John Langley, who created the long-running TV show “Cops” which helped usher in the reality TV era, died on Saturday of an apparent heart attack in Baja, Mexico, according to his reps. He was 78. Langley was competing in the Coast to Coast Ensenada-San Felipe 250 off-road race. “Cops” was canceled in 2020 after the George Floyd protests, and had become controversial for showing primarily the point of view of the police. For 32 seasons, it was a reality TV juggernaut, running for over 1,000 episodes and introducing the cinéma vérité style of documentary to television. The familiar theme song by Ian Lewis of Inner Circle became a part of pop culture. It remains in production for overseas networks. Before moving into TV, Langley wrote and co-directed the 1983 documentary “Cocaine Blues” with Barbour. Pop culture figures including Frank Zappa, Hoyt Axton and Paul Krassner appear in the documentary which also features footage of a drug raid with undercover officers. Langley started out in reality television with his 1986 special “American Vice: The Doping of a Nation,” which showed live drug arrests on primetime television. He went on to produce series including “Inside American Jail” for TruTV and “Las Vegas Jailhouse,” both with his son Morgan. His other productions included “Street Patrol,” “Vegas Strip,” “Road Warriors” and “Undercover Stings.” He was a producer on Antoine Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest,” a crime drama that screened at the Sundance Film Festival. His other documentaries included “Terrorism: Target USA” and “Who Killed JFK?” Langley’s son Morgan, who oversees Langley Productions and is an executive producer of “Cops,” survives him as does his wife Maggie, son Zak, daughters Sarah Langley Dews and Jennifer Blair, as well as seven grandchildren. (SD-Agencies) | 