John Langley Photo by Jacob Andrzejczak/Getty Images For John And Morgan Langley RacingVariety reported that John Langley, a TV writer and producer, died after creating Copshas. Langley was competing in the Coast To Coast Ensenada San Felipe 250 off-road racing event when he suffered a heart attack. He was 78.AdvertisementLangley's TV legacy is clearly prickly given the history of Cops and what it became, but that doesn't reflect his vision for the series. Variety quotes from a TV Academy interview that Langley gave in 2009. He said that as a child in the 60s, he was anti-authoritarian and that he wouldn't have predicted that he would make a TV series about cops. Cops wasn't intended to glorify police work, or make police officers seem like they are infallible extensions to the powerful arm of justice. Instead, it was an unfiltered view into the machinery and operations of the police system. That is why Cops didn't have a narration or reenactments that told the viewer what to feel. This is in contrast to Live PD, the most recent competitor. Live PD became the worst Cops show by being the worst.Langley was aiming for Cops to be a glorified version of the arm justice. The show was accused of forcing viewers to sign waivers. However, police departments were able to fight for negative footage to be removed from Fox and Spike TV, which then became the Paramount Network. Cops was cancelled last summer after nationwide protests against police violence that were prompted by George Floyd's murder. Paramount however, immediately distanced itself from the series and refused to admit it ever aired.Langley and Cops had a significant impact on television outside of copaganda. Cinma Vrit became a standard for news broadcasts. It popularized a style reality TV that focused less on telling a story documentary-style and more on simply putting a camera in front people and seeing what happens. This would also tie to the Cops legacy. He is considered to be the father of reality television.Langley was also a cop in Jail, Vegas Strip and Antoine Fuquas Brooklyns Finest. He was also a part of American Expose: Who Murdered JFK, and Terrorism Target USA. Langley's wife and four children survive him.
