It’s the end of an era for FOX (an era of shirtless, drunken perps being run down by police officers, that is). The iconic and long-running reality series Cops will be leaving FOX and moving over to Spike TV, with new episodes debuting September 2013, to begin another cycle of cops comin’ for those bad boys. Cops finished its 25th season on FOX with the season finale this past Saturday.
If you’re used to getting your Saturday night fix with Cops, don’t worry. Spike TV is keeping Cops in its longstanding timeslot of Saturdays at 8pm ET/PT when it kicks up in September. Spike TV also says that it will have access to a portion of the vast Cops library.
“Cops is a remarkable series that has been able to sustain strong ratings well into its third decade, a monumental achievement in television,” said Kevin Kay, president of Spike TV. “As we continue to grow and expand our audience, new episodes of Cops, with its loyal audience of Adults 18-49, is the perfect addition to our primetime lineup on Saturday nights.”
“After 25 seasons with FOX, we are delighted to find our new home with the Spike family where we previously aired Undercover Stings,” added John Langley, President Langley Productions. “And we are doubly pleased that our Cops timeslot remains Saturday nights for our fans. It may be bold to say, but we are looking for yet another record-breaking run with Spike!”
Created by Langley, Cops premiered on March 11, 1989, and has aired over 900 new episodes. The show has followed officers in 140 different cities in the United States and in Hong Kong, London, and the former Soviet Union.
With America’s Most Wanted long gone from FOX (and now, in fact, canceled), and now with Cops moving, two stalwarts of FOX’s early days as an upstart network no longer remain. Only The Simpsons stands to remind folks of FOX’s own, early, perceived days as a “bad boy” network.
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Courtesy of Cops.com
