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Archive 1Archive 2

Requested move 6 February 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not Moved.There's consensus against moving. However, there's emerging consensus to move the page to C.O.P.S. but I am not implementing that since it was neither proposed nor garner general support. It can be boldly moved or via another move request if there's likely opposition to that too.. (non-admin closure)Ammarpad (talk) 12:58, 13 February 2018 (UTC)


Cops (TV series)Cops (reality TV series)Wikipedia:Naming conventions (television) and WP:DISAMBIGUATION. There is also COPS (animated TV series). While in the 1988-1989 cartoon C.O.P.S. was technically an acronym, its title screen was identical COPS with 1990–1993 reality TV series. Likewise sources use COPS of both of them. In ictu oculi (talk) 10:33, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

Note there was a RM which foundered at 4:4 in Talk:Cops_(TV_series)/Archive_2#Requested_move_18_September_2015. Note also some sources give the reality series starting in 1989 before re-runs of the animated series had ended so distinguishing by (1989 TV series) rather than (reality TV series) is going to be less helpful. In ictu oculi (talk) 10:33, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Requested move 4 October 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Moved L293D ( • ) 13:40, 20 October 2018 (UTC)


Cops (TV series)Cops (TV program) – Let's try this again, but actually follow WP:NCTV this time... Anyway, this is not a "TV series" under WP:NCTV (which are TV shows that "[tell] an unfolding story, feature recurring settings or characters, or express a unifying narrative theme" – i.e. TV shows "continuing story elements"). It is correctly a "TV program" (e.g. see the lede of America's Most Wanted, for one), and should be disambiguated thusly. Note, also that this will help to further distinguish this from the British TV show The Cops (TV series) which legitimately is a "TV series" in the true sense of the word. --IJBall (contribstalk) 22:03, 4 October 2018 (UTC) --Relisting. Dreamy Jazz 🎷 talk to me | my contributions 19:01, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

  • Support. Clearly is a non-scripted TV program with no sense of "story" progression. --Gonnym (talk) 08:11, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Support – No ongoing story aspects. —Joeyconnick (talk) 08:35, 6 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose - like many documentary-style and reality-television shows, the narrative elements which make this a series are presented as the crew follows specific police departments in runs of episodes (see List of Cops episodes) and specific officers over the course of their shifts and is edited to mix "character development" (interviews, community interaction) and "action" such as the investigations/arrests. These are continuing story elements which make it a series per our definitions. If the WP:SMALLDETAILS are insufficient to distinguish from other series, then we need a different proposal. -- Netoholic @ 10:11, 6 October 2018 (UTC)
    • Tenuous, at best, in terms of "ongoing story elements". American Most Wanted would also "revisit" crimes they'd covered before over the course of the series, but I think most would agree that that would not be enough to cause it to be considered a "TV series" rather than a "TV program". Similarly, news programs will also cover some stories over multiple days, but that suddenly doesn't make them "TV series". There certainly aren't what you'd call "continuing storylines" in Cops... --IJBall (contribstalk) 15:29, 6 October 2018 (UTC)
      • Those other programs you mentioned are a total non sequitor - the formats and nature are completely different. And "continuing storylines" is not the wording used in NCTV. -- Netoholic @ 11:29, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
        • "Unfolding story" = "continuing storylines" (i.e. across episodes). The other two above agree with me on this question. --IJBall (contribstalk) 16:53, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
          • Not quite. Also you ignore the rest of the definition which includes "feature recurring settings or characters, or express a unifying narrative theme" under which this show definitely qualifies, just as other reality-television and documentary shows do. Series doesn't equate to fictional only. -- Netoholic @ 19:18, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
No, in fact, most "documentary shows" are properly "TV programs" not "TV series", as are most unscripted TV series. The only "reality shows" that qualify as "TV series" are the "reality competition" series that have contestants competing over an entire season (and thus ""feature recurring... characters" and "express a unifying narrative"). None of that really applies to Cops – it is basically a "documentary show", and lacks the elements that make it a true "TV series" – "TV program" is clearly more appropriate here. --IJBall (contribstalk) 19:35, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
I have to question the words you conveniently cut out of that quote like "settings" and "theme", both of which are important to this discussion. Certainly, Cops has a unifying theme and features recurring settings, just look at the episode list (List of Cops episodes) which detail the featured police departments. The featured officers within those departments also recur. You also continue to dismiss that this is a reality television show, which we always classify as series, and that we classify documentary shows like Planet Earth (2006 TV series) that way as well. Not all reality television is competition - the categories (like Category:American reality television series to which this article belongs are likewise full of examples of non-competition shows which follow a rotating set of people from various places during the normal course of their jobs or personal lives, in a documentary-style, and which are unquestionably considered series, see Emergency Call (TV series), The Drive (TV series), High School Reunion (TV series), Living with the Enemy (U.S. TV series), Obsessed (TV series), Rookies (TV series), Undercover Boss (U.S. TV series), Vegas Strip (TV series). -- Netoholic @ 22:27, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
I can't speak to nearly any of those, because I haven't looked at them – though I'd certainly argue that Undercover Boss should be at "TV program" not "TV series". I would also argue that shows like Nature and Nova should also be at "TV program" not at "TV series". As to your other point, while I don't love the wording of "express a unifying narrative theme" because it's potentially too broad, the key word there is "narrative" – i.e. telling a story. IOW, based on that, I'd argue that any show that doesn't tell a cohesive "story" across an entire TV season should generally be at "TV program" not "TV series". You obviously disagree, so there's no point in arguing this further, but it looks like others are reading this guideline the same way on I am on this question. --IJBall (contribstalk) 00:11, 8 October 2018 (UTC)
"any show that doesn't tell a cohesive "story" across an entire TV season" : That's another aspect though - non-series (TV programs) generally don't have seasons. Organization into seasons is one quick way to tell if something is likely a series vs program. While having an "unfolding story" is in the guideline, that obviously applies to more clear-cut fiction, whereas the later phrase used is "narrative theme" which is less limited, and the narrative in Cops is presented over multiple episodes - that narrative being to feature a cross-section of the daily work within particular police departments. Your more limited definition would remove several TV series from consideration, such as Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone - anthology series which don't have a single "story across an entire TV season", but is more a collection of distinct stories which fit into an overall narrative theme. -- Netoholic @ 00:43, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Does Viacom now owns the rights to all seasons in COPS?

I was just wondering, as 20th Century Fox TV and FOX are no long involved in producing the show since 2013. But it does makes me wonder if Viacom own all seasons in the show or not. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 07:56, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

This is what happens when no one is paying attention

I just fixed an obvious typo ("dialog" -> "dialogue") in the article. It's been in the article for almost 15 years. --Coolcaesar (talk) 00:12, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Both are considered correct spellings. "Dialogue" is more common in the UK while "dialog" is more common in the US. I'll leave it to others to decide if they want to put it back to the original, since it's not as clear cut as, say, "color" or "colour" or other words with very different national spellings. MOS:ENGVAR and MOS:TIES are controlling. Etamni | ✉   23:16, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Not the entire.....

4 cops are responsible for the death, not the entire MPD! Iomega124 (talk) 15:58, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Dalia Dippolito

Is there a competent reason why Dalia Dippolito doesn't have her own Wikipedia page? Surely there are less notable people who do have pages.Septimus.stevens (talk) 09:59, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

It's especially weird since this page has stuff on the case that has *NO* connection (and thus no relevance) to the actual article. As to the reason, I bet it was some power-crazy admin with Notability-foam at his mouth. --jae (talk) 12:39, 5 January 2022 (UTC)