Q&A with Morgan Langley: Executive Producer of Spike TV’s ‘Jail: Las Vegas,’ & ‘COPS’

Hidden Remote sits down with ‘Jail: Las Vegas’ executive producer Morgan Langely to discuss his latest reality crime series, ‘COPS’, and more.

Twenty six years ago, the television landscape was forever changed with the premiere of COPS, an action-packed reality series showcasing the real-life stories of law enforcement officers as they perform their daily responsibilities – which more than often includes unbelievable incidents. The unprecedented series, in turn launched a new genre of television which has brought viewers some of television’s longest running and highest rated series to-date.

This year the creative minds that brought us COPS, expanded the world of reality crime series with the debut of Spike TV’s Jail: Las Vegas. Shot on location in Las Vegas, each new episode, follows prison inmates at a local Vegas jail from their initial booking right up to their first moments behind bars.

This week we had the chance to speak with Jail: Las Vegas executive producer Morgan Langley about his latest reality series, filming in Vegas, Vegas’ most bizarre characters, COPS’ historical run and more.

After a brief run on My Network TV and TruTv, Jail has found new life on Spike TV where it has since shifted its focus to feature Las Vegas crimes, and the strange characters getting booked at the local Las Vegas jail. What was it that drew you to Las Vegas? 

Morgan Langley: Jail has really found its home on Spike TV, with Cops as the lead in.  We always thought that if we could put Cops and Jail together, it would make for a great block of TV.  Spike has made that possible now, and it’s very exciting!  The Jail in Vegas is like America’s Jail, you’ve got people from all over the country coming through there, all kinds of crazy characters and situations that you just wouldn’t see anywhere else.  That’s what makes Jail: Las Vegas such a fun show.

Was there ever any hesitation from the Las Vegas jail to open their doors to the cameras? After all what happens in Vegas, is supposed to stay in Vegas.

Langley: I’m afraid that what the show proves is that what happens in Vegas oftentimes stays down at the Vegas jail!  In terms of access, we are fortunate enough to have built a lot of great relationships with departments like Vegas Metro from years of doing Cops.  So they know us, and they know that our shows are REAL, and that they portray what actually happens, unlike so many “reality” shows out there today.

Needless to say there seems to be no shortage of strange and interesting characters getting booked at the Las Vegas jail, what’s the funniest thing you’ve seen at the jail so far?

Langley: To me one of the funniest stories involves a fight between two characters on the strip: Batman versus Chewbacca.  The guy who is dressed up as the batman street character seems to think that he really IS that character, and he really bad-mouths Chewbacca in the Jail.  Very bizarre!

In your opinion, what would you say has been the most intriguing/bizzare crime anyone has committed so far this season? 

Langley: There are actually quite a few!  The girl who bit her boyfriend on the stomach was pretty out there – he shows the bite marks to one of the officers and she managed to leave a perfect impression of her teeth on this poor guy’s body.  And of course, he still loves her…

We’re only a few episodes into the season, and we’ve already seen several outrageous scenes at the jail including the episode which saw the woman take a literal bite out of her boyfriend, and another which featured a woman who had more than 10 false identities. Can you offer our readers any hints about what other crazy cases are coming their way this season? 

Langley: I really don’t want to give too much, you’ll have to keep watching!  But I will say that I continue to see new stories and characters coming in every week, and it really never ceases to amaze me in terms of the strange and sometimes hilarious occurrences that we are dealing with.  You truly could not script this stuff!

For more than 20 years, you’ve been working to bring television viewers groundbreaking reality television including one of the longest-running reality series, COPS. In those 20 years, is there any one particular moment that stands out as your all-time favorite? 

Langley: My favorite Cops moments tend to be the funny-bizarre ones.  For example, the piece where a woman gets burned buying crack and literally ASKS THE OFFICER to get her money back… And then the officer knocks on the door and gives it a shot!  Or the segment where officers come upon a ghost-driven car, going backwards in circles at a high rate of speed, and they have to figure out how to control the situation.  There have been a lot of great moments over the years.

COPS truly redefined the television landscape, paving the way for the reality series of today. Looking back, was there ever any doubt in your mind when it came to breaking into a relatively unfamiliar genre? 

Langley: I always knew Cops was a groundbreaking show, but honestly, who could have predicted the incredible run we’ve had, and the huge influence of the show in building a whole genre of TV.

Today there are hundreds of reality series currently in production across broadcast and cable networks, so we have to ask: Which reality series (or any series for that matter) have earned a spot on your DVR? 

Langley: I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones, so of course I can’t wait for it to return.  Also, for the first time The Wire is available in HD streaming, and I will probably have to re-watch the entire series, marathon-style.  I guess I’m more into scripted right now, but I do like Deadliest Catch and I will grab an episode of Naked and Afraid once in a while…

Before we go is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers? 

Langley: I’m glad people are responding to Jail: Las Vegas; as I said, we’ve always wanted to do COPS and JAIL as a block of TV, and I have to thank Spike President Kevin Kay for making that happen – he “got it” right away!

You can catch new episodes of COPS Saturdays at 8/7c, followed by new episodes of Jail: Las Vegas Saturdays at 9/8c on Spike TV.

Make sure to “like” COPs on Facebook at Facebook.com/copstv, and don’t forget to “like” Jail: Las Vegas at Facebook.com/JailTVShow.