Note To The Fans From "Shield" Creator Shawn Ryan In Complete Series DVD

[JamesG]

Dear Shield fan:

A year after I moved to Los Angeles, I sat in a friend's apartment when something on the television caught my eye. A black man was lying face down as four police officers delivered a beating unlike anything I'd ever see before. What I saw sickened and fascinated me.

In the next year there was endless debate about whether this was typical cop behavior or a hideous isolated incident. Then the O.J. Simpson trial introduced us to a detective, Mark Fuhrman, whose liberal use of the "N" word raised new questions of racism and law-enforcement ethics.



Years later, while writing for Nash Bridges, I went on numerous ride-alongs with the San Francisco police that yielded so much good material, I thought I'd try to write my own cop show.

Along the way I found a story in the Los Angeles Times describing the corrupt officers of the Crash Unit of L.A.'s Rampart district. I realized these guys were very bad. And they were very effective. And thus was born Vic Mackey and the Strike Team.



A script, at the end of the day, is an inanimate object; it needs other people to bring it to life.

Deepest thanks to the people at FX, FOX Television Studios, Sony Pictures Television, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for seeing the show's promise, as well as the brilliant cast, crew, and writers, for lifting this story off the page and putting it on-screen.



So, after seven years we say goodbye. We did the best we could.

Enjoy.
Shawn Ryan