So I was flipping through channels one night and stumbled upon Mall Cops, proof that they will literally give anyone a show.
Mall Cops highlights the high jinx and staged incidents that transpire at the Mall of America and how the mall security deals with them.
Also, pretty hilarious how the security people are given titles like “sergeant”, “lieutenant”, “captain”. Highly doubt they earned their way through military ranks. Some of the uniform shirts seem to have different types of badges that they may have earned…..doing what?!
Mall Cops really aims to make the security guards look like legitimate police officers, but they lack the credentials and the authority. They even do roll call, where the security guards are given their tasks and duties for the day, similar to what one would see in a police drama to police tv shows.
The show makes everything look so intense, with the dramatic music, the use of schematics to pinpoint where a ‘suspect’ is located, and the inappropriately stern attitudes of the mall cops.
A few ridiculous/odd happenings featured on the show:
A bike mall cop spends two hours looking for a man’s car that was presumed stolen, but actually parked on the opposite side of the mall.
A man is escorted out of the mall for running to Victoria’s Secret’s makeup counter, quickly applying all the makeup and sprinting out of the store. Apparently, men are prohibited from wearing makeup in Mall of America. Weird, yes. Criminal, probably not?
A female cop loses a toenail after breaking up a fight in the food court? How she lost a nail through her shoe, I have no idea…
A young man is scolded by a mall cop for dancing without any music. The dancing fiend gets reprimanded, a second time, for dancing and doing handstands, still without music.
A young man wearing a dress is kicked out of the mall. The young man insists that his uncle is a cross-dresser and that makes it ok. It’s so obvious that this kid is just being a smartass, wearing a slip dress and Nikes, but the mall cop takes the stunt so seriously.
Sarah Palin arrives at Mall of America for a book signing, the mall cops find a suitcase (probably planted there for the show) and enlist the help of their bomb sniffing dog to discover if there truly is a threat. There was no threat. But it’s stupid how they didn’t call the police or bomb squad if the possibility of harm existed.
Wow this show sounds hilarious for all the wrong reasons, poor mall cops. I like how your writeup notes all the ridiculousness that is this show, I also wonder if they're coasting off Paul Blart, and Observe and Report. How can they think this show might become a hit. Satire involving real people just gets sad after a while. Speaking of lacking credentials and authority though, who would want to wait in line for six hours just to get a big x on the cover flap of their book?
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across this show when it was airing the sarah palin episode, and i am still confused if i was bored out of my mind or incredibly entertained. None of the characters were engaging, but I still felt amused at their ridiculous shenanigans. I wanted to see the use of more Segways though.
ReplyDeleteI could picture this show having some pretty hilarious moments but I don't think it has any staying power. I'm sure the show was created to squelch the negative stereotype that mall cops have accrued over the years but this series honestly just furthers it. It is nice that they picked the Mall of America to film though as I'm sure many "interesting" people travel to it every year. Mall Cops is just further proof that TLC is crying out for some fresh ideas on shows.
ReplyDeleteThis show sounds so ridiculous. It's funny how some people take themselves to seriously when their job really isn't. I mean, is it really a problem for a guy to wear a dress to the mall? I think this show would be way better and funnier if it were mockumentary style, like the office, where they aren't meant to be taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteHahah! I need to see this show! I mean, you'd think they would be chasing shop-lifting tweens out of Claire's for stealing gothic inspired jewelry. I mean isn't Mall of America the biggest mall in the US? Don't they have a roller coaster? They could do a whole lot better than a man dancing to no music...
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