The long-running TV series Cops, which has been on the air since 1989, is officially canceled at the Paramount Network.
“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return," a spokesperson for the network told BuzzFeed News.
Paramount Network, which is owned by ViacomCBS, pulled Cops from its schedule as protests sweep the world in support of justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. The show had been slated to premiere its 33rd season on Monday.
Cops originally aired on Fox for 25 seasons from 1989 until 2013. Then the show was picked up by Spike TV, which rebranded to the Paramount Network.
The famous reality TV series follows police officers and state troopers during patrols, showing their interactions with suspects and has featured on-camera arrests and altercations.
"COPS" canceled. Makes sense. Why would you need a dedicated TV show just to watch the cops beat people up when you can see the same thing on the nightly news.
Viewers reacted to the news about the show’s cancellation online in support of the network’s decision.
Dana Loesch tweeted, “Good on Paramount for canceling injustice for forever! I’m just sad that they let it go on this long and didn’t think of this sooner.”
“‘COPS’ canceled. Makes sense. Why would you need a dedicated TV show just to watch the cops beat people up when you can see the same thing on the nightly news,” Palmer Report tweeted.
Comedian Jeremy McLellan said, “We did it. We defunded Cops.”
Last week, A&E pulled episodes of Live PD, a docuseries hosted by Dan Abrams that also follows police officers on patrol. According to Deadline, the show likely won’t return anytime soon, and the network is “still evaluating the right time to bring it back.”