John Langley
Producer
About This Interview
John Langley says of his background: "I'm a kid of the 60's. I'm sort of anti-authoritarian by nature. If you told me I was going to do a show about cops, I would have said, what am I going to call it, Pigs ?" John Langley produced a string of documentary specials in the 1980s, leading up to the series he's most-associated with, the long-running reality series Cops.
In his Archive interview, John Langley talks about his early years in the armed forces and in a string of different jobs, including motion picture marketing and advertising. He chronicles the making and selling of the feature documentary Cocaine Blues, and the creation of his company Barbour/Langley Productions. He recounts how his initial idea for Cops led to the documentary special American Vice: The Doping of a Nation, a program that featured live on-the-air drug busts.
Langley lists his many subsequent specials, several of which were hosted by Geraldo Rivera. He discusses the subject matter of two other documentaries: Terrorism: Target USA (which predicted a terrorist attack on US soil) and Who Killed JFK? (which suggested that Oswald was not the lone assassin of President Kennedy: a theory that Langley himself rejects, despite having produced the show).
Langley then describes the process of selling Cops, eventually to the then-still-fledgling FOX network. He comments on the rawness of the pilot and the show's cinéma vérité style. On the show's format, Langley defines the three-segment structure as following a pattern of an action piece, an emotional piece, and a thought piece. He speaks about the process of producing the show from working with the various police departments, getting releases signed, and training the crews.
He then talks about how Cops has become a part of pop culture during its long run. On why the series has remained popular, Langley says: "it's immediate, it keeps you in the moment. It's unpredictable.... It's the only show I know of on television that has no music within the show itself, no narrator, no host, no reenactments, no script. Show me any other show like that. You know, there aren't a lot of them, if there are. You go along literally for a ride. You see a world you're not likely to see. And even though I think I've seen it all on Cops, I'm still surprised." Lastly he touches on his feature film work and other series TV series, including Jail and Street Patrol.
John Langley was interviewed in North Hollywood, CA on May 22, 2009; Karen Herman conducted the two-hour interview.
In his Archive interview, John Langley talks about his early years in the armed forces and in a string of different jobs, including motion picture marketing and advertising. He chronicles the making and selling of the feature documentary Cocaine Blues, and the creation of his company Barbour/Langley Productions. He recounts how his initial idea for Cops led to the documentary special American Vice: The Doping of a Nation, a program that featured live on-the-air drug busts.
Langley lists his many subsequent specials, several of which were hosted by Geraldo Rivera. He discusses the subject matter of two other documentaries: Terrorism: Target USA (which predicted a terrorist attack on US soil) and Who Killed JFK? (which suggested that Oswald was not the lone assassin of President Kennedy: a theory that Langley himself rejects, despite having produced the show).
Langley then describes the process of selling Cops, eventually to the then-still-fledgling FOX network. He comments on the rawness of the pilot and the show's cinéma vérité style. On the show's format, Langley defines the three-segment structure as following a pattern of an action piece, an emotional piece, and a thought piece. He speaks about the process of producing the show from working with the various police departments, getting releases signed, and training the crews.
He then talks about how Cops has become a part of pop culture during its long run. On why the series has remained popular, Langley says: "it's immediate, it keeps you in the moment. It's unpredictable.... It's the only show I know of on television that has no music within the show itself, no narrator, no host, no reenactments, no script. Show me any other show like that. You know, there aren't a lot of them, if there are. You go along literally for a ride. You see a world you're not likely to see. And even though I think I've seen it all on Cops, I'm still surprised." Lastly he touches on his feature film work and other series TV series, including Jail and Street Patrol.
John Langley was interviewed in North Hollywood, CA on May 22, 2009; Karen Herman conducted the two-hour interview.
Related To This Video
Featured Content
Recent episodes of Cops on Hulu
Video: Cops opening with theme song as posted on You Tube
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YouTube video player - HTML5 compatible.
Highlights
On doing drug busts on live TV (for documentary special American Vice: The Doping of a Nation)
Clip begins at: 22:29, Duration: 02m 57s- On his reaction to the 9/11 attacks (particularly in light of the fact that he had produced Terrorism: Target USA)
Clip begins at: 34:32, Duration: 02m 25s - On the concept of Cops and shopping it to the networks (ending up at FOX)
Clip begins at: 36:58, Duration: 02m 42s - On the process of selling the idea of Cops to development executive Stephen Chao and CEO Barry Diller
Clip begins at: 39:40, Duration: 03m 13s - On the rawness of the Cops pilot that he delivered to FOX executives (and how Rupert Murdoch appeared at the meeting where it was presented)
Clip begins at: 42:55, Duration: 02m 38s - On what made Cops different stylistically for TV (and comparing it to the work of documentarian Frederick Wiseman)
Clip begins at: 49:16, Duration: 01m 51s - On the action/feeling/thought three act structure of a Cops episode
Clip begins at: 51:07, Duration: 04m 21s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on police departments who haven't participated in Cops, and the benefits to the ones that do
Clip begins at: 02:39, Duration: 02m 03s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on the kinds of changes he's seen in police departments over the years producing Cops (and the change in his own perception of public service officials)
Clip begins at: 08:20, Duration: 02m 21s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on comparing Cops to game-based-type reality shows
Clip begins at: 16:58, Duration: 01m 32s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on the savvy of the crews of Cops
Clip begins at: 19:48, Duration: 02m 22s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on working to reverse negative stereotyping of people of color as criminal suspects (and hitting their demo) on Cops, by going against the grain of actual percentages
Clip begins at: 28:08, Duration: 02m 12s - Show creator/executive producer John Langley on times when Cops crew members had to help police officers in the line of duty
Clip begins at: 22:10, Duration: 01m 25s
Interview
- Part 1
- On his parents and background; on his early interests; on TV shows he watched as a child (in the early days of TV); on enlisting in the armed forces and serving with the Army Security Agency; on the frightening era of the Cuban Missile crisis; on leaving the Army; on his education and work as a teacher
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On entering the entertainment industry and his work in motion picture marketing and advertising; on the creation of Barbour/Langley Productions; on making and selling the documentary Cocaine Blues; on shooting "Stop the Madness" at the White House with Nancy Reagan; shooting second unit on the film Volunteers
Clip begins at: 10:04 - on how his concept for Cops led to the 1986 TV documentary special American Vice: The Doping of a Nation; on doing drug busts on live TV (for American Vice: The Doping of a Nation); on working with Geraldo Rivera; on the kinds of documentary specials he was doing in the mid-80s; on the documentary special Terrorism: Target USA; on the documentary special Who Murdered JFK?, executive produced by Haim Saban and hosted by columnist Jack Anderson (and Langley's disbelief in the show's theory); on the interviews he lined up for Terrorism: Target USA; on his reaction to the 9/11 attacks (particularly in light of the fact that he had produced Terrorism: Target USA)
Clip begins at: 21:25 - On the concept of Cops and shopping it to the networks (ending up at FOX); on the process of selling the idea of Cops to development executive Stephen Chao and CEO Barry Diller; on the rawness of the Cops pilot that he delivered to FOX executives (and how Rupert Murdoch appeared at the meeting where it was presented); on what made Cops different stylistically in TV (and comparing it t the work of documentarian Frederick Wiseman);
Clip begins at: 36:58 - On what makes Cops compelling to the average viewer; on what made Cops different stylistically for TV (and comparing it to the work of documentarian Frederick Wiseman); on the action/feeling/thought three act structure of a Cops episode; on the shooting ratio for Cops
Clip begins at: 45:33 - Part 2
- On getting in the door at police departments when he first started Cops; on police departments who haven't participated in Cops, and the benefits to the ones that do; on getting approval of segments from police departments, and the reasons why some are not approved; on the footage shown on Cops as the "truth" but only a "version" of reality; on the kinds of changes he's seen in police departments over the years producing Cops (and the change in his own perception of public service officials)
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the general acceptance of police departments and individual officers in being filmed for Cops; on having had filmed with officers on Cops who later were killed in the line of duty, a reality of making the show; on the point-of-view of deciding the guilt versus innocence of suspects for viewers of Cops; on how it became easier to get a release signed on Cops, after the show became a hit; on comparing Cops to game-based-type reality shows
Clip begins at: 10:48 - On finding the right moment to get a release signed with filmed subjects of Cops; on the savvy of the crews of Cops; on times when Cops crew members had to help police officers in the line of duty; on Cops crew wearing bullet-proof vests; on seeing less violence over the years; on viewership of Cops
Clip begins at: 18:30 - On the criticism of Cops as exploitation; on working to reverse negative stereotyping of people of color as criminal suspects (and hitting their demo) on Cops, by going against the grain of actual percentages; on having to throw out or erase unused Cops footage; on how infrequently Cops footage is subpoenaed; on the Cops theme song; on references to Cops in feature films; on why he thinks Cops has remained popular; on how he's continually surprised by the footage he sees producing Cops; on his core team on Cops, including Douglas Waterman, his son Morgan Langley, and original partner Malcolm Barbour
Clip begins at: 26:31 - On the series Jail, and the variety of people profiled; on the series Street Patrol, as an extension of Cops; on feature films he's producing; on advice to anyone aspiring to enter the entertainment field ; on the influence of Cops
Clip begins at: 45:57
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I loved this interview.
John Langley's the real deal. Great interview TV legends.
John, I off to my place in Costa Rica Jan. Still smoking Cigars. Check in with Larry Dun4 I'll bring some Beauties home in Feb. Anddala
John in my search for friends, I came across you live. Got to tell you I enjoyed Leaves of grass. Great movie. Send my love to Maggie A
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