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A&E Cancels Live PD in Light of Ongoing Police Brutality Protests

Published Wed, 10 Jun 2020 21:05:59 -0500

by Ray Flook

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The other police show dropped on Wednesday, with A&E announcing that it was canceling its highly-rated police reality series Live PD in light of the killing of George Floyd by four Minnesota police officers and the global protests against police brutality that resulted. The cable network and series producer Big Fish Entertainment made the decision, with A&E issuing the following statement to Deadline Hollywood:

Live PD logo (Image: A&E)

"This is a critical time in our nation's history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. 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."

The move comes less than a day after Paramount Network announced that it was shelving the 33rd season of COPS, and that the series no longer had a future on the network. Heading into today, the word was that the network and producers were reportedly weighing options to bring the series back in a different form. The cancelation of Live P.D. comes a day after Paramount Network pulled the plug on another docuseries featuring the police, the long-running COPS. At the time, A&E was still evaluating whether the show could come back at the right time. Live P.D. host Dan Abrams even took to Twitter on Tuesday to offer fans hope:

To all of you asking whether #LivePD coming back. . .The answer is yes. 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.

— Dan Abrams (@danabrams) June 10, 2020

Reportedly, A&E and MGM's Big Fish Entertainment came to the realization on Wednesday that the best decision was to shutter the series permanently. Hosted by Abrams, with Tom Morris Jr. and Sgt. Sean 'Sticks' Larkin offering analysis, Live PD follows police departments from across the country in real-time on patrol. The news comes nearly a month after the network renewed the series for an additional 160 episodes. Dan Cesareo, Lucilla D'Agostino, and John Zito serve as executive producers.

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