In the midst of continued protests and worldwide calls for police reform in the United States, A&E has gone ahead and pulled the plug on the reality TV seriesLive PD. Just days ago, the network had pulled the series from its television schedule while executives were reportedly evaluating their options. In a new update to the story, Deadline reports that A&E and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment, the entity that produces the series, have mutually agreed to end the show’s run on the network.
“This is acritical time in our nation’s historyand we have made the decision to cease production onLive PD,” A&E tells Deadline in an official statement. “Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”
News ofLive PDgetting the boot on A&E comes just a day afterCopsmet a similar fate. Because of the national focus on Black Lives Matter and the worldwide protests following the death of George Floyd, Paramount Networkcanceled Copsafter the series had been airing on television since 1989. While the news has drawn a certain amount of criticism from viewers hoping to see the long-running series continue, the consensus is that airing a series likeCopsat a time like this would be tasteless. Time will tell if the series will find a new life on another network in the future.
After it had been reported thatLive PDhad been removed from A&E’s schedule, host Dan Abrams took to Twitter to assure fans that the series was not over yet. “To all of you asking whether #LivePD coming back. . .The answer is yes,” Abrams wrote in a tweet. “All of us associated with the show are as committed to it as ever. We are still discussing some specifics but I want to assure the #LivePDNation that we are not abandoning you.” Still, despite his optimism, the network and the studio have both agreed that it’s for the best ifLive PDnever comes back to A&E.
This decision couldn’t have come lightly for A&E, asLive PDwas among their most successful programs. The series had garnered high enough ratings to be named basic cable’s No. 1 show on Fridays and Saturdays in 2019. With high hopes for the series, the network had also renewedLive PDfor 160 new episodes just last month. There were clearly no plans to put the brakes on the reality show anytime soon, but as things have been changing drastically over the past few weeks, ending the series now can still be seen as very understandable.
Hosted by Abrams,Live PDfollowed variouspolice officers working across the United Statesand broadcasting their encounters with suspected criminals in real time. As withCops, there will always be the possibility that the show could one day return at a new home elsewhere, but given how the network and the production company are distancing themselves from the series, it doesn’t seem likely other companies will be rushing to scoop it up. This news comes to us fromDeadline.
