LAST EDITED ON 01-29-07 AT 00:11 AM (EST)Police Squad!, one of the funniest but shortest-lived comedy series ever, is out on DVD. Some thoughts:
When it's good, it's hysterical. So many sight gags that it takes several watchings to get them all.
The celebrity cameos are great, even if they were pretty much all from the B-list. I won't spoil the story of the one "death scene" during the credits that never aired.
The v/o guy is the same one who had done all the Quinn Martin cop shows. He was coaxed out of retirement for this.
Leslie Nielsen and Alan North were well-cast in the lead roles, and Peter Lupus had fun as the hapless Nordberg. For the Naked Gun movie (derived from Police Squad!), North and Lupus were replaced by George Kennedy and some guy named O.J.
But there are drawbacks. The commentary from Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker could have been more insightful; there are long, pointless gaps where they say nothing. The outtakes are meh. And for some reason, the episodes are not in the order of broadcast.
As for the show itself, the direction could have used a swift kick in a couple places. An extra who is supposed to trip over Nielsen's telephone cord majorly telegraphs the move; why wasn't that reshot? And in the final episode (one of two that did not air; ABC yanked it after only four episodes), Nielsen's nightclub act routine could have been hacked by several minutes; must have been filler.
ETA: To be honest, it would be hard to imagine that show running for years. The producers admit that it was originally going to be a movie, which it of course later became as The Naked Gun.
Still, I'm glad to have the DVD; this was humor ahead of its time. Anyone else remember this show?
Tribe strikes again!
I saw my first girlfriend for the last time when the second episode aired.
Email this topic to a friend
Printer-friendly version of this topic
Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)
