Tagteam

This wasn't bad, should have given it a shot. Rest in peace, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

This could've been alot more in several ways. Wrestlers Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper play wrestling tag-team and long-time buddies Youngblood & McDonald. When they refuse to lay down in a tag title match for the vindictive wife of the promoter, she has them blacklisted from wrestling. While trying to figure out their options the two stop a would-be grocery store hold-up and are told by the police that they should try the Police Academy. So wildman McDonald and ex-Navy SEAL Youngblood join the Acadamy and, despite their extremely unorthodox styles, manage to graduate. But no sooner are they out of the academy when situations arise which promote them, mush to the chagrin of the more conservative veteran cops, to Detectives, using their wrestling skills and teamwork to take on the bad guys left and right.

This was actually the pilot for a new series featuring Piper and Ventura. The series was bought by ABC, looked to be a sure thing, then just one day before the shooting of their first episode, was cancelled by the execs. Pomotional politics, go figure. The show was campy, more than a bit silly, and as formulaeic as all the other LA Cop shows of the early to late 80s. Still it had its moments. The basic parts had potential. Who knows, a little tweeking here and there and maybe it could've worked. Then again, maybe not, who knows.

I don't know if this counts as a spoiler but during the robbery scene mentioned in the synopsis, Jesse and Roddy are shopping and Jesse in full snake skin jacket, dressing as only Jesse would says "I need grapes" and the delivery was so funny that was all I needed to see. Wrestling fans would have killed for this show and based on wrestling popularity at the time this could have drew at least several million viewers for the first season. It's not some mid card guys, these were two legends built around being actors. I've watched the pilot several times and there are SEVERAL SHOWS in 1991 (such as Undercover and Davis Rules) that were basic knockoffs of already established shows or movies. This was a fresh idea that I think had a lot of legs and different unique paths that could have happened. Seriously shame on ABC and all networks not picking this up. Would love to see this happen in 2025 with current or recently retired wrestlers (I'd love to see Steve Austin as a lead).