--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You don't hear TV cops griping because…" description: "\"You don't hear TV cops griping because they have to enforce some Draconian law that shouldn't be on the books in the first place, or lamenting vindicti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d33/tom-shales-12468_book_you-don-t-hear-tv-cops-griping-because-t_2596745.png" --- # You don't hear TV cops griping because they have to… ![“You don't hear TV cops griping because they have to enforce some Draconian law that shouldn't be on the books in the first place, or lamenting vindictive excesses in sentencing. Hollywood, supposedly a frothing cauldron of liberalism, has always been conservative on crime.” quote by Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d33/tom-shales-12468_book_you-don-t-hear-tv-cops-griping-because-t_2596745.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d33/tom-shales-12468_book_you-don-t-hear-tv-cops-griping-because-t_2596745.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d33/tom-shales-12468_book_you-don-t-hear-tv-cops-griping-because-t_2596745.png) > “You don't hear TV cops griping because they have to enforce some Draconian law that shouldn't be on the books in the first place, or lamenting vindictive excesses in sentencing. Hollywood, supposedly a frothing cauldron of liberalism, has always been conservative on crime.” [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. TV police dramas avoid criticizing the law they enforce, reflecting a conservative bias in crime portrayal despite liberal expectations. **In simple terms:** Shows protect law, stay conservative on crime. Key Takeaway Recognize media bias in crime narratives. Themes media politics crime bias conservatism Mood critical analytical Type media criticism political analysis When to use this quote - media analysis - policy discussion - public perception of law Key Concepts media studies political communication cultural criticism Questions to Reflect On - Why do crime shows favor law enforcement? - What impact does this bias have on viewers? A Different Perspective Liberal platforms may still reinforce status quo. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Cauldrons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cauldrons/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Cop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cop/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Excess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excess/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Hollywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hollywood/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) ## Related quotes > [In the end, the difference between Conservatism and Liberalism seems to be this: the Conservative thinks of liberty as something to be preserved, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clinton-rossiter/in-the-end-the-difference-between-conservatism-and-liberalism-seems/) [Clinton Rossiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clinton-rossiter/) > [In the taverns all was amiable and easy, but the coffeehouses were cauldrons of edgy malcontents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/in-the-taverns-all-was-amiable-and-easy-but-the-coffeehouses-were/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) > [Man, wonderful man, must collapse, into nature's cauldron, he is no deity, he is no exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/man-wonderful-man-must-collapse-into-nature-s-cauldron-he-is-no-deity/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [She was witchy, yes, and in charge of a cauldron roiling with ideas and stories, but she always gave the impression that the stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/she-was-witchy-yes-and-in-charge-of-a-cauldron-roiling-with-ideas-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [His experience and training should have taught him that families are the cauldrons in which violence is brewed. 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He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/look-who-s-calling-the-cauldron-black-kettle-it-s-a-kettle-get-your/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [As you age, you have this vast cauldron of experience to draw from. 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In the '60s and '70s, prime time was stuffed with variety shows headlined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/making-music-on-tv-used-to-be-as-common-as-commercials-in-the-60s-and/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [For those who don't like Dave Letterman, there's Jay Leno; and for those who like neither, there's Craig Ferguson; and if you're still feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/for-those-who-don-t-like-dave-letterman-there-s-jay-leno-and-for/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [The once inviolate frame within which programs or commercials were displayed on television - always separately - has been violated to a pulp. Program…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/the-once-inviolate-frame-within-which-programs-or-commercials-were/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > ['Leave It to Beaver,' which ran from 1957 until 1963, was one of the strangest, sweetest, most distinctive domestic sitcoms of television's celebrated Golden Age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/leave-it-to-beaver-which-ran-from-1957-until-1963-was-one-of-the/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [The original and very basic 'Law & Order' series has always seemed to me to be 100-percent exposition, with no filler, no pesky nuances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/the-original-and-very-basic-law-order-series-has-always-seemed-to-me/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [Gimmicks come and go; the cop show seems one genre that will never leave - not as long as people like to sit at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/gimmicks-come-and-go-the-cop-show-seems-one-genre-that-will-never/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [If the networks can get audiences to tolerate pop-up promos by the dozens, maybe they'll start selling pop-up commercials, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/if-the-networks-can-get-audiences-to-tolerate-pop-up-promos-by-the/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) > [Jerry Seinfeld is amazing in many ways, not the least of them his ability to find humor, and convincing us to find it, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shales/jerry-seinfeld-is-amazing-in-many-ways-not-the-least-of-them-his/) [Tom Shales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) [Explore all 54 Tom Shales quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shales/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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