Cops

John Langley on how his concept for Cops led to the 1986 TV documentary special American Vice: The Doping of a Nation

John Langley on the concept of Cops and shopping it to the networks (ending up at FOX)

John Langley on the process of selling the idea of Cops to development executive Stephen Chao and CEO Barry Diller

John Langley on the rawness of the Cops pilot that he delivered to FOX executives (and how Rupert Murdoch appeared at the meeting where it was presented)

John Langley on what makes Cops compelling to the average viewer

John Langley on bringing FOX development executive Stephen Chao to the filming of an arrest while shooting Cops

John Langley on what made Cops different stylistically for TV (and comparing it to the work of documentarian Frederick Wiseman)

John Langley on the action/feeling/thought three act structure of a Cops episode

John Langley on the shooting ratio for Cops

John Langley on getting in the door at police departments when he first started Cops

John Langley on police departments who haven't participated in Cops, and the benefits to the ones that do

John Langley on getting approval of segments from police departments, and the reasons why some are not approved for Cops

John Langley on the footage shown on Cops as the "truth" but only a "version" of reality

John Langley on the kinds of changes he's seen in police departments over the years producing Cops (and the change in his own perception of public service officials)

John Langley on the general acceptance of police departments and individual officers in being filmed for Cops

John Langley on having had filmed with officers on Cops who later were killed in the line of duty, a reality of making the show

John Langley on the point-of-view of deciding the guilt versus innocence of suspects for viewers of Cops

John Langley on how it became easier to get a release signed on Cops, after the show became a hit

John Langley on comparing Cops to game-based-type reality shows

John Langley on the savvy of the crews of Cops

John Langley on the criticism of Cops as exploitation

John Langley on working to reverse negative stereotyping of people of color as criminal suspects (and hitting their demo) on Cops, by going against the grain of actual percentages

John Langley on how infrequently Cops footage is subpoenaed

John Langley on the Cops theme song

John Langley on parodies of and references to Cops in feature films

John Langley on why he thinks Cops has remained popular

John Langley on how he's continually surprised by the footage he sees producing Cops

John Langley on his core team on Cops, including Douglas Waterman, his son Morgan Langley, and original partner Malcolm Barbour

John Langley on the series Street Patrol, as an extension of Cops

John Langley on the influence of Cops

John Langley on finding the right moment to get a release signed with filmed subjects of Cops

John Langley on times when Cops crew members had to help police officers in the line of duty

John Langley on the protective gear worn by the crew of Cops and how the violence has decreased over the years

John Langley on not changing the formula of Cops during its run