Whatcha gonna do when the woke mob comes for you?
Cops — the long-running reality series following police officers on high-speed chases, drug busts, and other dangerous missions — has been cancelled after a more than 30-year run as anti-police sentiment continues to sweep through Hollywood following last month’s death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
The Paramount Network has decided not to bring Cops back after it put the show on hiatus last week in the midst of #BlackLivesMatter protests and growing demands to defund police departments around the country.
“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a network spokesperson told multiple outlets on Tuesday.
The ViacomCBS-owned cable channel has publicly supported the #BlackLivesMatter movement, saying in a recent tweet that “these racist and brutal attacks must end.”
We call for justice. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/GKrThyxru9
— Paramount Network (@paramountnet) May 31, 2020
All ViacomCBS-owned went dark for eight minutes and 46 seconds on June 1 with an “I Can’t Breathe” message as a tribute to George Floyd. Even the kid-oriented Nickelodeon participated in the corporate-sponsored blackout.
Cops first aired in 1989 on Fox and became a massive hit, running for 25 seasons before the network canceled it in 2013. Spike TV, which is now the Paramount Network, revived the show for an additional seven seasons, while old episodes continued to run on WGN America and the Paramount-owned PlutoTV streaming service.
The Paramount Network yanked the show from its schedule last week as anti-police sentiment crescendoed in the wake of #BlackLivesMatter protests and riots.
Police-themed TV shows now face an uncertain future as demands to defund the police continue to gather steam. A&E has put its Live PD documentary series on indefinite hold. Sony’s L.A.’s Finest was scheduled to debut on Spectrum, but has been postponed until later this year, according to Deadline.
Law & Order: SVU showrunner Warren Leight told The Hollywood Reporter that he agrees that cops are portrayed “too positively” on screen.
“Collectively? Yes. Individually am I miscontributing to society? I don’t know. Collectively, are we? Yeah,” he said.
Numerous celebrities have backed the call to defund the police, including John Legend, Lizzo, Natalie Portman, and Susan Sarandon.
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