Despite irrefutable video evidence, there was real and justifiable concern among many observers that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be acquitted of murdering George Floyd and escape justice. Juries have traditionally given police officers the benefit of the doubt. Convictions, even with seemingly obvious wrongdoing, have been few and far between. While I am certainly not claiming that television is the main culprit here, there is no question that more than 70 years of police portrayals on highly viewed scripted dramas have contributed to public perception of police as the good guys who often need to do whatever it takes to bring the bad guys to justice.
Now, for the first time, networks and producers seem willing (and financially motivated) to make changes. Whether they are simply cosmetic and temporary remains to be seen.
While it’s all well and good to hire cultural and diversity consultants to advise producers and writers on how to more responsibly portray law enforcement, the one thing that will have the greatest impact is actually having more diversity in writers’ rooms (and among showrunners) – which, of course, means more than having one lower-level person of color at the table.
In 2020, a major study from the non-profit civil rights advocacy organization Color of Change titled, Normalizing Injustice, found that 84% of writers for the 19 crime series on broadcast TV during the 2018-19 season were white. Five series had entirely white writers’ rooms (The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, Blindspot, NCIS, and Blue Bloods). Five other series had 90% or more white writers (Bull, Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, Chicago P.D., and Brooklyn Nine Nine). All of the series (except for CBS’s S.W.A.T.) had 15% or less Black writers, while nine (47%) had none. The networks have promised to improve these numbers.
Over the years, there have been some common themes to most cop shows – the look and feel of these shows evolved over time, but many of the threads have remained basically the same, and are only now starting to be unraveled.
Here are the six universal truths of law enforcement shows on television:
- Cops are typically honest, heroic, and good. From the earliest days of television this has been a basic tenet of virtually all cop series. Many of these shows had the cooperation and “approval” of local police departments, so they exclusively showed the police perspective. Starting in the late 1980s, we saw that cops could be corrupt. But those were (and still are) usually presented as a few bad apples who eventually get their comeuppance.
- Violent crime is on the rise everywhere so more cops are needed. Despite the fact that violent crime declined by 71% between 1993 and 2018 (according to the U.S. Department of Justice), a 2016 Vox-Morning Consult survey showed that roughly two-thirds of Americans thought violent crime is getting worse. While news reports certainly contribute to this, so are the increasing number of police series that show violent crimes in every episode. Police procedurals, which usually have each week’s crime solved by the end of the hour, provide an unrealistic view of not only the crime rate, but on the effectiveness and relative quickness of solving each case – as long as the bureaucracy doesn’t get in the way.
- Crossing the line is OK to catch the bad guy. The city (or the country, or the world) is only safe because of self-righteous avengers who are willing to do things no one else can do. These are typified by Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue), Cordell Walker (Walker, Texas Ranger), Elliot Stabler (Law & Order: SVU), Jack Bauer (24), Sydney Bristow (Alias), Vic Mackey (The Shield), Danny Reagan (Blue Bloods), Matt Wozniak (Shades of Blue), and Hank Voight (Chicago P.D.). Roughing up suspects is acceptable if it helps solve the case. Other cops stand by and do nothing – even those who are opposed to what is happening, because they know the world is safer due to the few who are willing to take morally ambiguous action. You can’t worry about constitutional or civil rights when time is running out to prevent innocent civilians from being hurt.
- There is no systemic racism in police departments. There might be some individual racist cops, but they are rare and easily recognizable – and usually have discernable links to white supremacist groups.
- Cops are well trained. Rookie cops and FBI agents have training officers that teach them the right way to do their jobs. The good cops, i.e., most cops, even rookies, can stand up to the few crooked or racist cops and eventually succeed in getting them removed from the force (or at least disciplined) – unless the show is geared toward highlighting the heroics of crooked cops, who viewers cheer for because they go up against even worse bad guys.
- The evidence is color blind. FBI shows or those featuring other agencies (such as NCIS or CSI) seldom address racial inequities. They simply follow the evidence. The evidence never lies and virtually always leads to capturing the bad guys and getting them to confess. Race has nothing to do with it. Social context is irrelevant. Most of these shows in recent times, Criminal Minds, the various NCISs and CSIs, The Blacklist, Blindspot, Quantico, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted,, feature diverse casts who are relentless in tracking down suspects, and have seemingly unlimited resources. The bulk of the criminals in these shows range from serial killers (who are almost always white men), to white supremacists, to foreign bad actors. FBI, is one of the few series in this genre that attempts to address racial bias.
Here’s a look at how cop and crime shows have evolved (and not evolved) over time.
1950s/60s: It’s Black and White: Cops are the Noble and True
On law-enforcement shows that started airing in the 1950s, cops and FBI agents were older white men or clean-cut younger white men who looked up to the older white men mentors. The names of these shows were simple and descriptive – Man Against Crime (1949-54), Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949-54), Racket Squad (1951-53), Treasury Men in Action (1950-55), Dragnet (1951-59), The Lineup (1954-60), Highway Patrol (1955-59), Naked City (1958-63), Peter Gunn (1958-61), 77 Sunset Strip (1958-64). Those that debuted in the early 1960s, such as The Untouchables (1959-63), The Saint (1962-69), The Fugitive (1963-67), and The F.B.I. (1965-74), largely followed the 1950s model. Even the comedy, The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68) fit into this mold.
Cops were honest and good, and almost never broke the rules. Both the cops and the criminals were usually white men. If the show continued to air into the early 1960s, you’d occasionally see a Black officer, detective, or secretary, and more minority criminals. If FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s name was mentioned, it was always with reverence.
From the beginning, cop shows built relationships with local police departments. Dragnet’s Jack Webb, who played upright “just the facts, ma’am” detective Joe Friday, submitted the show’s scripts to the LAPD’s Public Information Division and omitted anything they didn’t approve. The F.B.I. vetted every detail of the original TV series, The F.B.I., which included background checks to make sure no “criminals, subversives, or Communists” were associated with the show. The closing credits for Adam-12, stated, “Technical advice for the filming of Adam-12 was approved by the board of Police Commissioners and came from the office of Chief Thomas Reddin Los Angeles Police Department.”
1960s/70s: The Times They Are a Changin’
As the country experienced the turmoil led by the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the resulting generational rifts, the networks seemed uncertain as to how they should present crime and punishment. Cops, F.B.I. agents, and detectives were still mostly clean-cut white men, but you would occasionally see clean-cut Black officers or assistants/secretaries. Cops were still universally good and heroic, and almost always played by the rules, using their cleverness to outwit and catch the bad guys. J. Edgar Hoover was still seen as the epitome of righteous law enforcement.
The differing public perceptions during the late 1960s/early 1970s is epitomized by the fact that Adam 12 (1968-75), which was as clean-cut and by-the-book as you can get, premiered the same year as The Mod Squad (1968-73), a show about young undercover cops, revolutionary not just for casting a woman and a Black man in leading roles, but for also trying to address the generation gap and social issues of the time.
Other cop/detective shows debuting in the late 1960s, most notably Ironside (1967-75) and Mannix (1967-75), also had central (although not leading) Black cast members. And, of course, Hawaii Five-0 (1968-80) had people of color in its cast.
For the first time in the mid-60s there were shows that satirized law enforcement – Car 54, Where Are You?, Get Smart (1965-70) and Batman (1966-68). There were also several action spy series that were clearly influenced by the success of 1960s James Bond films, Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. These included, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68), I Spy (1965-68), which was the first American TV drama to feature a Black actor (Bill Cosby) in a lead role, and Mission Impossible (1966-73), which also had a regular Black cast member.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, the only thing that changed about how the police treated suspects, was now they had to inform them of their Miranda rights (due to the 1966 Supreme Court decision). You would sometimes see suspects having to be released because they weren’t read their right to remain silent and that anything they say can be used against them in a court of law.
1970s: The Maverick “Outsider” Cop
Represented by tough white men – McCloud (1970-77), Columbo (1971-78), Cannon (1971-76), Banacek (1972-73), Toma (1973-74), Kojak (1973-78), The Rockford Files (1974-80), Starsky & Hutch (1975-79), and Baretta (1975-78) – these maverick cops were part of the establishment, but usually played by their own rules. But that was fine, because it almost always resulted in getting the bad guys. As long as you “read them their rights,” everything else was O.K. These characters were no doubt influenced by Clint Eastwood’s iconic 1971 theatrical film role as Dirty Harry – and the public perception among many at the time that criminals had more “rights” than their victims.
The 1970s were big on titles based on character names. In addition to the ones mentioned above, the networks aired, Dan August (1970-71), Longstreet (1971-72), McMillan & Wife (1971-77), O’Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971-72), Banyon (1972-73), Chase (1973-740, Griff (1973-74), Harry O (1974-76), and Ellery Queen (1975-76). Amy Prentiss (1974-75) was the lone woman in the bunch.
1970s: Social Issues, Racial Diversity, and Women (for the Male Gaze)
Shows like The Mod Squad (1968-73) and The Rookies (1972-76) had more diverse casts than previous police shows. Both had Black men in leading roles. Both featured younger cops as the networks tried to appeal to a younger audience. They also took on the establishment and addressed social ills and the “generation gap” in ways not seen before on TV. Streets of San Francisco (1972-77) dealt with social issues and generational differences as well.
CHiPs (1977-83) was the first cop show on television to feature a Latino police officer in a leading role. Barney Miller (1975-82), one of the first comedies about cops, featured a diverse cast that included Black, Puerto Rican, Polish American, and Japanese American detectives in a New York police precinct (female detectives were not yet a thing).
Police Woman (1974-78) featured a female undercover cop (who mostly went undercover as a prostitute, dancer, prison inmate, nurse, or flight attendant). Its lead, Angie Dickenson, was the first woman to star in an hour-long drama. It also reportedly influenced many women to apply for police positions across the country. Charlie’s Angels (1976-81), featuring three young female cops, became a hit and helped coin the phrase “jiggle TV” (basically scantily clad women jumping around – also known as “T & A TV”). They took their assignments from a heard but unseen mysterious male boss. Get Christie Love! (1974) had its roots in black exploitation films, being inspired by Pam Grier movies – Christie’s trademark line was “You’re under arrest, sugar.” Its single season was historically significant because Teresa Graves was the first Black woman to star in an hour-long drama.
These shows, starring women but written by men as a sort of male-fantasy TV, obviously don’t hold up well today, but their success did pave the way for women being given more substantial and authentic leading roles in police and detective series. And just as with the men, female cops were portrayed as universally good and often heroic. But in the 1970s (and much of the 1980s) female diversity, for the most part, meant simply casting both blondes and brunettes.
1980s: Crimes Get More Brutal, Co-Starring Women and People of Color
Police and detective shows of the 1980s were punctuated by two of the best and grittiest – Hill Street Blues (1981-87), and Miami Vice (1984-90). Both groundbreaking series included women and people of color as police officers and detectives. Both shows featured criminals who were far more brutal than those on television in previous decades. So, of course, the cops were justified in being just as brutal to bring them to justice. Hill Street Blues’ cops often faced off with street gangs (typically Black and Hispanic), while Miami Vice took on drug cartels (most often Hispanic or Asian). Wiseguy (1987-90) also featured unusually brutal (mob-connected) bad guys.
21 Jump Street (1987-91), Fox’s first hit drama, in addition to making Johnny Depp a star, featured a Black woman and other people of color in leading roles. In the Heat of the Night (1988-95), based on the 1967 hit movie, featured a Black man as one of the lead characters, as did the one-season wonder, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980).
Women were given more prominent roles in crime dramas during the 1980s, highlighted by Cagney & Lacey (1982-88), the first cop show to feature two female partners as the main characters (although as a sign of the times, the original casting was changed because network executives thought the viewers might think more aggressive women were lesbians).
Murder, She Wrote (1984-96) also had a female lead. Several other shows featured male/female partners – Hart to Hart (1979-84), T.J. Hooker (1982-86), Remington Steele (1982-87), Scarecrow & Mrs. King (1983-87), Hunter (1984-91), and Moonlighting (1985-89). Female cops were generally portrayed as just as heroic as their male counterparts, but tended to be more likely to follow the rules and not mistreat suspects.
In the early 1980s, network sitcoms were in decline (until The Cosby Show premiered in 1984). As a way of compensating, many dramas, including cop shows, premiering during that time incorporated comedic elements, often featuring humorous banter (romantic and otherwise) among partners. These included, Hart to Hart (1979-84), Magnum, P.I. (1980-88), Simon & Simon (1981-89), Remington Steele (1982-87), Scarecrow & Mrs. King (1983-87), Hardcastle & McCormick (1983-86), Crazy Like a Fox (1984-86), Moonlighting (1985-89), and Jake and the Fatman (1987-92). These types of shows typically featured white men and women – mixed-race romances, or even flirtations, were not yet acceptable on network television.
1990s: Black and Latino Characters Move into Central Roles
In the 1990s, Black and Latino cops and detectives became more commonplace. These included, In the Heat of the Night (1988-95), Law & Order (1990-2010), NYPD Blue (1993-2005), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-99), Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001), New York Undercover (1994-99), and Pacific Blue (1996-2000). The comedy-drama, The Commish (1991-96), was the decade’s anomaly, with a sole white male lead. The show did, however, deal with issues such as racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, and police corruption more frequently than most of its peers.
The X-Files (1993-2002) was one of television’s signature shows of the 1990s, pairing up male and female FBI agents who investigate unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Profiler (1996-2000) featured a female FBI agent.
It’s interesting to note that most of the Black cops portrayed in the 1990s were less likely to brutalize suspects than were their white counterparts.
2000s: The Ends Still Justify the Means, Cable Starts to Change Cop Portrayals
In 2002, ad-supported cable got into the original drama arena, when The Shield (2002-08) debuted on FX. It broke many long-standing conventions and led to a gradual increase in edgier original scripted dramas. A decade earlier, Steven Bochco famously said he intended ABC’s NYPD Blue to be television’s first R-rated series. The Shield, with its gritty portrayal of corrupt cops, really was. It employed content and language never before seen on ad-supported television. It also shone a light on police corruption and brutality throughout the police force. The LAPD was reportedly not happy with The Shield’s portrayal of police, and threatened to withdraw standard security support for the production (according to the show’s executive producer Glen Mazzara). Characters in the series therefore never refer to “LAPD” by name. They also wear fake badges on the wrong side of their uniforms. There are probably other cases of police departments trying to bully TV productions that I just haven’t heard about.
A few months after The Shield debuted, HBO premiered The Wire (2002-08). With its focus on corruption and decay in a major urban city (Baltimore), and the intersection of cops, gangsters, and politicians, it took storytelling to a new level, and demonstrated that for many people in this country, the American Dream is a fiction. The Wire remains one of the few television series that depicts systemic police brutality against regular citizens (mostly people of color) in addition to showing honest individual cops. In other words, there can be honest cops in a corrupt system.
The aftermath of 9/11, our government’s stance toward “enhanced interrogation,” and the new law known as The Patriot Act, paved the way for counter-terrorism and CIA shows such as 24 (2001-10), The Agency (2001-03), and Alias (2001-06), the first hour-long spy series with a female lead. All were in production before 9/11, but the events that day changed the direction these shows would take. The bottom line was that terrorism was such a threat that anything our heroes do to the bad guys is justified as long as it helps prevent the next attack or protects innocent civilians. 24, one of the more popular series on television, sent out this message for the entire decade.
The 2000s gave us a number of police dramas and procedurals with women either in leading roles – Crossing Jordan (2001-07), Cold Case (2003-10), and The Closer (2005-12) – or in equal partnerships with men – Law & Order: SVU (1999- ), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-11), Bones (2005-17), In Plain Sight (2008-12), and Castle (2009-16).
There were also several series with racially diverse departments, teams, or partners, often with women in prominent roles, including, Third Watch (1999-2005), CSI (2000-15), The District (2000-04), CSI: Miami (2002-12), Without a Trace (2002-09), NCIS (2003- ), CSI: NY (2004-13), Criminal Minds (2005-2020), Sleeper Cell (2005-06), Psych (2006-14), Flashpoint (2008-12), Leverage (2008-12), NCIS: Los Angeles (2009- ), and Southland (2009-13).
Monk (2002-09), Numb3rs (2005-10), Dexter (2006-13), and The Mentalist (2008-15) were the only ones with solely white male leading characters.
While many of these shows could be placed in different sub-genres of police/detective series, they all had one thing in common – the ends justifies the means. Protecting suspects rights is important only until innocent people are at risk. Then, anything goes. And if your suspect turns out to be innocent, you just apologize and move on with no regrets. You were just doing your job and trying to protect the public.
2010s: A Mixed Bag of Genres – Diversity Reigns But…
The 2010s had a number of crime shows whose main protagonists fit into several different categories:
the rogue loose cannons – Justified (2010-15), Luther (2010-15) – the former has a Black woman as a major character, the latter has a Black male lead.
a diverse group of rookies – Rookie Blue (2010-15), The Rookie (2018- ) – rookie cops on TV shows are always well trained and taught right from wrong.
a diverse group of detectives (led by a woman) – Major Crimes (2012-18) – one of the best procedural crime dramas, balancing horrific crimes and light office banter. One of the first series of its kind to highlight a gay teen character and same-sex relationships. While it does have a diverse cast, both racially and age-wise, its sole Latino detective is the one to have a temper and anger management issues, often losing his cool and needing to be reeled in by his team mates.
a diverse S.W.A.T. team (led by a Black man) – S.W.A.T. (2017- ) – this series has dealt with racism, sexism, and homophobia better than most police dramas.
a diverse group of federal agents – The Blacklist (2013- ), NCIS: New Orleans (2014-21), CSI: Cyber (2015-16), Blindspot (2015-20), Quantico (2015-18), FBI (2018- ), FBI: Most Wanted (2020- ) – most shows focusing on the FBI or other federal agencies have diverse casts, but seldom deal with racism (unless in the context of going after violent white supremacist groups), and almost never deal with police brutality.
a diverse squad corrupt detectives – Shades of Blue (2016-18) – Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta lead a crew that takes bribes and protection money, and thinks nothing of crossing any line to catch the bad guys (but they only break the rules to give their families a better life).
a diverse group of detectives who often break the rules – Chicago P.D. (2014- ) – racism and corruption have become central themes, and they are now attempting to show that police brutality is wrong (after years of condoning it).
a diverse group of detectives in a comedy – Brooklyn Nine Nine (2013-2021) – might be the first series about detectives, where the captain happens to be gay.
diverse action teams – Strike Back (2010-20), Person of Interest (2011-16), Banshee (2013-16). They’re not cops, so there are no “rules” to break, and there’s no moral backlash to hurting anyone who gets in their way.
female leads – Covert Affairs (2010-14), Rizzoli & Isles (2010-16), Body of Proof (2011-13), Homeland (2011-20), Unforgettable (2011-16), Jett (2019), L.A.’s Finest (2019-20) – most of these women are just as likely as men in similar shows to cross the line to bring the criminals to justice.
male/female, multi-racial partners/teams – Hawaii Five-0 (2010-20), Elementary (2012-19), Scorpion (2014-18), True Detective (2014-19), Lethal Weapon (2016-19), C.B. Strike (2018- ), Magnum P.I. (2018- ), Rellik (2018), City on a Hill (2019- ).
white male leads – White Collar (2009-14), Perception (2012-15), MacGyver (2016-21), Prodigal Son (2019-21).
This decade also brought us the noble police family in Blue Bloods (2010- ) – even when they occasionally cross the line, their intentions are good and they constantly question themselves – when a cop outside the family breaks the rules, the Commissioner (Tom Selleck) usually manages to boot them off the force by the end of the episode (as though police unions don’t exist), often getting them to resign (to avoid bad PR). Blue Bloods has also had a number of episodes where Black activists try to frame innocent white cops for police brutality – until the righteous Commissioner Reagan persuades them to come clean. In this world, the main problem is public misperception of the police and Black activists who cause trouble.
And then there’s Fargo (2014- ), which defies genre labels but is certainly diverse, and features numerous women in leading roles. It is also one of the few shows to present good, honest cops and corrupt, incompetent cops in relatively equal number.
2020s: George Floyd’s Murder, a Year of Protests Change TV Cops (Sort of)
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, captured on video for all the world to see, there was a backlash against the portrayal of law enforcement on TV series as universally heroic and righteous.
The popular reality show Cops, which debuted in 1989, was canceled in 2020. Its “real-life” portrayal of harsh police tactics, particularly toward minorities, was no longer acceptable. Live PD, another highly rated reality show focusing on various police forces across the country, which had debuted in 2016, was also canceled in 2020.
Shows like Chicago P.D., The Rookie, and S.W.A.T.(the only police series on network TV with a Black showrunner and lead star), started having storylines that dealt with racism on the police force in ways never before seen on broadcast television. Most of these plots, however, focus on racism as seen through the eyes of Black police officers – this does provide for interesting perspectives but hardly addresses the impact of police brutality and racial profiling on the daily life of regular citizens. In most cases, the surrounding white cops seem oblivious to the issue until a Black colleague loses his cool. Of course, it is still typically presented as just a few bad apples. Police brass is usually shown as being unaware that racism is a widespread problem in the department and not knowing how to deal with it. It’s up to the Black officers to educate their colleagues and superiors.
A number of these shows have taken to making a big deal about how police departments are instituting new policies against doing anything that crosses the line, such as roughing up suspects to get them to talk. In one recent episode Chicago, P.D., for example, when the head of the unit is about to hit a suspect, one of his subordinates stops him and says, “we don’t do that anymore.” The boss glares at him for a few seconds before backing off. If only that would happen in real life. Likewise, in Law & Order: Organized Crime, when Elliot Stabler is about to beat up a suspect, Olivia Benson says, “we don’t do it this way anymore” – not because they think it’s actually wrong, but because “everything is being looked at through a different prism now.” They don’t want to be on a viral video roughing up a suspect and maybe losing their jobs.
While these series have started to incorporate the idea of treating suspects less harshly than in the past, they present these new rules as politically correct but dangerous limitations on protecting the public. Chicago P.D., recently had an episode where the new police chief did not allow the detectives to enter a property to catch a dangerous suspect who was holding a hostage until the search warrant came through. As a result of the delay, the hostage was killed. The clear message of the show was that it’s fine to institute new policies to prevent cops from breaking the rules, but those who do are naïve, and are endangering the public by no longer permitting cops to do whatever it takes to catch the bad guys.
Law & Order: SVU had an episode where our hero, Olivia Benson, questions whether she unconsciously racially profiled a suspect (the main cops on TV shows never seem to consciously racially profile anyone).
And they still do no-knock warrants, where a dozen or so cops just bust down the door unannounced, which I assume writer’s still see as the best way to heighten the dramatic effect – I cringe every time I see a dozen or so cops on Chicago P.D., FBI, or S.W.A.T. knock down doors with guns drawn, yelling at everyone inside to not move or get down. Cops on TV shows never break down the wrong doors or shoot anyone in these situations by “accident.”
A dozen police dramas have premiered since 2020. Nearly half of them only lasted one season. They include, Big Sky (2020- ), Briarpatch (2020), Deputy (2020), Hightown (2020- ), Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2020), Next (2020), Tommy (2020), We Hunt Together (2020- ), Clarice (2021), The Equalizer (2021- ), Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021- ), and Walker (2021- ).
Of these, four have Black leads (Briar Patch, Lincoln Rhyme, The Equalizer, and We Hunt Together), and two others have central Black characters (Big Sky, Clarice). The lead character in Hightown is Latina. Seven of these shows – Big Sky, Briarpatch, Hightown, Tommy, Clarice, The Equalizer, and We Hunt Together – have women in lead roles (Briarpatch and The Equallizer have Black female stars). Tommy features a lesbian police chief, and did focus on sexism and homophobia. Clarice, which takes place in the 1990s, has dealt extensively with sexism and racism. Unfortunately, both Tommy and Clarice were canceled after just one season, as was Briarpatch. None of the remaining shows seem particularly interested in addressing police brutality or racial inequities.
Will established police dramas continue to evolve in dealing with these issues now that full seasons will be produced post-pandemic and post-George Floyd backlash? Or will the lessening press focus on these issues enable business-as-usual inertia? Just as important will be what new police dramas look like. So far, the only new shows in this genre announced by the broadcast networks are extensions of current franchises – NCIS: Hawaii, FBI: International, CSI: Vegas, and Law & Order: For the Defense. The latter seems like the perfect opportunity to show how cops in the first half of the show might have mistreated suspects.
The networks should not be patting themselves on the back just yet for the baby steps they are now taking after 70 years of what many refer to as “copaganda.” There’s still a long way to go. More diverse representation and perspectives in front of and behind the camera (and in the writer’s rooms) are the keys to real change.
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