Cops

‘Cops’ Canceled After 31-Year Run, But Who Needs It When We Have Social Media

If you were anything like us, you grew up watching Cops from the comfort of your safe, suburban home. Those were the days when you were ignorantly unaware of things like social injustice, racism, and the mass incarceration of people of color, so the crime-fighting reality show was an exciting escape from the monotony of your sheltered, white life.

But that was then, this is now, and Cops is no more. Yes, the Paramount Network has announced the law enforcement-glorifying series that debuted in 1989 is now DOA. How the violent and vulgar series that showed cops and the (strangely scantily-clad) people they apprehended at their worst survived 31 years is beyond us. (Except for the “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” theme song. That was, admittedly, very catchy.)

Seriously, though, we’ve been inundated by images and videos of corrupt, grotesque, and deadly police behavior for as long as social media has been in existence and there’s nothing entertaining about it. Couple that with the recent media attention paid to police violence – and the ensuing protests necessary to remind the world that black lives matter – and it’s inconceivable that this show didn’t get canceled a decade or two ago.

The next victim of cancel culture? Quite possible the real-life police. Rallying cries to defund or – more radically – abolish the police are growing louder in cities across the U.S. after a black man, George Floyd, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on Memorial Day – on video, of course.

For now, all we can say is: good riddance, Cops. We really shouldn’t have been watching you in the first place. (Where were our parents?!) Maybe the next hot reality show can be something more progressive – like Protesters! Now that we’d tune into.

Cover Photo: Paramount Network

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