"Police Squad" was a short-lived TV series that aired on ABC in 1982. I remember watching it with my family and we thought it was hilarious. I just watched all six episodes again – 33 years later, and I found it mildly funny in places.
My DVD has a bonus interview with the series star, Leslie Nielsen, who plays Detective Sergeant Lieutenant (sic) Frank Drebin. Nielsen explains the failure of the series to catch on. He compared it to the blockbuster hit series "M.A.S.H." that was in its 11th season in 1982. Nielsen said one could get up and go to the refrigerator while "M.A.S.H." was on, and not miss the comedy. But people had to stay glued to their TV sets the whole time during "Police Squad." The reason is because they would miss much of the comedy that was in sight gags extraneous to the dialog taking place.
This series indeed had tons of sight gags that added to the humor. And, if one were to leave (we didn't back then), one would miss something for sure. This time around, I still saw and enjoyed the sight gags. So, I can see Nielsen's point and think it's valid for that time. The difference this time is that I thought the dialog was goofy but not that funny. In other words, it is dated – not so much in the content as to the style and what was considered very funny by the culture of the time. Today, the script of "Police Squad" just isn't as funny to me. But it appears that many other viewers still find it very funny.
Still, I just don't see that this series rates up there near "Fawlty Towers," (1975) which is one of the greatest comedy series of all time. Or, that it's funnier and better than really great comedies of the period. Yet IMDb viewers overall as of November 2015 rate this TV series better than such classic comedies as "The Jerk" 1979, "Caddyshack" (1980), "Airplane" (1980), "The Naked Gun" (1988), and "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988). To use a modern term, I'll just say, go figure!
My DVD has a bonus interview with the series star, Leslie Nielsen, who plays Detective Sergeant Lieutenant (sic) Frank Drebin. Nielsen explains the failure of the series to catch on. He compared it to the blockbuster hit series "M.A.S.H." that was in its 11th season in 1982. Nielsen said one could get up and go to the refrigerator while "M.A.S.H." was on, and not miss the comedy. But people had to stay glued to their TV sets the whole time during "Police Squad." The reason is because they would miss much of the comedy that was in sight gags extraneous to the dialog taking place.
This series indeed had tons of sight gags that added to the humor. And, if one were to leave (we didn't back then), one would miss something for sure. This time around, I still saw and enjoyed the sight gags. So, I can see Nielsen's point and think it's valid for that time. The difference this time is that I thought the dialog was goofy but not that funny. In other words, it is dated – not so much in the content as to the style and what was considered very funny by the culture of the time. Today, the script of "Police Squad" just isn't as funny to me. But it appears that many other viewers still find it very funny.
Still, I just don't see that this series rates up there near "Fawlty Towers," (1975) which is one of the greatest comedy series of all time. Or, that it's funnier and better than really great comedies of the period. Yet IMDb viewers overall as of November 2015 rate this TV series better than such classic comedies as "The Jerk" 1979, "Caddyshack" (1980), "Airplane" (1980), "The Naked Gun" (1988), and "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988). To use a modern term, I'll just say, go figure!