A&E NETWORK PREMIERES NEW ORIGINAL REAL-LIFE SERIES ROOKIES

SIXTEEN EPISODE HALF HOUR SERIES FOLLOWS POLICE CADETS IN TAMPA, FLORIDA AND JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA FROM GRADUATION TO THEIR FIRST DAYS PATROLLING THE STREETS

DEBUTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21st AT 10PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, NY, OCTOBER 8, 2008 � Remember your first day at your new job? Now imagine being a police officer. ROOKIES, shot on location in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana and Tampa, Florida, puts viewers in the squad car as each rookie heads out on patrol for the first time.

Each week viewers will join the journey as rookies learn how to patrol the tough city streets with their field training officer (FTO). These veteran cops teach the rookies how to survive. Some of these rookies will have what it takes � and others will be asking themselves if they can take the heat in one of the toughest jobs in America.

ROOKIES premieres Tuesday, October 21st at 10 PM ET/PT on A&E with two back-to-back half hour episodes.

In Tampa, Florida we'll meet rookies like Amy Hess. She may look like the girl next door but she is one tough cop. Her first week includes participating in her first SWAT hit. Rookie AJ Cafaro, a former bar manager, goes on his first search warrant then witnesses his first dead body. The call most rookies dread going on is the �"Signal 7" or dead body. Rookie April Levine gets two of these calls her first week. She has the harrowing task of putting human bones in a plastic bag and lifting a five day old corpse.

Meanwhile, in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana crime has been on the rise since Hurricane Katrina. Rookie cops are needed now more then ever. Here we are introduced to rookies like Henry Conravey, who served his country as a Marine in Iraq. Having seen combat, he has a slight edge over the other rookies and appears quite confident. Yet when Henry and his FTO Todd Rivere respond to "shots fired" in a quiet neighborhood his overconfidence could backfire on him.

Rob Sharenow, Neil Cohen, Andy Berg and Stephen Harris are executive producers for A&E. ROOKIES is produced for A&E Network by Tiger Aspect and The Greif Company. Executive producers for Tiger Aspect are Charles Brand, Jamie Munro, Lawrence Cumbo and Christine Connor. Executive producers for The Greif Company are Leslie Greif and Adam Reed.

A&E is "Real Life. Drama." Now reaching more than 97 million homes, A&E is television that you can't turn away from; where real life shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment; ranging from the network's original scripted series including "The Cleaner" starring Benjamin Bratt and "The Beast" starring Patrick Swayze, to signature Real-Life franchises, including the Emmy-nominated "Intervention," "Dog The Bounty Hunter," "Paranormal State" and "Criss Angel Mindfreak," and the most successful justice shows on cable, including "The First 48" and "Crime 360." The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com. For more press information and photography please visit us on the web at www.aetvpress.com.