Spike TV Orders DEA Reality Show
Cable Network Teams Up with Drug Enforcement Administration, Al Roker Productions
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/10/2008 12:12:00 PM
Spike TV is teaming up with Al Roker Productions and the Drug Enforcement Administration on a reality show, DEA.
The show, set to premiere this spring, will follow DEA agents in Detroit as they pursue small-time drug dealers and international kingpins.
“Television viewers will get the same unprecedented access to the inner workings of the DEA as our camera crews -- the raids, the risk and the danger,” executive producer Roker said in a statement. “This series is the real deal, exposing elements of the illegal drug trade that you could not imagine. When you watch DEA, you will feel like you have gone undercover.”
Agents going undercover, drug raids and informants will all be addressed by the show, opening the world of a DEA agent up to the public.
“Nothing else I’ve seen captures the day-to-day experiences of drug-law-enforcement work like this series,” said special agent Mary Irene Cooper, the DEA’s chief of congressional and public affairs, in a statement. “You see the thrills, you see the anticipation, you see the chase, you see the reality. Most important, you see the DEA agents for what they really are -- a close-knit team dedicated to an important mission at any cost, trusting each other with their lives.”
Spike ordered six one-hour episodes of the series. The network did not announce a release date.
