THE SHIELD
Conscience is a killer
From 2002 to 2008, The Shield ran for 88 episodes, stacked up multiple awards, and is widely credited with paving the way for what would come to be known as Peak TV. Premiering on a cable channel known only for its reruns, Edwin Zane talks about his early days at FX and the bet he and others took on a cop show that changed TV dramas forever.
Edwin Zane, Head of Long FormBack then I was the Manager of Development for FX and filtered all the submissions, finding the ones that fit what the network was looking for. We were not known for our original programming, so we wanted a marquee series that would create a lot of buzz.
My boss, Kevin Reily, specifically told me to never bring him a cop show because there’s no way we could stick out of the pack of other channels.
I was the first person at FX to read the original pilot for The Shield, which was originally called The Barn. I really thought I was going to get fired for bringing Kevin a cop show, but the script was just so good.
At the time, original programming on basic cable, especially scripted dramas, was rare. We knew we had made a quality TV show, but would anyone watch it on a network known for MASH reruns?
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
The series would’ve failed if a few major events didn’t go in our favor. The year The Shield was in production was the same year the WGA was planning to strike. Because the TV networks didn’t want to risk shutting down production, they canceled their pilot production season.
This was a blessing in disguise for us, because we got our first choice in our pilot director, Clark Johnson, we could film in LA (imagine if we shot The Shield in Canada?), and we got quality actors who were willing to work within our budget.
Conventional wisdom for a cop show would tell you cops should never be crooked, you can’t have a bad guy as the star of your show, and that you can’t show the ugly side of a city.
The Sheild broke all those rules, and on an ad revenue channel, I might add. Advertisers were initially afraid to buy ads for The Shield, but after the ratings and the waves of critical support, FX’s gamble clearly paid off.