Who says crime doesn’t pay?

John Langley, executive producer of the television show “Cops,” has made hundreds of millions of dollars, purchased a winery in Argentina and has produced two feature films with another one on the way all by exploiting the thrill of the chase.

While the 65-year-old Langley may not have invented “video verite,” he undoubtedly has been one of the most successful television producers to exploit the genre with his long-running show, in its 21st season on Fox.

But now that the veteran producer has moved on to feature films, his son, Morgan, has taken the reins of the family’s production company. In a town where successful franchises can virtually mint money, Langley Productions has come up with one.

Morgan Langley created and is the executive producer of the hit MyNetworkTV series “Jail,” which spotlights society’s unfortunate souls as they arrive at the jailhouse to be fingerprinted, photographed and tossed into the clink. He’s also gone on to sell to the network the series “Street Patrol,” a “Cops” knockoff with a heavier focus on the law officers.

“I’ve always been personally fascinated with crime and law enforcement,” said Morgan Langley, 33, who is president of the production house.

Greg Meidel, president of MyNetworkTV, a subsidiary of News Corp., credits Morgan with more than just developing a hit show. He said the series “Jail” was critical in turning around the foundering broadcast network, which was launched in 2006 after the WB and UPN networks combined into the CW and left scores of stations across the country out in the cold.

Piggybacking on the success of the Langley fare, MyNetworkTV recently was able to lure World Wrestling Entrtainment’s “SmackDown” away from the CW, substantially boosting MyNetworkTV’s ratings.

“I was hesitant when they first pitched the show to me, but Morgan really believed in it and once they showed me their reel I was hooked,” said Meidel, whose network broadcasts “Jail” to more than 300 television channels, including KCOP-TV (Channel 13) in Los Angeles.

Verite original

Langley patriarch, John, first made a name for himself with a gritty documentary film called “Cocaine Blues,” but he didn’t hit the big time until he created what has become the longest-running television series of all time “Cops,”

“Cops” is still the quintessential ride-along reality show, with its distinctive “Bad Boys” theme song, featuring cops hunting down and subduing shirtless druggies and other criminals. There have been 750 episodes produced of the show.

More important for Langley production’s bottom line, the show has been in syndication for 15 years. Syndication is where the real money lies, because the revenue generated from syndication come after production costs are recouped, meaning that licensing fees paid to the company are virtually pure profit.

The show is estimated to have produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Langley, which does not release its financials because it is privately held.

While the Langley fare hasn’t pulled in audiences equivalent to major broadcast networks’ numbers, each show regularly draws more than 1 million primetime weeknight viewers, with “Jail” leading the pack at about 1.8 million viewers. That is compared with 7 million to 12 million viewers for a major network sitcom or crime drama.

“In the grand scheme of things, compared to ‘CSI,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ etc., ‘Cops’ is not particularly popular,” said Jonathan Taplin, former producer and professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. “(But) they do represent a particular kind of voyeurism that is not too dissimilar to ‘Judge Judy’ or ‘Jerry Springer’ a kind of weird schadenfreude in the trials and tribulations of the underclass.”

No excuses

The duo make no excuses for their brand of television. Indeed, two new series in the works at Langley are based on the criminal justice system: “The Feds,” a type of “Cops” but with a Department of Homeland Security angle, and a scripted comedy show called “Mug Shots,” described as “Reno 911” meets “Night Court.”

Still, Morgan Stanley said it “doesn’t mean that I won’t be looking to diversify our company down the road.”

Already Langley Productions has come up with two shows not based on criminal justice: “Snopes,” a reality-based show drawn from urban legends and myths, and a comedy series called “The Tony Rock Project,” featuring comedian Chris Rock’s brother doing man-on-the-street spoofs and sketch comedy. The latter show already has been sold to MyNetworkTV.

John Langley brought his son Morgan up the hard way at least as measured by Hollywood standards.

There was no prep school, even when “Cops” started bringing in the money. But there was a road map that Morgan Langley followed from lowly production assistant to segment producer to producer and, finally, to president and head of syndication for all of Langley Productions.

“He started out as a grunt,” said his father. “I wasn’t going to, and I didn’t, give him any advantages. If anything, Morgan started out at a disadvantage, because everyone knew he was my son. He had to earn it.”

These days, though, the family is enjoying the fruits of its success. John Langley and Morgan Langley and his brother Zak own a 200-acre vineyard in Argentina. They are partnered with Walter Bressia, a leading Argentine winemaker.

Meanwhile, John Langley has turned his focus back to filmmaking where he got his start before “Cops” and its subsequent success.

Over the last decade he’s produced or directed several movies, and he most recently completed crime drama “Brookyln’s Finest,” starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke. He also just wrapped thriller “Leaves of Grass,” with Edward Norton, and is preparing to produce another film.

“I’ve know John since he was working in a little apartment in Marina del Rey, editing in his bedroom,” said Meidel. “He and his son Morgan have become one hell of a duo.”

Langley Productions

Headquarters: Santa Monica

Founded: 1985

Core Business: Television production

Employees in 2008: 68

Goal: Developing syndicated programming, often with a criminal justice focus

Driving Force: Demand for low-cost programming targeted at younger men and women