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A&E Canned 'Live:PD' During 2020 BLM Riots, Now They're Suing the Channel That Resurrected the Show
Red State ^ | 8/31/2022 | Kira Davis

Posted on 09/04/2022 8:15:48 PM PDT by simpson96

Remember way back in 2020, when Black Lives Matter managed to take a national crisis and make it a brand? They’re branding was so successful they somehow managed to simultaneously sell a billion dollars in merchandise while at the same time scaring corporations and tech companies into banning anything and everything that could possibly, maybe, sort of, in a way be connected to anything that could be labeled Racist™. There were many victims of the rush to Do Something™. Historical statues, churches and tv shows.

One such show was Live PD, the wildly popular reality show that followed police departments across the country live as they went about their days and evenings. The show was A&E’s top-rated show, drawing nearly 2.5 million viewers an episode. After the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, the mobs demanded the network end the show, calling it “insensitive” in the face of racially charged events and police brutality protests.

Host Dan Abrams said the move was frustrating at the time.

“I am frustrated and sad because I truly believed in the mission of the show to provide transparency in policing,” he said in an interview published on Thursday (June 11.) “I completely agree with advocates calling for more body cams on officers and more uniform rules for their use. It seems to me that the antidote to bad policing and officers is transparency and that means more body cams and more shows like Live PD.”

Paramount also cancelled the long-running show, Cops. The show was in its 30th year of broadcasting.

Audience demand continued anyway, and now Dan Abrams is back with a new show on Reelz, titled On Patrol:Live. If you can’t guess what it’s about, maybe A&E’s response will clue you in. They’re suing Reelz and the production company for replicating their idea.

A&E’s lawyers argue that the new show is infringing on its copyright to “Live PD.”

The complaint states that A&E suspended production of new episodes amid the George Floyd protests, which it calls “that critical time in our nation’s history.”

“AETN, however, has never relinquished or assigned its rights to create episodes of ‘Live PD’ nor has it authorized anyone else to prepare derivative programs based upon ‘Live PD’ except as works made-for-hire,” the complaint states.

In June, A&E lawyers sent a cease and desist request to the producers of the new show, but Reelz aired the show anyway. They pulled in 3.5 million viewers with the launch, which is likely to be one of the most successful ratings in the history of the third-tier cable network.

A&E is seeking an injunction on further episodes, noting that Abrams even used the title of the original series in a tweet while promoting the Reelz show.

Given the incredible ratings for the “reboot” it doesn’t seem likely Reelz will give up the show without a fight. It’s also a potent sign that the tastes and sensitivities of the general American public have not changed, despite the caterwauling from the progressive mobs.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 1619project; blackkk; blackliesmanors; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; blm; criticalracetheory; crt; kiradavis
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To: BenLurkin

I thought it was clear. While perhaps not that high, the amount of crime committed by African Americans is much higher than their percentage of the population. For example, Blacks are 17% of the population but commit half of the homicides.

CC


21 posted on 09/05/2022 12:11:43 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: max americana

Who thought up the first concept of Live PD and got the ball rolling to getting it produced? Was it A&E or Dan Abrams or a third party? If it was Abrams, he can do whatever he wants with the “idea”, if not and it was A&E, they may have a case. A&E should have let the show run instead of running scared.


22 posted on 09/05/2022 5:37:00 AM PDT by JoJo354 (Pray for our nation! It needs it!)
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To: simpson96

Did COPS sue A&E when LIVE PD came out? Why not?


23 posted on 09/05/2022 7:15:19 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts )
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To: simpson96

LIVE PD was our favorite show, never missed an episode.

I told the wife, it will NEVER come back, but IF it did, it would be “WOKE” PD and I wouldn’t watch it.

I was WRONG! While you can see a little bit of “subdued” police action, it IS the same show.

I don’t know about legalities, but it is the EXACT SAME format.

CANCEL/BOYCOTT A&E. THAT may have an effect on their lawsuit.

or maybe all they want is SOME of the profits.


24 posted on 09/05/2022 7:24:39 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts )
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To: Celtic Conservative

13% of the population meaning black males are about 6% of the population and far more than half the violent criminals.


25 posted on 09/05/2022 7:41:06 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: Midwesterner53
13% of the population meaning black males are about 6% of the population and far more than half the violent criminals.

"Arizona State Penitentiary. It was some… Oh. You’re applauding for that? Arizona State Penitentiary real popular? It was strange because what’s strange about that is that there are no black people in Arizona. I’m not lying. They bus mother......... in. I was up there, and I looked at all the brothers… and it made my heart ache. You know… seeing all these beautiful black men in the joint. G..... warriors should be out there helping the masses. I felt that way. I was real naive. Right? And the six weeks I was up there, I talked to the brothers. I talked to them. And thank God we got penitentiaries." - Richard Pryor

26 posted on 09/05/2022 7:43:44 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Celtic Conservative

A more interesting statistic is young black males (say 14 to 35) as a percentage of the population compared to the percentage of crimes they commit.

Those numbers would be mind-blowing.


27 posted on 09/05/2022 7:46:56 AM PDT by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: Midwesterner53

That’s one way to break out the numbers. Probably more accurate if done that way.

CC


28 posted on 09/05/2022 8:08:07 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: cgbg

Yeah, that would definitely skew the distribution.

CC


29 posted on 09/05/2022 8:09:28 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: JoJo354

Like I posted previously, it’s a blessing in disguise to be canceled on some occasions because agents write a trigger clause releasing any copyright material. AE has nothing and they know it. There is no such thing as an airtight NDA/non-NDA/termination agreement in our biz, esp, if you are a member of the Producers Guild like I am. We can easily tell them to tell in this case, AE to F off.


30 posted on 09/05/2022 10:52:34 AM PDT by max americana (Fired leftards at work since 2008 at every election just to see them cry. I hate them all.)
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To: max americana

Try to get them to make Enemies Foreign and Domestic into a movie or series


31 posted on 09/05/2022 10:59:48 AM PDT by Betty Jane
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Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: traditional2

Thank you for outing yourself.


33 posted on 09/05/2022 2:13:59 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: simpson96; All
I love "Cops"....."Live Cops" not so much.

I love seeing bad perps getting their noses ground into the dust by law enforcement.

In fact, I'm watching "Cops" more and more as Fox News becomes more and more liberal.

Leni

34 posted on 09/05/2022 2:28:51 PM PDT by MinuteGal (Twenty Three Years a FReeper....and Lovin' Every Minute of It ! MAGA !)
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To: traditional2

Not too long ago I talked to a beat reporter for one of the local networks; I asked him why they never mention interracial crime or black crime and he told me that the NAACP and BLM threatened the station with legal action if they reported on such..


35 posted on 09/05/2022 3:37:12 PM PDT by Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi ( Gen. 12:3: a waholdingrning to all antisemites)
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To: Celtic Conservative

FBI statistics broken down by race

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/tables/table-43

Blacks make up more than half of homicide and robbery arrests, and much more in the other categories than their percentage of the population should account for.


36 posted on 09/05/2022 3:46:38 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
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To: Celtic Conservative

Well said...


37 posted on 09/06/2022 9:20:21 AM PDT by traditional2 (lets go B*and*n)
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To: BenLurkin
"Thank you for outing yourself."

I've been hidin' on FR since 1998, in plain sight.

Don't bother "Googling" black crime.......you only see what they allow, sorta like the "news".

38 posted on 09/06/2022 9:23:53 AM PDT by traditional2 (lets go B*and*n)
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To: SauronOfMordor

I knew it was high. I was going off of memory. Something fraught with more risk as I get older...

CC


39 posted on 09/06/2022 10:36:20 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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