On March 11, 1989, Cops, a documentary-style television series
that follows police officers and sheriff’s deputies as they go
about their jobs, debuted on Fox. Cops went on to become one
of the longest-running shows in television history. It went off
the air in 2020.

The show, which was created by John Langley and Malcolm
Barbour, was a pioneer in reality television. Crews with
camcorders followed law enforcement officers on patrol,
tracking down suspects and making arrests. The show was
unscripted, which worked in Langley and Barbour’s favor
when they pitched the original concept to Fox: At the time,
there was a writers’ strike in Hollywood, and the network
needed new programming that wouldn’t require writers.

In 1989, the debut episode of Cops featured the men and
women of the Broward County Sheriff’s Department in
Florida. The show

aired over 1,000 episodes and filmed in 140 U.S. cities, as
well as international locations including London and Hong
Kong. With its widely recognized theme song, “Bad Boys”
by the reggae group Inner Circle, Cops had spawned
numerous imitators in addition to parody shows.

Malcolm Barbour

John Russell Langley
(June 1, 1943 – June 26, 2021

SANDY KOZEL

Walter Matthau, left,  and Art Carney on Broadway in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple.

Neil Simon Broadway play The Odd Couple debuted in 1965
and starred Walter Matthau (who would go to play the same
role in the film) and Art Carney as Felix Ungar. Matthau won
a Tony award for his portrayal, one of a slew of accolades
the play received.

Robert Blake, as ‘Mickey’ in the "Our Gang", shorts (1942).

 
Robert Blake in “Baretta” which ran on ABC-TV from 1975 to 1978.

Actor Robert Blake, best known as the star of the 1970s TV drama
Baretta and the crime film In Cold Blood (1967), died Thursday at
his home in Los Angeles. He had long-term heart issues and spent
the last few years listening to jazz music, playing his guitar and
watching classic movies.