Sight gags, puns and non-sequiturs ensue as Sgt. Det. Lt. Frank Drebin and his colleagues at Police Squad - a special section of the Police Force - solve various puzzling cases.Sight gags, puns and non-sequiturs ensue as Sgt. Det. Lt. Frank Drebin and his colleagues at Police Squad - a special section of the Police Force - solve various puzzling cases.Sight gags, puns and non-sequiturs ensue as Sgt. Det. Lt. Frank Drebin and his colleagues at Police Squad - a special section of the Police Force - solve various puzzling cases.
- Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
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...a burlesque dancer to Det. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) as he approaches her in a dressing room...
"Yes, that's very impressive, but that's not why were here"...(Det. Drebin's deadpan response)
The best sight-gag comedy ever. But of course, it got crushed in the ratings and was yanked right away. Our loss.
I recently purchased a VHS tape with three episodes for my dad and watched 'em again with him. I'm happy to report that if you like the Zucker's style of humor (first unleashed in "Airplane"), you'll have a blast.
"Yes, that's very impressive, but that's not why were here"...(Det. Drebin's deadpan response)
The best sight-gag comedy ever. But of course, it got crushed in the ratings and was yanked right away. Our loss.
I recently purchased a VHS tape with three episodes for my dad and watched 'em again with him. I'm happy to report that if you like the Zucker's style of humor (first unleashed in "Airplane"), you'll have a blast.
What can be said about this show, one of the funniest if not the funniest comedy ever?
Leslie Nielson played Frank Drebin who seemed to alternate each week between a Sergeant or a Lieutenant. He was joined by other detectives, particularly Al (only ever seen from the neck down).
The plots-if you can call them that-were crazy. The show was crazy from the opening title to the end credits. There were some hilarious one-liners throughout the show. Also, the narrator for each episode used to read out the title of the episode which always differed from the title on-screen. A special guest star was also introduced on the credits but never starred in the show itself. As for the ending credits, well Drebin seemed to be moving whilst the credits rolled. It was crazy.
Even though this series spawned three Naked Gun movies, it is the world's greatest mystery why this show only ran for six episodes. Where is the justice in the world where tripe such as Friends can run for years whilst a truly funny show like this can be cancelled after a mere six episodes?
I strongly recommend checking the series out and will someone please release it onto DVD?
Leslie Nielson played Frank Drebin who seemed to alternate each week between a Sergeant or a Lieutenant. He was joined by other detectives, particularly Al (only ever seen from the neck down).
The plots-if you can call them that-were crazy. The show was crazy from the opening title to the end credits. There were some hilarious one-liners throughout the show. Also, the narrator for each episode used to read out the title of the episode which always differed from the title on-screen. A special guest star was also introduced on the credits but never starred in the show itself. As for the ending credits, well Drebin seemed to be moving whilst the credits rolled. It was crazy.
Even though this series spawned three Naked Gun movies, it is the world's greatest mystery why this show only ran for six episodes. Where is the justice in the world where tripe such as Friends can run for years whilst a truly funny show like this can be cancelled after a mere six episodes?
I strongly recommend checking the series out and will someone please release it onto DVD?
This show has the basic jokes of a spoof, but they work so well. With Nielson's deadpan delivery the six episodes of this show were better than the movies that were for some reason very successful (not that they were bad, but I just wonder why the show didn't work). I especially liked the opening in which the special guest star was killed during the credits and then the man would announce the name of the episode and it would be different from the title. Yes this show was a laugh a second great comedy. Some of the jokes from the series would even find their way to the movie versions.
This is the brief series that lead to the NAKED GUN trilogy. Leslie Nielsen gets to play madman with all the delicious relish he can bring to the part of the straight-faced detective.
The stories are parodies of all the very, very, very serious and very, very, very important police and crime shows on TV over the years. Nothing escapes the satiric bashing that goes on here. The guest stars each week are murdered in the opening scene and then are never heard of again. The titles of the episodes don't fit the narration. Nielsen's own narration is a wonderful satire of all the crime story voice-overs going back to film noir and DRAGNET. And -- wonder of wonders -- the show is "In Color!"
No pun goes un-punned. No sight-gag is left un-gagged. Nothing is spared. Imagine the Marx Brothers and Three Stooges in a crime movie setting, and that gives you a hint of what POLICE SQUAD is all about. This is one of the funniest shows ever made for TV, but since it is satire, it of course had only a short run. Nevertheless, I loved it.
The stories are parodies of all the very, very, very serious and very, very, very important police and crime shows on TV over the years. Nothing escapes the satiric bashing that goes on here. The guest stars each week are murdered in the opening scene and then are never heard of again. The titles of the episodes don't fit the narration. Nielsen's own narration is a wonderful satire of all the crime story voice-overs going back to film noir and DRAGNET. And -- wonder of wonders -- the show is "In Color!"
No pun goes un-punned. No sight-gag is left un-gagged. Nothing is spared. Imagine the Marx Brothers and Three Stooges in a crime movie setting, and that gives you a hint of what POLICE SQUAD is all about. This is one of the funniest shows ever made for TV, but since it is satire, it of course had only a short run. Nevertheless, I loved it.
This was a truly unique show. Many of the comments in this section regret that there were only 6 episodes made. But to be honest, the show used so many jokes per episode, I don't see how they could have gone too much further without running out. The great thing about this show is that every one who watches it has a favorite one-liner that they remember, and like to repeat. One could say the same thing about the movie "Airplane". There are so few things that are really original, especially in television, the medium that thrives so much on imitation of previous success. So the time has come for this limited series to get its chance on DVD. But not just another release. Visualize this. The show did such a good job of satirizing police dramas from M Squad to the QM series, that the DVD should do the same this for DVD special features. In short, the DVD release should have all the usual special features, but they would all be send-ups of special features. Now that would make for a great DVD release of this great show.
Did you know
- TriviaAfter the success of Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver la reine ? (1988) and Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver le président ? (1991), Comedy Central and CBS re-aired all six episodes of this series in the summer of 1991. Producers wanted to include John Belushi's "guest star" appearance in Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh) (1982), which had been cut due to Belushi's death. The footage could not be located, and is now presumed lost or destroyed.
- Quotes
Det. Frank Drebin: [running gag] Cigarette?
Various: Yes, I know.
- Crazy creditsRex Hamilton appeared in the opening credits portraying Abraham Lincoln but he never appeared in any of the episodes.
- Alternate versionsThe home video versions of some episodes have changed music in some scenes. For instance, when they sing "Happy Birthday" at a birthday and when Leslie Nielsen sings Judy Garland tunes in the nightclub. Presumably this is due to a music licensing issue.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 34th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1982)
- How many seasons does Police Squad! have?Powered by Alexa
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