Why On Patrol: Live Isn't Airing New Episodes This Weekend
Viewers expecting fresh episodes of On Patrol: Live this weekend are in for a shock.
If you tuned in last weekend looking for fresh On Patrol: Live and noticed Dan Abrams was nowhere to be seen, you were not imagining things. And if you were hoping this weekend fixes it, bad news: the show is taking a short breather. Here is what is going on and when you can expect things to normalize.
So, why no new OPL this weekend?
On Patrol: Live is usually a dependable three-hour live ride-along every Friday and Saturday on Reelz. But the show routinely treats major holidays like actual breaks, and Labor Day is one of them. That means we are getting two straight weekends of reruns, not new episodes.
- Friday Aug 29 and Saturday Aug 30, 2025: No new episodes. Labor Day break. Encores air instead.
- Friday Sep 5 and Saturday Sep 6, 2025: No new episodes again. CrimeCon weekend. More encores.
About last weekend
Viewers were thrown off when Dan Abrams was missing and Ashleigh Banfield stepped in to host. Curtis Wilson had also recently been MIA, so fans started guessing something bigger was up. The short version: this is that something. The show is taking its usual holiday pause, and then CrimeCon wipes out the following weekend too.
What you will see instead
Reelz is leaning on greatest-hit encores throughout the week and stacking up full encore nights during the usual live slots. The official OPL account even flagged it midweek:
"Dont miss a full night of #OnPatrolLive encores, starting at 9E|6P, only on #REELZ & #REELZPlus! #OPLive #OPNation" — posted Aug 27, 2025
Fans are confused (and a little cranky)
There was plenty of head-scratching about the length of the hiatus. Lots of people expected the Labor Day weekend off, but not the CrimeCon weekend right after. The communication did not help; some viewers wished the hosts had spelled it out more clearly on-air instead of letting people piece it together online. Also, Ashleigh Banfield filling in for Abrams sparked the usual host discourse. Some folks were happy to see Sean 'Sticks' Larkin pop up and openly wished he had taken the chair.
OPL is off for two weekends in a row: Labor Day, then CrimeCon. Reelz will run encores at the normal times (9E/6P) and scatter highlights during the week to tide everyone over. Not exactly a shock if you have watched the show's holiday patterns before, but yeah, two weekends in a row still stings. After Sep 6, keep an eye out for the live return.