Police Squad!
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Season One (1982)
Rate:
4 out of 5
Viewed:
10/14, 7/18
10/14:
Before there was The Naked Gun franchise, there was a small television show entitled
Police Squad! which ran for only six episodes before being put on an indefinite hiatus.
I wondered why, but Leslie Nielsen offered a possible theory: people were doing housework while listening to the episodes,
therefore missing the subtle jokes that had to be seen on screen. That's an interesting take, but I'm not sure if I believe
it. Comparing to the films, I have to say the episodes are a hell lot funnier, showing a great deal of originality.
Sometimes, I would rewind back during some scenes.
Every episode follows a formula that invokes redundancy. The interesting part is the appearance of a special
guest star because he'll wind up dead within ten seconds during the opening credits. Having seen all of the three movies and
being initially apprehensive about the TV show, I've found nearly nothing that's recycled for
The Naked Gun,
hence the originality of the jokes and clever moments. So, kudos to Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker for doing that.
I love the cast, especially Alan North (who's well known as the mayor in Lean on Me),
and I wish everybody, especially the Italian Peter Lupus who played Norberg, was kept intact for the movies. They all fit the
characters very well. Sadly, only two stayed on to reprise their roles: Leslie Nielsen and Ed Williams who's Mr.
Olson the lab technician.
Hilarious is the idea for each episode to have two different titles. So, good luck in remembering which is which! The best one,
which is a duh, is "The Butler Did It." And I never saw Rex Hamilton in any of the episodes although it would've been
interesting to see the old Abe Lincoln arrest a criminal. My favorite character is Johnny. That shoe cleaner
sure knows everything that's going on in the city. In fact, if Frank consulted him right from the beginning instead
of later, all of his cases would've been solved pronto.
One of the best moments, which occurs in the final episode, is when a spoof of
The French Connection was shown with the
cops dismantling and wrecking the car to find drugs in the glove compartment at the end before putting it back together
to be brand-new.
All in all, it's surprising that Police Squad! was canceled so soon given its enormous potential; it's far
better than most television shows which ran for many seasons.
7/18:
While Police Squad! is nice fun for a short-lived TV show, it doesn't score high in laughs.
There are good, clever moments here and there. Eventually, a routine is set in stone, making each episode feel
redundant. Hence, it's for the best that the show was quickly canceled. At least, on the positive side,
The Naked Gun franchise was born out of it.
All in all, enjoy the comedy in Police Squad!, but don't expect a barrel of laughs all the time.