Police Squad!
release year: 1982
genre: police comedy (6 episodes)
viewing setting: home Bluray 9/11-12/20
synopsis: Lieutenant Frank Drebin solves crimes in deadpan, slapstick, and often hilarous ways.
impressions: I'd seen the Naked Gun films over the years, but never this short-lived series which spawned it. Each episode has some recurring elements that were always funny: a random celebrity guest star who gets killed off in the opening credits and has nothing to do with the episode's plot, one episode title being spoken aloud while a different one shows on screen, a really tall cop whose head and face are never seen, a police lab technician who does crazy experiments, a shoeshine guy who knows everything and gets paid to share specific information with people who need it, and an ending credits scene in which the primary actors pretend to be in a freeze frame while other events continue around them. The deadpan delivery of Drebin and the inane things often going on in the background are always good for some laughs.
acting: Leslie Nielsen is the always-serious central character. Alan North is his boss, who often joins him in the funny conversations. Peter Lupus is another absentminded cop who rambles on about random things. Ed Williams is the hilarious lab guy. William Duell is Johnny the shoeshine guy. Ronald Taylor is the really tall cop.
final word: Good, funny TV show that unfortunately didn't last long.
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