Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

On Sundays during Bucs season, near the end of the fourth quarters, a couple of plainclothes cops head down the stairs past my seats. The only way I know they are cops is because wifey recognized one of them from his many appearances on the TV show “COPS.” He was in a uniform on the Zenith, but I guess he’s had a promotion or two since then, and I think they are still re-running episodes from the mid 90’s.

I know you’ve seen the episodes. Tampa Bay law enforcement is often represented in the national show. I figure it’s because we have the wackiest criminals. I might be right.

Some of the producers of COPS have come up with a new show, called “JAIL.”

John Langley said people from all walks of life get arrested, and the booking area of a jail can resemble a crowded bus station. “On ‘Cops,’ we deal mostly with in street crime, but on ‘Jail’ you will see everything from drunk drivers to murder suspects,” he said. “There is drama, anger, violence and sometimes even humor in the situations. An estimated 14 million people are arrested every year.”

You guessed it. A local hoosegow has made the cut for the first season of “JAIL.”

“We spent a lot of time and got tons of good material from the Orient Road Jail,” says Morgan Langley, co-producer of “Jail.”

When a TV producer says they “got tons of good material,” you know it can’t be good. So, of course we’ll all tune in.

You can see the first show on Sept. 4 on MyNetworkTV aka WTTA, Channel 38, in Tampa. Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do after they get you…