The TV show Cops was pretty much one of the flag-bearers for the current craze in reality television. Released in 1989, the show revolved around actual footage recorded from cop cars and also provided further insight into the day to day life of cops in the U.S. And although it’s a formula that makes a lot of sense for television, it has now been reported from Deadline that Gangster Squad director Ruben Fleischer.
Yes, it is a bit bizarre, to picture a show like Cops, actually made into a full-length movie, but the report suggests they want to move away from a reality TV apporach to a proper narrative structure, with a reality look and feel to it:
The idea is to turn that [show’s] vibe — best known for its catchy theme song — into an edgy narrative feature with a buddy comedy bent on the order of a Lethal Weapon.
I’m not sure I understand why we need this. If they wanted to create a cop film with more of a reality TV based vibe to it, why not just start a new franchise completely, rather than rely on the name of TV show from the early 90s. If you’re going to go through all the effort to form new characters and an original plot, it seems worth your while to just build something new from it.
Speaking of which, those who aren’t aware of the show’s catchy theme song – here it is.
“Bad boys, bad boys. What you gonna do when they come from you?” Hang on, that sounds like the premise for another set of movies?
Perhaps this could be a new trend coming to Hollywood. The original Cops sparked a reality trend, who’s to say this won’t spark a new one of recreating reality TV shows into narrative movies. Be on the lookout for Pawn Stars or The Deadliest Catch coming to a cinema near you. If you were to see any reality show turned into a movie, which would it be?
Last Updated: August 23, 2016
