Police Squad! (1982– )

Sight-gags and non-sequiturs dominate this spoof of police dramas. The six episodes formed the basis for later very successful "Naked Gun" movies.

Creators:

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Stars:

Leslie Nielsen, Alan North, Rex Hamilton

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Leslie Nielsen	...	Det. Frank Drebin (6 episodes, 1982)
Alan North	...	Capt. Ed Hocken (6 episodes, 1982)
Rex Hamilton	...	Abraham Lincoln (6 episodes, 1982)
Ed Williams	...	Mr. Olson (6 episodes, 1982)
William Duell	...	Johnny (6 episodes, 1982)
Peter Lupus	...	Norberg (4 episodes, 1982)

Storyline

Marginally a "straight" police drama in the Jack Webb/Quinn Martin school, Police Squad occurs in a strange universe where everything is taken literally (when a name "rings a bell" we here bells go off everytime someone mentions it), non sequiturs occur (a mime tries to spell out a ransom note, and Officer Nordberg guesses "Theme From a Summer Place") and sight gags abound (while looking for a corpse, someone wants to know the time and the dead man's hand drops out of a tree).

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Plot Keywords:

police | spoof | cult tv | police detective | police officer | 

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Taglines:

There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. Here are six.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agárralo como puedas - La serie original

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Each week Frank's snitch, Johnny the Shoeshine boy who knew everything, would meet with someone else that Johnny could give useful if esoteric information to. In the last three episodes he met with real-life people Dick Clark, Joyce Brothers, and Tommy Lasorda (even providing Clark with a special bottle of anti-aging face cream).

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Quotes

Det. Frank Drebin: [running gag] Cigarette?
Various: Yes, I know.

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Crazy Credits

Rex Hamilton appeared in the opening credits portraying Abraham Lincoln but he never appeared in any of the episodes.

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Connections

Referenced in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)

User Reviews

A very funny, but short lived show.

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.