"COPS" (1989-2010)

Reality television today consists of douche bags on a beach or housewives of who cares making an ass of themselves for a camera crew and a producer. The show that started this reality craze is the complete of opposite of this scripted nonsense. “COPS” has become a staple of American Television, considered one of the first reality shows, it still manages to stay to true to the documentary style that makes it so intense.

Since its premier in 1989, “COPS” has taken us along for the ride as men and women of various police departments around the United States enforce the law. “COPS” is what reality television should be--real. The concept of the show is simple, a cameraman and his subject at work. There is no way to script human reactions during a confrontation with a police officer. The success of “COPS” comes from the unpredictability of humans when authority confronts them. Shot in a cinema verite style, “COPS” uses no narration; it relies on the commentary from the officers to explain their situations. This documentary style television is different then the huge productions we typically see today, there’s only one subject being interviewed making it more personal and easier to follow for the viewer. “COPS” does exploit the differences in social classes by focusing on arrests that happen in poorer neighborhoods. These people provide cheap laughs but when you look the past the surface a lot of this show is tragic.

“COPS” has aired 948 episodes in 23 seasons. Making it one of the longest running shows in television history. Lets see “The Real Housewives of: Orange County” pump out that many seasons. That’s the thing with most reality television today; it burns bright for a few years and then a new show pops up to replace it. The reason that “COPS” has sustained such a long life span is because it can’t be scripted. Shows today call themselves reality and the reason they do so is because that label sells, but behind the camera these people are being told what to do and what to say by producers that know how to make successful television. “COPS” stands alone as the true reality show because it’s premise is so simple. However you feel about law enforcement, “COPS” is a show that all people can get a kick out of. It’s lasted this long because America is fascinated with how these officers conducted themselves when they are forced to control the authority. The term reality should belong to shows that are just that, real.