C.O.P.S. (TV series)

infobox Television
show_name = C.O.P.S.


caption = Logo shown for C.O.P.S.
rating = G
format = Animated series
Action
runtime = 30 mins
creator = Hasbro, Claster Television DiC Entertainment
starring = Ken Ryan, Paul De La Rosa, Len Carlson, Ron Rubin, Paulina Gillis, John Stocker, Marvin Goldhar, Jeri Craden, Darrin Baker, Elizabeth Hanna, Nick Nichols, Ray James, Mary Long, Dan Hennessey, Jane Schoettle, Brent Titcomb, Michael Fantini, Barbara Hamilton, Ray Kahnert, Jon Roncetti, Ruth Springford, and Noah Zylberman
network = CBS
country = USA
first_aired = September, 1988
last_aired = February, 1989
num_episodes = 66
list_episodes = List of C.O.P.S. episodes
imdb_id = 0163438|

C.O.P.S. (Central Organization of Police Specialists) is an animated series released by DiC Entertainment (distributed by Claster Television Inc.) and Celebrity Home Entertainment (some VHS tapes went through Golden Book Video, though). This cartoon, which ran from 1988–1989, used the tag line: “Fighting crime in a future time, protecting Empire City from Big Boss and his gang of crooks.” Each character in the series is totally different in appearance from both the toys and the comic series.

Plot

The year: 2020 in the near future. The place: Empire City, a megalopolis (while Kansas and Oklahoma have an Empire City, the one in the series is a coastal city). The situation: Brandon “Big Boss” Babel, along with his Crooks, are holding the entire city under the palm of his iron hand and the Empire City Police Department can do nothing to stop him. As a last resort, Mayor Davis sends in Special Agent Baldwin P. Vess (Codename: Bulletproof) to take him down. However, Bulletproof suffered very serious injuries at the hands of Big Boss’ criminal henchmen and had to be taken to the hospital, where he is given a cybernetic bullet-resistant torso to save his life.

While staying at the hospital, Bulletproof, knowing he cannot do all of this alone, sends out Police Officer P.J. O’Malley (Codename: LongArm) and rookie Officer Donny Brooks (Codename: HardTop) to round up the best law enforcers from all over the country. With these men and women — including Highway, Mace, Barricade, Mainframe, Sundown, Mirage, Bullseye, and Bowser and Blitz — he forms a team that is “the finest law enforcement agency there is in the country.” Bulletproof becomes the proud founder and commander of C.O.P.S. Together, he and his C.O.P.S. team are able to take down Big Boss and his gang of crooks and thwart the first of many of Big Boss’ criminal schemes.

Each episode has a title that begins with “The Case of…” with a different phrase being added to it (i.e. “The Case of the Iron C.O.P.S. and Wooden CROOKS”; “The Case of the Half-Pint Hero”; and “The Case of the Crime Nobody Heard”) along with the C.O.P.S. file number. Bulletproof would narrate at the beginning of the episode as well as the end, concluding by repeating the C.O.P.S. file number and title, ending it with “Case Closed” with an “Closed” mark being stamped onto the file folder. The two exceptions are the first parts each of the two-parter episodes, “The Case of Big Boss’ Master Plan” and “The Case of C.O.P.S. File #1,” where the conclusion of the episode is marked with a “Case Continued” plastered on the files.

In the cartoon, the C.O.P.S. frequently shouted, “It’s Crime Fighting Time!” as a battle cry when it was time to bag the CROOKS and solve a caper. Meanwhile, the CROOKS would shout “Crime’s a-wasting!” whenever they went to do another caper, whether it was pulling another heist (as in so many episodes such as “The Case of the Blur Bandits”), giving C.O.P.S. a hard time to the point of replacing (actually disposing) them for good (as in “The Case of the Big Boss’ Master Plan”) or taking captive a certain individual to be held prisoner for ransom (as in “The Case of the Ransomed Rascal”).

The show had a slightly unusual artistic style for the time, which can be credited to Peter Chung, best known for the Aeon Flux and animated series. The series had many similarities to the British comic book "Judge Dredd"Fact|date=September 2007, albeit a more kid-friendly sensibility. While character models were usually in line with DiC’s own art style, the Crooks (with the exception of Nightshade) were given a more exaggerated face, to the point of making them look more cartoonish or ghoulish (for example, Squeeky Kleen had a large round head with a large nose, Rock Krusher resembled various bald muscle men from old Warner Bros. cartoons, and Buttons McBoomBoom had a somewhat stretched face with yellow eyes), often to the point of making the Crooks stand out amongst the normally-drawn COPS and citizens. The toy line featured normal faces for the Crooks figures.

The music for the series was created by Shuki Levy, who wrote and composed music for "The Real Ghostbusters", "M.A.S.K.", "X-Men" (the animated series), "DragonBall Z" (English dubbed version), "Digimon" (English dubbed version), and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", while the "C.O.P.S." theme music was written and composed by the creator of the "Power Rangers" series, Haim Saban, and sung by Nick Carr.

The show became a hit with both parents and children when it was shown, and lasted 66 episodes over the course of two seasons. Numerous characters were featured in the cartoon that did not have action figures (Including Mainframe, Brian O’Malley, Whitney Morgan, Nightshade, Ms. Demeanor, and Mirage.). It then was featured in reruns in syndication on CBS in 1993 and was renamed "CyberCOPS" in order to avoid confusion with the reality prime time show "COPS", which was then gaining popularity.

The filecards for some of the toys indicate that the characters are descendants of members of G.I. Joe. This then connects C.O.P.S. to the " [http://tfarchive.com/creative/showentry.php?s=584 Hector Ramirez Universe] " of shows produced by Sunbow: G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem and the Holograms and Inhumanoids, all of whom features appearances, cameo or major, by Hector Ramirez.

Characters in the series

COPS

*Baldwin P. "Bulletproof" Vess
*LongArm (Officer P.J. O’Malley)
*Bowser and Blitz
*Sundown
*Mace
*Highway
*Barricade
*Hardtop (Officer Donny Brooks)
*Bullseye
*Mainframe
*Mirage
*Nightstick
*Taser
*CheckPoint
*A.P.E.S.
*Airwave
*Inferno
*Powderkeg

CROOKS

*Brandon “Big Boss” Babel
*Doctor BadVibes and Buzzbomb
*Buttons McBoomBoom
*Berserko
*Squeeky Kleen
*Rock Krusher
*Turbo Tu-Tone
*Ms. Demeanor
*Nightshade
*WALDO
*Nightmare the Android
*Koo Koo
*Bullit
*Louie the Plumber
*Hyena

upporting and other misc. characters

Major supporting characters

*Mayor Davis
*Commissioner Highwaters
*Whitney Morgan with Beamer
*Brian O’Malley (LongArm’s son)

Minor supporting characters

*Judge Davis
*Linda O’Malley (LongArm’s wife)
*Mickey O’Malley (LongArm’s dad)
*Johnny Yuma
*Big Momma (Big Boss’s mother)
*U.S. President (African-American female)
*The Bugman and Gaylord
*Suds Sparko
*Brannigan
*Shifty, The Shape-Shifting Android
*Prince Baddin
*Nancy and Kathleen (Nightshade’s sisters)
*Greasy
*Francis Malcolm Pittermore
*Grace Elizabeth Victoria Winsmore
*Ian Oliver
*Traylor Turbiné Totallinski
*Audrey Ferrer
*Dr. Gregory Timothy Adams
*Ronald Harvard
*Vargas and the Instant Justice Machines
*Samantha
*Captain Crimefighter
*Small Guy
*Addictem
*Inspector Yukon
*Agent Belson (FBI)
*Jammie Wheeler (Con Artist)
*Mukluk
*Brandon Welch Master 5000

DVD Releases

On February 28, 2006, Shout! Factory released "C.O.P.S.- Volume 1, 4-disc boxset featuring the first 22 episodes on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. It includes concept art, storyboard-to-screen, and the original PSAs that were shown after the episodes. The rest of the series has yet to be released on DVD.

In the Shout! Factory boxset, Part 1 of “The Case of C.O.P.S. File #1” has two introduction scenes of Highway and Sundown excised from the episode. It is not known, other than possible time constraints, why Shout! Factory did this. The C.O.P.S. three-episode DVD single, "C.O.P.S.—Fighting Crime in a Future Time", does have the footage, however.

ee also

*C.O.P.S. For Kids
*List of C.O.P.S. episodes

External links

* [http://copshq.generalsjoes.com/media/cartoon.htm COPS HQ—The Cartoon] Part of C.O.P.S. HQ website
* [http://sonicjay.com/cops/ Sonic Jays Cops site]
*imdb title|id=0163438|title=C.O.P.S.
* [http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=C.O.P.S. "C.O.P.S." article from Everything2.com]
* [http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/more-cops-on-dvd.html Complete COPS The Animated Series on DVD Petition] Online Petition to release the complete "C.O.P.S." series on DVD.
* [http://www.dvdalien.com/product.asp?upc=826663976656 A DVD description of "C.O.P.S.": The Complete Animated Series—Volume One]
* [http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=212&sid=BD02657202B94CECA7D24EE7778B440F Shout! Factory C.O.P.S. Page]