, its so fresh and different. We follow around some cops as they work on their beat. Its that simple. The series is a celebration of the low rent. The camera work is "bad", and the effect makes it all endlessly voyeuristic. We gain no respect or understanding of any of the police officers. They provide neither comfort, safety, nor justice. They do not represent order, but just another aspect to chaos. Little is ever accomplished, and with every person that they arrest, we picture the hundreds that they don't. The show is seedy, and ugly, often sickly funny. Out of all the television and movies that I have seen, it provides me with one of my favorite images. The cops have located a white slavery ring, where a man has alledgedly been pimping underage girls. They break the door down, and pull this fat and hairy man and push him down the floor. His face is blurred. Here's the kick in the ass though. After hes on the floor, his pet dogs, jump ontop of him and yap. THEIR faces are blurred too. Control of any sort, is an illusion. The officers, will predict the obvious, whole heartedly; and the purps will laughably try and weasel out of their dilemna. Its all a sombering look at our world. We never see the face of true evil in those that they arrest, just the drug addled face of confusion.

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12 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
An underrated tribute to America's finest, 7 March 2002
Author: Tug-3 from New York, NY

At its best, `Cops' either shows officers in action, or officers working and living with members of their communities. On a weekly basis, "Cops" illustrates the courage, integrity, and resilience these officers must possess. To date, there has been no other television show willing to show Americans what happens behind the scenes, and to offer honest portraits of those brave men and women who protect us on a daily basis.

When `Cops' started in 1989, it was pure sensationalism, and still charges of prurience are leveled at this show. It has matured over the years to have an almost uplifting theme of good vs. evil. Television would be poorer if it were removed from the airwaves.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Reality TV Show EVER!!!, 21 December 2006

Author: The-Office from United States

Score - 9 out of 10 This show is just as good now as it was when it first came to us in 1989. It's surprising how stupid some criminals are, especially those who try to flee from the police. Idiots! So many people who were going to be pulled over or taken in for misdemeanors end up getting arrested for a felony for attempting to flee from police or lying to the police about something minor.

This show is humorous, dramatic, intense, educational and entertaining. How many shows can you say that about? This show is simple and they haven't tried to change the formula or format of the show. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Cops rocks and I enjoying watching the reruns on court TV.

Love it!!! Keep up the great work! Thanks to all the men and women in law enforcement! You are a hero!

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Revealed At Long Last! For The 1st Time See Exclusive Films Of Just What Happens And Goes On Between Stops At The Doughnut Shoppes!!, 28 October 2007

Author: John T. Ryan (redryan64@hotmail.com) from Chicago, Illinois, United States

Someone once said that the Truth is Stranger than Fiction. You may think that to be a Fiction, and Strange; but it is the Truth! This was a bit of wisdom that my Dear Old Dad, one Clement J. Ryan (1914-1974), had impressed on us during our "growin' up years", which among other platitudes, are only totally understood later, when Dad is gone and we have grown–up. Nowhere is this more evident than in this series, simply entitled "COPS" (1989-Ptresent).

Broadcast primarily on Saturday evenings on the Fox Television Network in the 8:P.M. EST Slot, its rerunning episodes are just about seen at every different hour on Fox Stations ^ affiliates, giving it the appearance of being a "Streaming Audio & Video" set up over the Internet. This was a fact that was kidded several Seasons ago by the Producers of the top Fox Comedy, "THE SIMPONS"(also 1989-Present). Upon arriving late at home one evening, Homer is greeted by Bart, who exclaims, "Hi, Dad! You've missed the first Three Episodes of "COPS", but you can still catch the last Four!" And so it is, that the early series of "Reality TV", and possibly the Best Example of this Video Genre. It is constantly on somewhere, being broadcast over One Station or another. And it seems to do rather well in maintaining an immense army of faithful followers.

One feature of endearment that "COPS" follows is in rotating locales. The crews from their production company, Langley Productions/Fox Television Stations, will and have gone just about anywhere, and everywhere to capture Video exposure to the real, unrehearsed, unabashedly universal bizarre and idiotic occurrences of every day tours of duty of "the Men & Women of Law Enforcement." Every week, with the release of new episodes, we are constantly being reminded of a most basic and universal truth. Just remember, to the Beat Cops, those uniformed Patrolmen who answer the radio-dispatched calls for service, nothing is unexpected. Furthermore it matters not where is the locale of the episode. The same silly Sh*t that happens in Chicago could easily be an occurrence in New York, Philly, LA, Louisville, Kansas City, Podunk or Moscow, Russia. Not only that, but it occurs in a serial fashion with the same 'Boyfriend' getting drunk, beatin' up the same girlfriend and callin' the same Policemen, time after countless number of times. And, of course, they'll be back together, day after tomorrow.

The whole situation was nailed perfectly by a stand up comedian who we saw some time ago on THE David LETTERMAN SHOW(whose name I unfortunately cannot recall). He said that whenever he watches "COPS" there's always an episode where the offender A) Gets Drunk and B) Fights the Police. As I said, that nails it.

Although Langley Productions has been filming in some Police Departments of our Suburban Area on, they have never received permission to do some shows in the City of Chicago proper (or improper, even!)* We think they will never do so, as long as Richard M. Daley is on the Throne in City Hall.

On that I'll stake my reputation and experience of being a Chicago Cop for nearly 35 years, but now retired. And you can quote me on that one.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
All Suspects Innocent Until Proved Guilty? Yeah, right!, 9 April 2005

Author: domino1003 from East Texas, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Cops," which is a Saturday Night staple on FOX (Along with "America's Most Wanted"),is like driving by a REALLY BAD car accident: you just can't help but look to see what's up.

"Cops" follows police officers in various cities and countries. The viewer can see that a officer's job is not an easy one. They have to deal with situations that range from the ordinary, the outrageous, the dumb (A woman flagged down a police officer to complain that she was ripped off while trying to buy crack cocaine!), to the tragic (Officers finding a suicide in a park). By the end of the episode, you gain a little more respect for the men in blue.

As for the narrator's comments, "All suspects are considered innocent until proved guilty in a court of law," you begin to doubt if this is really true. The camera actually catches people in the act (A man arrested for DWI has the evidence on him. In this case, a joint behind his ear!). If you watched the show long enough, you can pretty much get the feeling who is about to take off running from a cop, whether by foot or by wheels. Finally, the excuses that some of the bad guys come up with are incredibly hard to believe (How could someone slip heroin and cocaine down your pants without you knowing it?).

One of the best reality shows around.

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?, 9 April 2003

Author: csweetleaf2 from Walla Walla, WA

Of all the real life shows, Cops is the best cause it has humor, drama and much more, even though I love the show COPS, I would prefer the older episodes over the newer ones cause the newer ones don't have as much originally as the older ones.

And sometimes we get to see the dumb crooks who run from the cops over little reasons like remember the one when a guy was trying to break inside an older man's car and he gets caught by the owner, instead of the suspect running, he just waits there for the police, well at least he turned himself in to the justice of peace.

Also remember the one when a drunk suspect was accused of slashing his intoxicated neighbor's tires and the cop just tells the neighbor that when he sobers up is when he can file charges and within a half hour later the police are returned to the scene and the drunk suspect tells the officer to take him to jail.

Remember the one when a middle aged woman got arrested for trying to get drugs in her prescription and he causes an attitude over being arrested and she turned out to be a scam artist, what a mean you know what?

Or the one when a homeless man got arrested for violating his probation and he claims that he'll have a roof over his head and the officers were laughing cause they thought that it was funny.

How about the one when a suspect got pulled over and he had a marijuana cigarette on his ear and he and the cop were laughing, at least he was high when he got arrested.

And finally remember the one when this one guy who broke into the pawnshop and calls the police to claim that the pawnshop was burglarized, and the cop says that he should be on the World's Dumbest Criminals.

This show is very good and it would be a shame if Cops was never seen again on TV, the epsiodes that I prefer the most are the 1990-97 seasons and I wish that they didn't keep on changing the time format like every few seasons but oh well, COPS is a great show and I think that everybody should watch this show.

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