MrGranfield Definitely the best American comedy. Welsh, but guessing it must be the British humour. The comedy in this show is too subtle (even though its totally obvious) for American humour.
As a canadian I found it to be most enjoyable. Just hits me in all the right spots. Slapstick, tight writing, literary humour, and it wasn't mean spirited!
The humour is not at all sitcom, and MASH doesn't have anything in the same vein, maybe Supernatural. Hour long situation dramedy that is good enough to last over 10 years? Pretty tough and specialized spot.
Mmmm...M.A.S.H was originally a film - and I would never ever insult it by simplistically labelling it as a 'sit-com'! It was an insightful, poignant and damning document to the futility of war. To even consider it as a 'Sit-com' merely serves to demonstrate your complete lack of understanding of the nuances and under-pinning plot-line of M.A.S.H - I genuinely feel sorry for you that you didn't get that.
The freeze frame endings of each episode are, to this day, some of the best sight gags ever filmed. Genius show. Leslie is much missed, his comedy timing is right there with Peter Sellers.
My favourite ones are when Ed is pouring coffee all over his hand and ends up dropping the mug, and Nordberg trying to get in on it with different poses
Several years ago, a colleague of mine had some acute health issues. Another colleague and I took her to the ER and were in there for hours. He had never heard of Police Squad. We watched it on my phone and were laughing until we were in tears. At the end, people were looking over our shoulders and laughing. After a while, people all over the ER were watching it and laughing. Some really sick people were sitting there trying not to laugh because it hurt to laugh.
Very cool! It's been said "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine". The Dr. Should have thanked you for treating the patients with a good dose of medicinal laughter! Lol😄
Not about Police Squad, but it's difficult to explain to a stranger why I say this...my going through chemotherapy 20 years ago included some of the most hilarious and warped experiences in my over-50 years on the planet. In the treatment facility we had people (patients, relatives and staff) across the spectrum of society. I made and lost life-enriching friendships on that ward. The staff were something unique. Completely no-nonsense, some of the best sarcastic British-humour quips which to the outsider would seem fiercely inappropriate but which, to us, were what we needed. At times, an almost cruelly acerbic wit but judged and served up with surgical precision. That team knew when to be serious but also knew when it was best to diffuse the tension. They wouldn't let us get too morose, too down in the dumps, self-pitying. Whenever that was on their radar they'd launch a putdown that would have us rolling round in agony from laughter. That's where humour can play such a vital role, never more so than in an otherwise bleak setting. What I learned from this was to take myself just a tiny bit less seriously.
@@bikkies I have always had a sense of humor that's a little 'off' and either darkly humorous or very light-hearted, whichever is least appropriate. I do my best not to take myself too seriously. It's a cliché, but life really is too short.
@@davidvanwagener6097 It really is. I've learned the hard way that if I take myself too seriously then it's detrimental to my mental health. I try to maintain perspective, reminding myself that, in the grand scheme, I don't matter. I'm a grain of sand in the desert, a nothing. I'm here for a handful of years then I'm gone forever. The world managed to get by just fine before I was born and it will carry on turning long after I'm gone. That may look defeatist or suicidal but it's not. It merely means me recognising I'm nowhere near as important as I used to believe I was.
"Police Squad!" was so brilliant...even better than the movie it inspired. Sometimes great shows fly under the radar, or they're too intelligent for people to "get." Like Leslie said, you actually had to pay attention to it. It's a lot like what happened to "Arrested Development."
Yes, that's right. My senile mother has to have the T.V. on all the time when she's awake. She doesn't actually watch it, she does word searches, snoops in her own nicknacs, goes in the front room & peeks out the picture window that she keeps curtained off 24/7. Etc.
But he felt that he was a fraud. He just landed the lines as written. That's the beauty of it all. No comedy talent needed in order to slam dunk comedy!
I still remember when the series came out. I was 13 and all of us recognized immediately how great it was. I also remember how blown away we were when it was cancelled so soon. We couldn't understand it. There was nothing else even close to how funny it was. We must have been part of the 10% of the audience that actually paid attention to everything that was going on in the show.
Leslie's explanation for why it didn't work as a TV show are spot on. It requires too much attention for _some_ people to get the jokes (many of which are visual instead of word play, etc). But seeing it in the theater you're much more likely to be playing strict attention, so it worked.
I’m guessing I was about that age also is become good because the younger people for whatever reason possibly because they’re bored Who knows And actually pay attention to things and they get it
Wow! I'm stunned but not surprised at the reason it was canceled. Those of us who were fans at the time made this a religious experience. No noise, no distractions, total concentration.
Police Squad was indeed the FUNNIEST (and most clever) comedy show of all time. Leslie Neilsen was perfect. The key to its success was the dead pan delivery of the characters. They didn't need to telegraph how funny they were. Pure genius, the likes of which we won't see again.
Telegraphing is a practice I really hate in so many American and UK sitcoms. "I'm about to tell a joke. Here comes the joke. Tells joke. Ok, that was the joke, laugh now." That kind of programming, particularly when coupled with canned laughter, credits the viewer with no intelligence. With Police Squad there was none of that dumbing-down nonsense. You either got the joke or you didn't, and it was so fast paced that many gags would fly past unnoticed on the first, second and subsequent views. Quality stuff.
Johan Herrenberg Fun fact, he was primarily a dramatic actor for most of his career. Airplane! was one of his first comedic roles. He was the captain in the original Poseidon Adventure. His first starring role was in Forbidden Planet in 1956 and his last dramatic role was in Nuts in 1987.
Leslie is a comedy icon. His timing and delivery are a work of art . I wonder how many outtakes it took before they could film a shot without anyone laughing
I think that's the beauty of it. He clearly had a scream making all the spoof stuff. I mean, look at Airplane!...they must have been pissin themselves laughing making that!
@@charmerci Well funny enough the Zucker brothers and Abrahams purposely selected serious actors and required them to act as serious as possible in their scenes for comedy effect.
If you shook his hand you'd probably fall victim to his legendary fart machine. Comic talent like his was all the more unique for someone who had spent so much screen time previously in straight roles.
He so right about the self editing and even more so about paying attention. It's an even greater issue today with tiny screens that people can distract themselves with at a moments notice. I always pushed friends and family to watch movies in the theater because if I watch at home with them half the time they turn away and miss the good parts and come away saying it was just okay.
"Police Squad" demonstrates the entire history of American television in a nutshell: Comedy geniuses create extremely funny show. Show gets cancelled mid-season because TV execs don't get it, and those who do think the humor is over the public's head. (Or as a friend of mine is fond of pointing out, in the previous TV generation, they replaced Sid Caesar with Lawrence Welk.)
Agreeing, I missed a lot of the recurring cast of Police Squad and the shorter but sweeter stories. Also felt like after Police Squad, their humour got more... obvious, like as if it was getting tailored for slightly dumber audiences.
Frank Drebin's character had changed in the movies. In Police Squad he was much more oblivious to what was going on around him. Only when someone Al come up with long hair or a massive hat, did Frank look confused but then shortly after he is back on the case. And he was a lot more straight faced. Without trying to over analyze it, there is a Monty Python sketch where John Cleese is a BBC radio newsreader and he gets kidnapped and chucked into the sea and throughout the scene, John Cleese is so in tune with his job, he is completely oblivious to what is happening. I think one of the keys to good comedy is to allow the audience to do some of the work. Implant a thought or vision in our head and that way we get more laughs out of it.
Even though the T.V series was short lived. There wouldn't be the great movie trilogy without it. The T.V series to those who were able to experience it during its original broadcast is a comedy classic now. I guess some people just didn't get how funny the show was back then! I did.
As a lover of Naked Gun, I recently purchased and saw Police Squad for the first time, and I absolutely love it. And Leslie's RIGHT -- you have to PAY ATTENTION to get all the many jokes that populate the show. Yeah, the humor is -- strange as it may seem -- too SOPHISTICATED for the armchair television viewer. Sophistication most especially means -- NO LAUGH TRACK!!! That artificial crutch is GONE. And now I'm wondering WHY no laugh track was made for the show. Not that I'd want one, but it surely would have helped the ratings. But I'm sure glad they didn't. Can you imagine putting a laugh track on an epic like Airplane!?? Totally tautological. The Neilsen interview is EXCELLENT!!! thank you
The Zucker Brothers David and Jerry along with Jim Abrahams did what I call "Miss A Trick" comedy. They challenged the audience to catch all the side jokes, references and background shennanigans. These are the kinds of comedies that you can watch repeatedly for years and then see something new that you never caught before. Sometimes you would have to see an Easter Egg video or an interview to ever catch on to some of the subtle nuances included in these programs and movies. It always surprises me that the TV show never really caught on in it's original run. But, then you have to remember how different and off the wall this show was. As stated in this interview, people weren't watching the show closely enough. Once the movie came out people finally got how it worked. Then they saw the TV show re-runs and many thought the TV show was a spin-off from the movie. The chronology went something like this: the Police Squad TV show flopped, which lead to the Naked Gun movie being created as a more suitable platform, which lead to people discovering the TV show on re-runs, which lead to the characters and the humour becoming more popular, which lead to a second movie which lead to more people discovering the TV show and the first movie, which lead to a third movie. Abrahams and the Zuckers had previously released Airplane! in 1980 ("Don't call me Shirley!"). So, they knew Leslie Nielsen was right for their type of humour. Police Squad first aired in 1982. Then they brought out the movie Top Secret in 1984 ("I know a little German. He's sitting over there!"). So now they once again established that the big screen was where their humour really hit home. Remember, this was in the very early days of anyone watching movies at home where they could rewind and repeat to catch all the jokes on their TV. In a cinema you got one shot, so you had to be paying attention between the laughs. Formula proven they moved Police Squad to the big screen and Naked Gun was born in 1988. The Naked Gun series has the enviable accolade of providing O.J. Simpson with his second most memorable moment in front of a camera. Number One: Trying on a glove that clearly does not fit. Number Two: Sitting in a runaway wheelchair that catapults him into the stands. Maybe that was a metaphor for what was to come. Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker transformed comedy and their influence can be seen everywhere to this day. Few do it as well, but most owe their success to these path makers. IMHO.
To (Anthony) Thomopolous' credit, he was Absolutely right about visual gags being dependent on having a captive audience watching...Just ask Alan Spencer, who created the show "Sledge Hammer"; pretty much went off the air for the same reason.
Sledge Hammer did require your full attention and what's funny is watching shows like this on your phone keeps you captivated where you get it all as opposed to watching it on TV
Amazed it wasn't a ratings success. It was absolutely brilliant. Perhaps you had to be raised on those old shows like Streets Of San Francisco, Cannon, Ironside etc (like I was) to fully appreciate the send-up. Completely love it. And it's just as funny now as ever. Leslie was the king of deadpan.
Hearing the story and line of 'Use the open eye Frank' had me rolling just like when watching that scene on thv. HeeLARIOUS!!!! Police Squad and Naked Gun will always be my most favorite shows and movies lol!!!
Would have loved to have met the amazing Mr Nielsen, his love of the material truly does come across in her performances in Police Squad and The Naked Gun movies. And I just can't help but smile every time I see him on the screen.
for so many reasons the show would be a complete hit today, it was ahead of its time... so sad though because it was puregenius, watching it now I laugh so hard.. plus like Leslie says back then peoples TVs were too small now you wouldnt miss the jokes almost everybody has a 52 inch
I sort of agree with you on this however I think it would have been a show made for Netflix or something I do not think this show could work on network tv granted I could be wrong. The interesting thing I notice about alot of shows today though is you have to pay attention with some exceptions.
I saw Police Squad in the UK the first time it was showed here & it was instantly a hit with me. Couldn't believe it got pulled after 1 season but totally understand the reasons why. I'm SO relieved that "the boys" realised their comedy writing style would work better in cinema instead of TV & that this led to the Naked Gun movies. Nielsen's career rebirth after Airplane! was so deserved & he was the perfect straight man in that, a genre he portrayed to perfection as Drebben. Priscilla turned out to have ideal qualities in her delivery to compliment his & together, they were sensationally funny. Very much missed... but DON'T call him "Shirley" 😉
Hey dude, It was not retirement, it was because of how he blundered that engagement with the Queen I think, he was kicked off the force. If I recall correctly Frank's line is; "just think Al, the next time I shoot somebody I could be arrested!" Awesome part of the movie. Take care✌
What Mr. Neilsen said about, "people really do NOT watch TV", is mostly true. When "Police Squad" came on the air, I was a loyal viewer, as it promoted as being by the guys that gave us "Airplane". However, neither of my parents, in the same room, got it. My dad was listening, but reading his newspaper. My mom was usually doing a crossword puzzle. They weren't WATCHING, but they were LISTENING, just as they had in the days of radio. Myself, growing up with television, learned both to watch AND to listen, plus, I too was on that same "wavelength" of humor, and I got it. I was saddened to see it taken off the air. The next best thing was the film trilogy, "The Naked Gun, Taken From The Files Of Police Squad". The first two were simply great, the final one, I felt was reaching for its laughs and not really getting them. Maybe that's why there wasn't a fourth film.
Neilson's comment about the audience not watching applies to Americans, with their short attention spans, where he says the laugh tracks were used in US comedy shows so the (American) audience would know when to laugh explains so much. M*A*S*H with the laugh track turned off is SOOO much better.
I wish they’d bring back Police Squad and spoof NCIS, CSI and other modern police shows... but only if they find another set of comedy writers on par with those who worked for Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Maybe Goor and Schur?
When you think about the utter laugh track driven dross that is given a gazillion episodes and police squad gets pulled after 5/6. It is laugh a minute genius with relentless sight gags and supreme word play scenes . I never forget finding it way back in the early 80s ...it was like accidently digging up a crock of gold in the back garden .
Regular actor: " I want to be a comedy actor so I am going to hone my skills by telling jokes and doing standup comedy acts at the night club and then act in a bunch of comedy movies once when directors notice how funny I am." Leslie Nielsen. " I am going to be a dramatic actor in movies and shows for a long time. Then I am going to act in comedy shows and movies the exact same way I did in dramas and still be funnier than comedy actors.
Really interesting. I never looked into why Police Squad was cancelled so quickly. I wonder if it were to come out today in the age of streaming, would be a hit? Seems like with Streaming, people are actually watching the screen vs in the old days when they'd just have it on in the background. We also have bigger TVs now. Of course, you can't do Police Squad without Leslie Nielsen.
I must be one of the few who watched every second of each Police Squad show without getting distracted. I knew that if I did, I would miss something funny.
It's so true. When you go to a movie you are there TO look at the big screen, so you don't miss anything. One thing I do miss, though, is Mr. Nielsen. You were one of the funniest humans who ever lived. Let 'er rip!
I loved Police Squad. The ABC exec totally missed the fact that its a show you can watch again and again because you miss a joke while laughing at something else. Each time you watch it you find something new .
The problem with that is this show came out in the early 80s when very few people had VCRs to record the shows. I think less than 10 percent of homes had them at that time. And they didn't replay episodes very often at all back then.
@@davidalexander3320 I remember when we got our first video the local shop did an offer first 10 free. A friend and I had 10 films in 1 go and spent the weekend in a marathon watching them. I think one of the films was The Kentcky Fried Movie made by the same team. 😎😎You are right but I still say that ABC should have had the forsight as the home video market was developing at the time.
As an Englishman I rate Police Squad as the best American comedy programme of all time.
MrGranfield Definitely the best American comedy. Welsh, but guessing it must be the British humour. The comedy in this show is too subtle (even though its totally obvious) for American humour.
As a canadian I found it to be most enjoyable. Just hits me in all the right spots. Slapstick, tight writing, literary humour, and it wasn't mean spirited!
Mmm.....Police Squad IS excellent - but better than M.A.S.H, Cheers, Seinfeld and Frazier? I don't think so,
The humour is not at all sitcom, and MASH doesn't have anything in the same vein, maybe Supernatural. Hour long situation dramedy that is good enough to last over 10 years? Pretty tough and specialized spot.
Mmmm...M.A.S.H was originally a film - and I would never ever insult it by simplistically labelling it as a 'sit-com'! It was an insightful, poignant and damning document to the futility of war. To even consider it as a 'Sit-com' merely serves to demonstrate your complete lack of understanding of the nuances and under-pinning plot-line of M.A.S.H - I genuinely feel sorry for you that you didn't get that.
The freeze frame endings of each episode are, to this day, some of the best sight gags ever filmed. Genius show. Leslie is much missed, his comedy timing is right there with Peter Sellers.
He along with Peter Graces used to be serious actors and Airplane comes out, they nailed it in a comedy.
My favourite ones are when Ed is pouring coffee all over his hand and ends up dropping the mug, and Nordberg trying to get in on it with different poses
This show was brilliant. And the suits cancelled it because it was "too funny". They were afraid people would miss the jokes and stop watching.
"Who are you & how did you get in here?
"I'm a locksmith...and I'm a locksmith."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 now I get it, thank you
That was just epic.
Just the funniest show ever. Only 6 episodes.
Genius line.
@@gerardodoherty9178 I recently realized Frank's undercover name is Al Ocksmith, so now it seems even more genius! 😂🤣
As a Brit, I love Police Squad! It's one of my favourite pieces of American television. Everything Leslie Nielsen did was fantastic.
That's because he was Canadian.
If it was made in the UK it would have lasted much longer than a season!
Even when he played serious roles like in Forbidden Planet, glad he found his calling: comedy.
Several years ago, a colleague of mine had some acute health issues. Another colleague and I took her to the ER and were in there for hours. He had never heard of Police Squad. We watched it on my phone and were laughing until we were in tears. At the end, people were looking over our shoulders and laughing. After a while, people all over the ER were watching it and laughing. Some really sick people were sitting there trying not to laugh because it hurt to laugh.
David Van Wagener that’s a nice story.
Very cool! It's been said "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine". The Dr. Should have thanked you for treating the patients with a good dose of medicinal laughter! Lol😄
Not about Police Squad, but it's difficult to explain to a stranger why I say this...my going through chemotherapy 20 years ago included some of the most hilarious and warped experiences in my over-50 years on the planet. In the treatment facility we had people (patients, relatives and staff) across the spectrum of society. I made and lost life-enriching friendships on that ward. The staff were something unique. Completely no-nonsense, some of the best sarcastic British-humour quips which to the outsider would seem fiercely inappropriate but which, to us, were what we needed. At times, an almost cruelly acerbic wit but judged and served up with surgical precision. That team knew when to be serious but also knew when it was best to diffuse the tension. They wouldn't let us get too morose, too down in the dumps, self-pitying. Whenever that was on their radar they'd launch a putdown that would have us rolling round in agony from laughter. That's where humour can play such a vital role, never more so than in an otherwise bleak setting. What I learned from this was to take myself just a tiny bit less seriously.
@@bikkies I have always had a sense of humor that's a little 'off' and either darkly humorous or very light-hearted, whichever is least appropriate. I do my best not to take myself too seriously. It's a cliché, but life really is too short.
@@davidvanwagener6097 It really is. I've learned the hard way that if I take myself too seriously then it's detrimental to my mental health. I try to maintain perspective, reminding myself that, in the grand scheme, I don't matter. I'm a grain of sand in the desert, a nothing. I'm here for a handful of years then I'm gone forever. The world managed to get by just fine before I was born and it will carry on turning long after I'm gone. That may look defeatist or suicidal but it's not. It merely means me recognising I'm nowhere near as important as I used to believe I was.
"Police Squad!" was so brilliant...even better than the movie it inspired. Sometimes great shows fly under the radar, or they're too intelligent for people to "get." Like Leslie said, you actually had to pay attention to it. It's a lot like what happened to "Arrested Development."
Yes, that's right. My senile mother has to have the T.V. on all the time when she's awake. She doesn't actually watch it, she does word searches, snoops in her own nicknacs, goes in the front room & peeks out the picture window that she keeps curtained off 24/7. Etc.
This interview shows you Leslie was a very smart cookie. He excelled in comedy roles - his timing was perfect.
But he felt that he was a fraud. He just landed the lines as written. That's the beauty of it all. No comedy talent needed in order to slam dunk comedy!
Very insightful analysis from Leslie Nielsen of how TV works vs. big screen - much appreciated.
yep this is for those who would like one day to film themselfs
Fucking pissed it was only 6 episodes. Funniest TV show ever.
I still remember when the series came out. I was 13 and all of us recognized immediately how great it was. I also remember how blown away we were when it was cancelled so soon. We couldn't understand it. There was nothing else even close to how funny it was. We must have been part of the 10% of the audience that actually paid attention to everything that was going on in the show.
Leslie's explanation for why it didn't work as a TV show are spot on. It requires too much attention for _some_ people to get the jokes (many of which are visual instead of word play, etc). But seeing it in the theater you're much more likely to be playing strict attention, so it worked.
I’m guessing I was about that age also is become good because the younger people for whatever reason possibly because they’re bored
Who knows
And actually pay attention to things and they get it
I was 10 and I was angry, then I cried. When I saw the first advertisements for Naked Gun I was ecstatic.
YES, you were. Most Americans, 70%, do not have the ability to think critically even while working a day job.
Wow! I'm stunned but not surprised at the reason it was canceled. Those of us who were fans at the time made this a religious experience. No noise, no distractions, total concentration.
Even his explainations are funny...
Love him loads
Miss him more
Police Squad was indeed the FUNNIEST (and most clever) comedy show of all time. Leslie Neilsen was perfect. The key to its success was the dead pan delivery of the characters. They didn't need to telegraph how funny they were. Pure genius, the likes of which we won't see again.
Telegraphing is a practice I really hate in so many American and UK sitcoms. "I'm about to tell a joke. Here comes the joke. Tells joke. Ok, that was the joke, laugh now." That kind of programming, particularly when coupled with canned laughter, credits the viewer with no intelligence. With Police Squad there was none of that dumbing-down nonsense. You either got the joke or you didn't, and it was so fast paced that many gags would fly past unnoticed on the first, second and subsequent views. Quality stuff.
I dare to disagree, IMO the greatest comedy show ever produced was SCTV.
One of the great comedic actors of the last century.
Johan Herrenberg Fun fact, he was primarily a dramatic actor for most of his career. Airplane! was one of his first comedic roles. He was the captain in the original Poseidon Adventure. His first starring role was in Forbidden Planet in 1956 and his last dramatic role was in Nuts in 1987.
Steven Castellano Frank Drebin is a very honest and serious guy...
Leslie is a comedy icon. His timing and delivery are a work of art . I wonder how many outtakes it took before they could film a shot without anyone laughing
I think that's the beauty of it. He clearly had a scream making all the spoof stuff. I mean, look at Airplane!...they must have been pissin themselves laughing making that!
The read through is usually where the big laughs are. After memorizing and a few rehearsals, you get over the laughs.
@@charmerci Well funny enough the Zucker brothers and Abrahams purposely selected serious actors and required them to act as serious as possible in their scenes for comedy effect.
@@judgeberry6071 I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you
Nothing mean spirited... really nice comment.
Police Squad was ahead of its time. It wouldn't be out of place on tv today.
Would be funnier and better than tv today.
i love this man so much. wish i got a chance to have met and shake his hand just once and said thanks for all the laughter
If you shook his hand you'd probably fall victim to his legendary fart machine. Comic talent like his was all the more unique for someone who had spent so much screen time previously in straight roles.
Leslie, Police Squad was among the best comedic series. We bought a $900 clunky VHS to record the episodes. Brilliant series.
I remember watching this first run on tv when I was young. I knew it was great even then.
We really need all of the older people to have this humour inside in their heads and hearts.
Nielsen’s deadpan is legendary. Loved his films and his comedic delivery and shenanigans. Funny man and tremendous actor.
one of the most underrated shows of all time...it,s just as funny with each watch....never gets old...love it !!!
The precourser to Brooklyn 999
He so right about the self editing and even more so about paying attention. It's an even greater issue today with tiny screens that people can distract themselves with at a moments notice.
I always pushed friends and family to watch movies in the theater because if I watch at home with them half the time they turn away and miss the good parts and come away saying it was just okay.
Yes, I've experienced this myself. It helps hearing it explained this way. It can be a bit infuriating. I really miss Leslie Nielsen!
Modern SNL and all late night shows would be good to take notes from this interview.
As an English fellow I rate Police Squad as one of the top 3 American comedies. It's sublime nonsense, that's cleverly done.
"Use your open eye, Frank." one of my favorite gags/moments in the movie. So stupid, yet so so funny. XD
That was a classic. I still think about that today.
@@mattygates1 The look on Leslie Nielsen's face when he pops up from the eyepiece with his eye closed, lol, "Far-Side"esque.
i laughed so hard about the fact that Ed gets it immediately without recovery after his "knockdown"
Naked Gun is the best spoof movie, even better than Airplane.
they're equal in my eyes...
God bless you, Leslie!
Leslie Neilsen, one of the great actors. ABC killed Police Squad too soon but Neilsen still got an Emmy nomination for it.
Priscilla Presley asking Ricardo Montalban's character how did he ever become so cruel. He said before this, he was a general contractor.
I remember they recycled some of the police squad jokes into the naked gun movies but both are Brilliant !
They were good jokes and, evidently, few people watched the show. So, why not? ;)
@@LM-ed6ev alot are what we might consider running gags such as the crashing the car every time he parks or trash can shootouts
I am serious and don't call me Shirley. cigarette, yes I know. man was a legend
"Police Squad" demonstrates the entire history of American television in a nutshell:
Comedy geniuses create extremely funny show.
Show gets cancelled mid-season because TV execs don't get it, and those who do think the humor is over the public's head.
(Or as a friend of mine is fond of pointing out, in the previous TV generation, they replaced Sid Caesar with Lawrence Welk.)
it was cancelled because it wasn't successful. you can't keep making a show that nobody is watching.
@@ekklesiast - I remember reading specifically that this show was cancelled because the execs thought it was too clever for the audience.
So smart exceptionally funny and so humble
Leslie...Let Her Rip
Staggering to think it was a flop but Leslie explains it perfectly
one of the best comedy seire ever
I often wondered why there were only 1 series. Now I find out it was because 'it didn't work'!!??
In the UK it was the funniest thing on television...
Leslie Nielsen Still LOVE in 2024 .
The show was in many ways better than the movies, despite the success.
Agreeing, I missed a lot of the recurring cast of Police Squad and the shorter but sweeter stories. Also felt like after Police Squad, their humour got more... obvious, like as if it was getting tailored for slightly dumber audiences.
Agreed. Better characters and better delivery in the jokes.
Frank Drebin's character had changed in the movies. In Police Squad he was much more oblivious to what was going on around him. Only when someone Al come up with long hair or a massive hat, did Frank look confused but then shortly after he is back on the case. And he was a lot more straight faced. Without trying to over analyze it, there is a Monty Python sketch where John Cleese is a BBC radio newsreader and he gets kidnapped and chucked into the sea and throughout the scene, John Cleese is so in tune with his job, he is completely oblivious to what is happening. I think one of the keys to good comedy is to allow the audience to do some of the work. Implant a thought or vision in our head and that way we get more laughs out of it.
Even though the T.V series was short lived. There wouldn't be the great movie trilogy without it. The T.V series to those who were able to experience it during its original broadcast is a comedy classic now. I guess some people just didn't get how funny the show was back then! I did.
As another Englishman l concur with Mrgranfield, just love Naked Gun Police Squad the humour is right up my street.
Wonderful explanation.....a master of his craft, loved his timing too
How it failed is beyond me , still holds up today in terms of comedy
The show yes, the audience no.
I agree this is English humour , Leslie Nielsen Great Actor .Brilliant Canadian Actor .
Genius. A friend of yours and mine, of love a laughter. We held you once, and now you're gone. Like life itself.
Even during this interview making me laugh out loud! "I've got to get that ceiling painted (as you look away from the t.v.)"
police squad was and still is so funny and can make even jaded people like my self laugh
As a lover of Naked Gun, I recently purchased and saw Police Squad for the first time, and I absolutely love it. And Leslie's RIGHT -- you have to PAY ATTENTION to get all the many jokes that populate the show. Yeah, the humor is -- strange as it may seem -- too SOPHISTICATED for the armchair television viewer. Sophistication most especially means -- NO LAUGH TRACK!!! That artificial crutch is GONE. And now I'm wondering WHY no laugh track was made for the show. Not that I'd want one, but it surely would have helped the ratings. But I'm sure glad they didn't. Can you imagine putting a laugh track on an epic like Airplane!?? Totally tautological. The Neilsen interview is EXCELLENT!!! thank you
The Zucker Brothers David and Jerry along with Jim Abrahams did what I call "Miss A Trick" comedy. They challenged the audience to catch all the side jokes, references and background shennanigans. These are the kinds of comedies that you can watch repeatedly for years and then see something new that you never caught before. Sometimes you would have to see an Easter Egg video or an interview to ever catch on to some of the subtle nuances included in these programs and movies.
It always surprises me that the TV show never really caught on in it's original run. But, then you have to remember how different and off the wall this show was. As stated in this interview, people weren't watching the show closely enough. Once the movie came out people finally got how it worked. Then they saw the TV show re-runs and many thought the TV show was a spin-off from the movie.
The chronology went something like this: the Police Squad TV show flopped, which lead to the Naked Gun movie being created as a more suitable platform, which lead to people discovering the TV show on re-runs, which lead to the characters and the humour becoming more popular, which lead to a second movie which lead to more people discovering the TV show and the first movie, which lead to a third movie.
Abrahams and the Zuckers had previously released Airplane! in 1980 ("Don't call me Shirley!"). So, they knew Leslie Nielsen was right for their type of humour. Police Squad first aired in 1982. Then they brought out the movie Top Secret in 1984 ("I know a little German. He's sitting over there!"). So now they once again established that the big screen was where their humour really hit home. Remember, this was in the very early days of anyone watching movies at home where they could rewind and repeat to catch all the jokes on their TV. In a cinema you got one shot, so you had to be paying attention between the laughs. Formula proven they moved Police Squad to the big screen and Naked Gun was born in 1988.
The Naked Gun series has the enviable accolade of providing O.J. Simpson with his second most memorable moment in front of a camera. Number One: Trying on a glove that clearly does not fit. Number Two: Sitting in a runaway wheelchair that catapults him into the stands. Maybe that was a metaphor for what was to come.
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker transformed comedy and their influence can be seen everywhere to this day. Few do it as well, but most owe their success to these path makers. IMHO.
That's really fucking smart what he was saying about big screen vs small screen. Spot on!
To (Anthony) Thomopolous' credit, he was Absolutely right about visual gags being dependent on having a captive audience watching...Just ask Alan Spencer, who created the show "Sledge Hammer"; pretty much went off the air for the same reason.
Sledge Hammer did require your full attention and what's funny is watching shows like this on your phone keeps you captivated where you get it all as opposed to watching it on TV
Johnny The Shoeshine Guy should have had his own series
He hears a lot of things
Amazed it wasn't a ratings success. It was absolutely brilliant. Perhaps you had to be raised on those old shows like Streets Of San Francisco, Cannon, Ironside etc (like I was) to fully appreciate the send-up. Completely love it. And it's just as funny now as ever. Leslie was the king of deadpan.
Leslie was funniest man I ever saw. Great show. Need to bring it back.
i was a fan of nielsen from seeing him as a child in forbidden planet so i watched the show and loved it.
He looks like a kid on Christmas morning when talking about Police Squad and Naked Gun
The paradox is I have only ever seen police squad on my iPad and I loved it! So size is not everything 🤠
Best comedy actor i have ever seen no actor could do what he did leslie is a a legend
Whoever chose this straight actor to be a comedy actor is a genius.
you turn away for one second, you've missed 3 jokes. Too clever for too many people. Wake up, it's a gem.
Hearing the story and line of 'Use the open eye Frank' had me rolling just like when watching that scene on thv. HeeLARIOUS!!!! Police Squad and Naked Gun will always be my most favorite shows and movies lol!!!
Would have loved to have met the amazing Mr Nielsen, his love of the material truly does come across in her performances in Police Squad and The Naked Gun movies. And I just can't help but smile every time I see him on the screen.
Leslie Nielsen is a national treasure
for so many reasons the show would be a complete hit today, it was ahead of its time... so sad though because it was puregenius, watching it now I laugh so hard.. plus like Leslie says back then peoples TVs were too small now you wouldnt miss the jokes almost everybody has a 52 inch
Marty Angie Tribeca is popular
I sort of agree with you on this however I think it would have been a show made for Netflix or something I do not think this show could work on network tv granted I could be wrong. The interesting thing I notice about alot of shows today though is you have to pay attention with some exceptions.
Well most t.v. sucks today so it'd be better than everything else if it cane on today.
Police Squad...In Color
This is the same problem they had with Arrested Development. You have to pay attention.
No.its not. It sucks
I saw Police Squad in the UK the first time it was showed here & it was instantly a hit with me. Couldn't believe it got pulled after 1 season but totally understand the reasons why. I'm SO relieved that "the boys" realised their comedy writing style would work better in cinema instead of TV & that this led to the Naked Gun movies.
Nielsen's career rebirth after Airplane! was so deserved & he was the perfect straight man in that, a genre he portrayed to perfection as Drebben. Priscilla turned out to have ideal qualities in her delivery to compliment his & together, they were sensationally funny.
Very much missed... but DON'T call him "Shirley" 😉
He's right, never thought about it before but if you didn't pay attention watching Police Squad you'd miss a lot of jokes.
Upon retirement, Frank Drebin says: "The next time I kill someone I could be arrested!"
Hey dude,
It was not retirement, it was because of how he blundered that engagement with the Queen I think, he was kicked off the force.
If I recall correctly Frank's line is; "just think Al, the next time I shoot somebody I could be arrested!"
Awesome part of the movie.
Take care✌
@@SvenTSchixe An interestingly enough as Wikipedia and others have noted, the series Sledge Hammer did that joke previously when he lost his badge.
@@SvenTSchixe no , it was because of retirement, and it was in naked gun 33 3rd the final insult
ABC didn't know what to do with it. The audiences and critics thought it was supposed to be a serious cop show. It got slotted against big dramas.
What's Hilarious is he played it straight
America was not ready for Police Squad! We still aren't. THAT is how far ahead this wonderful show was.
"Is this a bust?"
Im glad i have Police Squad on DVD.. I loved it.
I still love Police Squad in 2022...& own them on Blu Ray (mind you that's kinda moved on with streaming) I should get them on my pc
This guy is for sure one of my favorite heros.
The fact that the tv series didn’t catch on in the US is one of the worst tragedies in tv history.
What Mr. Neilsen said about, "people really do NOT watch TV", is mostly true. When "Police Squad" came on the air, I was a loyal viewer, as it promoted as being by the guys that gave us "Airplane". However, neither of my parents, in the same room, got it. My dad was listening, but reading his newspaper. My mom was usually doing a crossword puzzle. They weren't WATCHING, but they were LISTENING, just as they had in the days of radio. Myself, growing up with television, learned both to watch AND to listen, plus, I too was on that same "wavelength" of humor, and I got it. I was saddened to see it taken off the air. The next best thing was the film trilogy, "The Naked Gun, Taken From The Files Of Police Squad". The first two were simply great, the final one, I felt was reaching for its laughs and not really getting them. Maybe that's why there wasn't a fourth film.
Wish they'd done more police squad. Brits love it.
Amazing insights, thanks for posting!
Cigarette? Yes I know.
"We would have come sooner, but your husband wasn't dead yet."
The feeling is mutual
The writing still is way better than anything you see
Neilson's comment about the audience not watching applies to Americans, with their short attention spans, where he says the laugh tracks were used in US comedy shows so the (American) audience would know when to laugh explains so much. M*A*S*H with the laugh track turned off is SOOO much better.
I wish they’d bring back Police Squad and spoof NCIS, CSI and other modern police shows... but only if they find another set of comedy writers on par with those who worked for Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Maybe Goor and Schur?
When you think about the utter laugh track driven dross that is given a gazillion episodes and police squad gets pulled after 5/6.
It is laugh a minute genius with relentless sight gags and supreme word play scenes .
I never forget finding it way back in the early 80s ...it was like accidently digging up a crock of gold in the back garden .
Maybe police squad series should be run in a movie theatre some time?
Great insight about TV vs movies.
6 episodes of gold
Hey, thanks for this, X10der.
Regular actor: " I want to be a comedy actor so I am going to hone my skills by telling jokes and doing standup comedy acts
at the night club and then act in a bunch of comedy movies once when directors notice how funny I am."
Leslie Nielsen. " I am going to be a dramatic actor in movies and shows for a long time. Then I am going to act in comedy
shows and movies the exact same way I did in dramas and still be funnier than comedy actors.
Amen
As a german I was happy to get the DVD, 10 years ago, with syncro! After "The big Lebowski" my most watched...
Nielsen was a master of comedy. Slapstick and prop comedy were his native element. I miss his brilliance.
When was this interview? Video should have millions of views!
Frank Drebbin is iconic.
Really interesting. I never looked into why Police Squad was cancelled so quickly. I wonder if it were to come out today in the age of streaming, would be a hit? Seems like with Streaming, people are actually watching the screen vs in the old days when they'd just have it on in the background. We also have bigger TVs now. Of course, you can't do Police Squad without Leslie Nielsen.
"Well now you're changing your story".
I must be one of the few who watched every second of each Police Squad show without getting distracted. I knew that if I did, I would miss something funny.
It's so true. When you go to a movie you are there TO look at the big screen, so you don't miss anything. One thing I do miss, though, is Mr. Nielsen. You were one of the funniest humans who ever lived. Let 'er rip!
Wow he is so right
"No sax before a fight".
Master class from Mr. Nielsen. Great actor
I loved Police Squad. The ABC exec totally missed the fact that its a show you can watch again and again because you miss a joke while laughing at something else. Each time you watch it you find something new .
The problem with that is this show came out in the early 80s when very few people had VCRs to record the shows. I think less than 10 percent of homes had them at that time.
And they didn't replay episodes very often at all back then.
@@davidalexander3320 I remember when we got our first video the local shop did an offer first 10 free. A friend and I had 10 films in 1 go and spent the weekend in a marathon watching them. I think one of the films was The Kentcky Fried Movie made by the same team. 😎😎You are right but I still say that ABC should have had the forsight as the home video market was developing at the time.