Police Squad was a short-lived parody of 70s cop shows, with TV Guide specifically calling out the works of Jack Webb (Dragnet and the original Adam-12) and Quinn Martin, and there’s a lot of the later’s intro flavor in the show’s. Wikipedia credits The M Squad, and Felony Squad. You can see the pattern, I guess, but I have not seen either show. I got to see Police Squad on A&E back when it was still standing for Arts & Entertainment, and it’s rather funny. They went on to make the Airplane movie parodies. In 1988 the show was revisited in The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad, though the two sequels focused more on “Naked Gun” than “Police Squad” for titles. The movies brought Leslie Nielsen, but no Alan North, who was still alive, or Rex Hamilton, who passed in 1985. (No clue if he was at the theater at the time.) The only other returning actors were Ed Williams as forensic scientist Ted Olsen and the so tall his head was never on frame Ronald Taylor as Al.
The movies renewed interest in the show, but after Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult the series went back to obscurity, though not to the point it had been. (Personally I couldn’t get past the…clinic scene. If you saw the movie, you know what I mean. If not, I envy you.) With Neilsen having passed away we get a new Frank Drebin for a new generation, the son of the original following in his father’s footsteps. And given the world this franchise takes place in, they’re probably clown shoes. Let’s watch the trailer and ask if Liam Neeson is young enough to be Leslie Nielsen’s son or if the similar sounding names was too much to resist.
I thought the jokes were funny, at least. Nice nod to how we don’t like O.J. Simpson anymore, who appeared in the movies but not the series. (He was playing basketball at the time.) Granted I wouldn’t mind if they ignored him.
Let’s address the…other…elephant in the room. Neeson isn’t known for comedy roles. He’s usually the tough guy with unique skills character. That’s actually not off from Nielsen. People forget that before Police Squad and the original Airplane, Nielsen wasn’t a comedy actor. He was in dramatic roles with the odd exception like his appearance on M*A*S*H*. That was what made him work as Drebin and Doctor Rumack. He played the role just as straight as he would in a serious role like Forbidden Planet or the non-parody cop shows he guest-starred on. He was even on Barnaby Jones, one of the inspirations for the original intro’s name gag.
I tried looking for that intro, but all I found were two clip videos.
Speaking of name gags, why simply title it The Naked Gun? I suppose technically the first movie is The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad, but nobody calls it that. They just call it The Naked Gun, and if this is a continuation of the same timeline and not a new continuity this is going to be just confusing Why not continue the naming scheme of The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult? Call it something “The Naked Gun 44 1/4: The Rise Of Drebin” or something tied to whatever case Drebin Jr is going to be investigating.
Anyway, Neeson is an inspired pic for the same reason, an actor known for action and drama work doing a comedy completely straight (outside of the acknowledgement that this is “the new version”). Putting him in the little girl’s outfit isn’t emasculating, it’s funny. It’s also something the old show/movies would have done. Whether or not he can pull it off in the final movie we’ll have to wait and see. Having the whole new cast be the children of the old cast is also a nice gag.
I really want this one to be good…but I want all of them to be good, including the other trailers and previews we’ll be talking about this week. It would be nice if something is. History shows any remake and relaunch lately is doomed to fall into the hands of people who don’t care about what they’re adapting or spinning off. We could be fooled. Only time and the release of the movie will tell.
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