by Robert Mead

Created on: May 20, 2007

The Hard-hitting Cop Show Has Been Renewed for Its Final Season in 2008. Will the Producers Be Able to Keep Up the High-octane Pace of the Previous Seasons?

It' amazing to consider that when "The Shield" premiered on March 12, 2002, the FX network was only known for one flagship show: Howard Stern's "Son of the Beach". That show would be laid to rest on October of 2002, as the FX network was looking to expand its original programming to include more action-oriented dramas that broke new ground. Since "The Shield" premiered back in 2002, FX then went on to produce the hits "Nip/Tuck", "Rescue Me" and "30 Days", the reality-documentary show that was created by the author of "Super Size Me", Morgan Spurlock.

From the day that "The Shield" premiered, controversy followed the series. Shawn Ryan, the show's creator, wanted to push the envelope of basic cable television to see what he could get away with. He used every possible profanity in the show's dialogue except the "F-word" and also was not shy about adding more blood and gore in one episode than "CSI" included in an entire season. But the FX network wanted this kind of controversy to help propel the FX name into the minds of the vast television audience. The trick seemed to work, as "The Shield" garnered the best ratings that FX had ever seen, and the show would go on to help win Emmys for guest-stars like Glenn Close. Forrest Whitaker also got rave reviews playing a detective hell-bent on getting Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) behind bars for all the criminal activities Mackey has been covering up over the years with his crew of tough and corrupt cops.

The series started out with a bang when Vic and his crew had to kill a police officer that they believed was going to turn evidence in against them. Vic set up a shoot-out in a drug raid so that it looked like the would-be stoolie was killed by a drug dealer, and not by Vic's 45 Colt. It only got more corrupt and bloody for the corrupt crew from there on in. There are many fine performances by actors like Walton Goggins who plays one of Vic's best friends in his crew, Shane Vendrell, but who now faces Vic's wrath because he killed a much-beloved friend and ally of Vic Mackey's, Curtis Lemansky (Kenny Johnson). Shane also believed that "Lem" would turn state's evidence against the team, which caused Shane to drop a hand grenade on his friend and blow him to smithereens. In a recent episode, Vic gets Shane to reveal his horrible deed and the friction between Vic and

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