After 25 years, Fox has decided to cancel Cops. The show will live on though on Spike TV.
The show was created by executive producer John Langley and follows police officers throughout the country doing their duty in the line of fire. According to TV Guide, the show’s 26th season will premiere in September on Saturdays at 8 p.m., the same timeslot it has owned for a quarter of a century on Fox.
“Fox is changing its programming strategy,” Langley told TV Guide. “So I was happy to find a new home with Spike. It matches our demo and it's an aggressive cable network. It's appointment viewing and people know we're on Saturday nights. They just have to turn the dial a little bit.”
Cops was usually preempted during its 25th season by sports. According to Deadline, the 25th season didn’t get to premiere until December after half a year of no new episodes.
Spike TV president Kevin Kay confirmed to TV Guide that they had approached Langley about bringing the show to the cable network, but he decided to keep it at Fox until it reached the 25th year. Kay called it the “perfect show” for Spike.
This now means that Fox is without both of its longtime Saturday night crime shows. America’s Most Wanted left Fox in May 2011 and was picked up by Lifetime. However, the cable network has decided to cancel the show and will air the finale in October.