Richland County no longer on Live PD? Wait ... what day is it?
The post hit Twitter around 6 p.m.
It was a shock to anyone who enjoys watching members of the Richland County Sheriff's Department on the police show "Live PD." That's the A&E reality television program that has highlighted the work of sheriff's deputies, and making celebrities out of them.
Despite that, the tweet read, "After careful consideration, Sheriff Leon Lott has decided that Richland County will no longer be on LivePD. @OfficialLivePD#LivePD#LivePDNation."
Reaction was swift on social media, and most reactions were from people unhappy to see the Richland County Sheriff's Department leaving "Live PD." There were hundreds of responses, reactions and retweets.
Many said they wouldn't be watching the show any longer, someone even tweeted that they will spend a fortune since they'll be going out on Friday's and Saturday's previously reserved for watching the reality TV show.
Well, Lott ultimately had some good news for them, and their budgets. It was just a joke.
Sunday was April Fools' Day after all.
The joke was eventually revealed a little more than an hour later on Twitter.
"#AprilFoolsDay See you on Friday!"
It was a relief for fans of the Richland County Sheriff's Department who are still recovering from the loss of one of their favorite deputies who regularly appeared on the show.
Senior Deputy Chris Mastrianni announced last week that he was promoted to investigator. The promotion meant Mastrianni will no longer appear on "Live PD."
The rest of the show's favorites from Richland County, including Lt. Danny Brown, Senior Deputy Garo Brown, Deputy Kevin Lawrence and Sgt. Steven Tapler, will continue to appear on the series.
The live-action A&E documentary series puts viewers in the passenger seats of patrol cars and gives them unedited, real-time access as officers respond to calls during their shifts.
The series debuted in October 2016, and follows several law enforcement agencies around the country with TV cameras during their patrols on Friday and Saturday nights.
The show's initial run of eight two-hour episodes was extended to 21 episodes because of its surging popularity and ratings, which eventually extended the first season to more than 60 episodes. The episodes themselves also were extended to three hours each.
The show airs Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. on A&E.
This story was originally published April 1, 2018 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Richland County no longer on Live PD? Wait ... what day is it?."