Cop Files

 ((Tues. (30); 8-9 p.m.; UPN))

By ADAM SANDLER

Association with Fox Television and United Paramount Network. Executive producers, Malcolm Barbour, John Langley; producer, Elie Cohen; co-producer, Ken Koerner; supervising producer, Murray Jordan; writer, Jerry Lazarus; directors, Ralph Hemerker, Steve Barnett; director of photography, David Lewis, Rick Robertson.
 
Host: Richard Roundtree. Producers of "Cops" return to the mean streets with "Cop Files," a 30-minute offering featuring re-enactments of particularly heroic events by police officers. While former series gained popularity for its spontaneity and gritty realism, the latter is likely to be known for poorly scripted vignettes and cardboard characters.
 

Show also recycles footage from "Cops" to introduce the officers who appear in the new segs, often following the bow with the real-life officers' reaction to the event and the impact it continues to have on their law enforcement careers.

But the laughable portrayals by the actors and their breathy narratives taint the realism with stupidity and diminish the urgency of the action and the credibility of the featured officers.

Directors Ralph Hemerker and Steve Barnett succeed in drawing adrenalin-fueled perfs from their casts, while aiding the action with the use of wiggy camera angles. Style notwithstanding, the direction fails to make even the intense moments come off as anything more than pedestrian.

Host Richard Roundtree tries his best to buffer the segs with serious repartee about the perils of law enforcement, but the words ring hollow.

Editor, Russ Livingstone; sound, Michael Fowler; music, Mike Post.