Oh, c’mon. You know you’ve watched it. Heck, it’s in its 21st season. You might not want to admit that it’s a guilty pleasure, but you’ve surely hummed “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do when they come for you” and pictured nefarious ne’er-do-wells in their dirty wife-beater t-shirts with cans of Bud in their hands. COPS is a bit of a cultural phenomenon with a catchy theme song. However, it’s rarely reviewed and folks just don’t talk about it much at all. Thus, it makes it on the “Off the Beaten Path” list.
Despite its genre and its kind of um … trashy guest stars (not the cops, mind you), the show has staying power. It’s the second longest running show on FOX television and also airs on other stations such as truTV. I like to occasionally catch the real old ones on truTV as they do entire theme song by The Inner Circle.
COPS first came about after the writers strike in the late 80s and opened the doors for many shows of the same ilk, including ones with high standards such as The First 48 on A&E. With the caliber of the criminals on COPS, it’s a bit like watching Darwin’s Theory on the small screen. How stupid are half of these people? Why do they all think they can run away? Darn, unless the cop is really pudgy (it happens), there’s no chance. Some of these fools have already given the cops their identification, then they run. Duh, the cops will just show up at your house, fools!
Sheesh, even in my really wild days long ago, I knew the smart thing was not to bring attention to yourself when doing stupid things. As I got older and wiser, I realized the really smart thing is to not do really stupid things in the first place. But half of the alleged criminals on the show are older than me. Alcohol is really not becoming in excess at any age, though. The shows seem to reflect real time cop dealings which are often fueled by alcohol and drugs. It’s enough to scare you straight.
Ack, now I have the theme song caught in my mind. Yeah, I’ll watch the show this week. After all, what else is on at 8 PM on Saturday night?
Clacked by Jackie Schnoop 
on Nov 28, 2008 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
I originally started watching COPS when I worked as a dispatcher for Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, then Sacramento Police Dept. and finally Oakland Police Dept. I’ve seen some officers that I used to work with on COPS. I’ve stayed watching the series because it’s still fascinating, especially the episodes devoted to the patrol officers. My favorite arrests are the ones where when searched, drugs are found in their pants pockets, and yet they claim that they: 1) didn’t know that was in the pants they were wearing; 2) the pants they’re wearing aren’t theirs. I didn’t know pants sharing was so popular in this country. :)