Complete series cast summary: | |||
Leslie Nielsen | ... |
Det. Frank Drebin
(6 episodes, 1982)
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Alan North | ... |
Capt. Ed Hocken
(6 episodes, 1982)
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Rex Hamilton | ... |
Abraham Lincoln
(6 episodes, 1982)
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Ed Williams | ... |
Mr. Olson
(6 episodes, 1982)
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William Duell | ... |
Johnny
(6 episodes, 1982)
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Peter Lupus | ... |
Norberg
(4 episodes, 1982)
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Tessa Richarde | ... |
Mary
(2 episodes, 1982)
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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). Written by <scrow@chop.isca.uiowa.edu>
To say that this is a good show is not to say anything at all. After all, this show is made by the same crew responsible for Airplane and other hilarious and brilliant movies. Writing is superb. Even though the show is built on one-liners, they don't become overbearing or annoying. Leslie Nielsen is flexing his comedy muscle to the full extent as if saying: You ain't seen nothing yet. The format was definitely polished to introduce Naked Gun. When watching these movies, notice how many schticks are taken from the TV show. The brilliant part is that they don't have to be changed too much. The show was truly a testing ground for bigger and better versions to come later.