‘COPS’ Once Had To Blur A Chihuahua’s Face Because It Was A Working Actor

Entertainment Weekly just did an interview with COPS post producer Mitsuo Goto, who is in charge of exactly what and how much to blur on Fox’s long-running, shirtless-idiot-arresting reality show. I found the whole thing interesting because I spent like 40% of college on a couch watching marathons of COPS and World’s Wildest Police Chases, but the highlight definitely came when they asked Goto about the weirdest thing he has ever had to blur.

Belly is an honorable mention. Once in a while, an obese man will have a stomach that hangs so low, it technically covers his genitals, but Goto will wind up blurring the bottom portion of the guy’s stomach anyway. “Standards-and-practices thinks that’s naked enough,” he explains.

But here’s your winner: In a prostitution case from season 11, the police entered a house and the cameras captured a shirtless man lying on the floor with a yapping Chihuahua on his back. “It was a funny shot, so Fox used it in on-air promotion,” he remembers. “And then the same guy called Fox and said, ‘This dog is an actor, and he has an agent, and I didn’t sign a release for him.’” Goto had to reopen the episode and blur the Chihuahua’s face, and even obscured another barking dog in the room. [EW]

AHAHAHAHA.

THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD. THEY HAD TO BLUR THE DOG’S FACE BECAUSE IT WAS AN ACTOR. I GUESS IT WOULD HAVE MADE IT PRETTY RUFF FOR HIM TO GET WORK AFTER THIS, HUH? I MEAN, THAT OWNER WOULD HAVE REALLY BEEN IN THE AGENT’S DOGHOUSE, YOU KNOW? THE POOR GUY WOULD HAVE CALLED A TON OF CASTING AGENTS AND SAID “COME ON, WE GO BACK A LONG TIME. THROW ME A BONE HERE,” BUT THEY WOULD HAVE ALL TOLD HIM HE WAS BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE. AFTER ALL, IT’S A DOG EAT DOG WORLD OUT THERE IN HOLLYWOOD. AHAHAHAHA.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA.