“COPS is an American reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff’s deputies during patrols and other police activities. It is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States and in May 2011 became longest-running show on Fox with the announcement that America’s Most Wanted was being cancelled after 23 years.
The first segment is usually an action segment to hook the viewer, followed by a slower, or more “lyrical” segment, and concluding with a more “thoughtful” segment. This has been the formula and visual style of COPS as the first network reality TV series and has remained so from episode one until the present day. Other innovations for its time included Langley’s insistence that as few edits as possible be used, that all cameramen throw away their tripods and shoot exclusively handheld, and that natural audio be the score of the series.”
I am interested in long-running programs like COPS. There’s an aspect to their success that I might describe as “survivor” media - programs that have weathered decades of twists and turns in consumer taste, yet somehow still hold on to an audience with an iron grip.
Whether on TV, radio, the web, print - survival is hard. It’s about more than just building a brand, or establishing a bar of quality that customers trust. You can only push the quality boulder up that hill for so long - at some point, even with the best intentions, you slip, and it can be difficult, if not impossible, to win your audience back.
Survivor media usually isn’t the cleanest, most polished or well-crafted experience. COPS, for example, is a mess of bumpy footchases, poor lighting and choppy editing. But even though it is over 20 years old, the show somehow feels compelling - no doubt exactly related to those messy, highly authentic cues. And the show is undeniably repetitive - but the variables often change. There’s a familiarity to the formula and the problem solving that can be learned as mastered as a viewer. After watching long enough, you start to feel a bit like an expert. Yet the producers somehow surprise you, again and again. It’s an artful exchange.
There are other lessons I take away from survivors like COPS. For example, real people are often more interesting than fictional characters. The world needs good guys and bad guys. Happy endings don’t always happen, but neither does tragedy. Action matters. Hometowns matter. Riding along can be thrilling - you don’t always have to drive. And most of all, if you find a good theme song, don’t change it.
