Police Squad Season 1
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Product Description:
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/07/2006
Amazon.com:
In addition to spawning the popular Naked Gun movie franchise,
Police Squad! had a lasting impact on TV comedy, and it's still a
guilty pleasure. Hot from the success of Airplane! two years
earlier, the ZAZ team (brothers David and Jerry Zucker and writing
partner Jim Abrahams) decided to spoof TV cop shows, using the late
'50s Lee Marvin series M Squad and the popular series format of
Quinn Martin Productions (e.g., The Streets of San Francisco) as
their template for supremely silly, gag-laden satire. With Airplane!
star Leslie Nielsen as straight-faced detective Frank Drebin and
Alan North as Drebin's befuddled boss, Capt. Ed Hocken, this
half-hour series quickly established an irresistible combination of
nonstop sight gags, non sequiturs, and repeated routines
("Cigarette?" "Yes, it is") that dared viewers to pay close
attention or miss the laughs if they didn't. Ironically, this very
quality--you had to actually watch the show instead of casually
listening for punchlines--is what ultimately sealed the series'
fate. After only six poorly rated episodes, Police Squad! was
canceled without fanfare, and six years passed before Drebin
returned as the bumbling hero of The Naked Gun.
Will all six episodes on one DVD, ZAZ fans can get reacquainted with
a series that was arguably ahead of its time. In addition to the
rib-tickling disparity between onscreen episode titles and narrated
titles, and "special guest stars" (including William Shatner, Robert
Goulet, Lorne Greene, and others) who get killed in the opening
credits, loyal viewers could count on a weekly dose of hilarity from
Nielsen, North, and their supporting players. Character actor
William Duell appeared each week as shoeshine boy "Johnny the
Snitch," capable of answering literally any question if you
repeatedly greased his palm (a gag that led to info-seeking cameo
appearances by Dick Clark, Dr. Joyce Brothers, baseball manager
Tommy Lasorda, and others). And while original Mission: Impossible
costar Peter Lupus poked fun at himself as the dim-witted Det.
Norberg (later played by O.J. Simpson in the Naked Gun movies), Ed
Williams--an actual high school science teacher--is hilarious as
"Mr. Wizard"-like lab technician Ted Olson, who dispenses dubious
science lessons to unsuspecting children. The fast-paced barrage of
humor guaranteed that every episode would deliver as many hits as
misses, and while some of the jokes have lost their punch, Police
Squad! still delivers the belly-laughs... and always will, as long
as humans have an appetite for shameless stupidity. --Jeff Shannon
On the DVD
Two episode commentaries by the Zucker brothers, Jim Abrahams, and
producer Robert K. Weiss are good for a laugh, as the ZAZ team
laughs at their own material and recalls the rigors of a 5-day
shooting schedule, battles with network censors (also outlined in
the revealing "Production Memo Highlights" feature), and the
never-shown "celebrity guest death" of John Belushi, who actually
died shortly after the gag was filmed. Comedian and writer Robert
Wuhl's commentary is more autobiographical and somewhat perfunctory
(he barely remembers the episode he wrote), but contains a few
nuts-and-bolts details about the show's production. The 10-minute
Leslie Nielsen interview shows the gracefully aging star in fine
form as he recalls his affinity for the ZAZ brand of humor; the
brief gag reel offers about a dozen on-set bloopers (several from
crude workprint sources); "Behind the Freeze Frames" is an extended
outtake to illustrate the elaborately faked "freeze frame" gag that
ended each episode; and "Celebrity Death Shots" is a list of
guest-star death gags proposed (and mostly used) for the series.
Also included are casting tests for Alan North and Ed Williams, and
an animated producers' photo gallery of Police Squad! sets, props,
and scenery. --Jeff Shannon
