From the Files of Police Squad!

From the Files of Police Squad!

Mark Begley (Wake Up Heavy), Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast), and Mike White (The Projection Booth) look at the short-lived show that some consider "too funny for TV", Police Squad! It's a police procedural starring Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin and Alan North as Cpt. Ed Hocken. We look at the evolution of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker style of comedy from Airplane! to Naked Gun 33 1/3 in this special podcast series.

Episodes

Episode 09: Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

March 15, 2023 • 80 mins
We have finally reached the end (until the reboot comes out, at least) of our journey with Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad! with Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). And oh what a journey it has been. The boys are back in L.A. (did they ever really leave?) with mostly new jokes and a new villain, played by Fred Ward. The plot, such as it is, is even hinkier than the previous two entries but now we've got Anna Nicole Smith th...
Mark as Played

Episode 08: The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear

March 8, 2023 • 75 mins
We're back and so's the Police Squad gang! But now they're in Washington, D.C.? Sure! Chris, Mike, and Mark get a big ol' whiff of the smell of fear when Drebin and team must foil a plot to destroy the EPA. Priscilla Presley is back along with a host of ecological baddies including Lloyd Bochner, Tim O'Connor, Peter Mark Richman, and Robert Goulet.
Mark as Played

Episode 07: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

March 1, 2023 • 69 mins
It's six years after Police Squad! was unceremoniously canceled but you can't keep a good man down! Frank Drebin is back, as are Capt. Ed Hocken (now played by George Kennedy), Mr. Olson (still play by Ed Williams) and Nordberg (now played by O.J. Simpson, oof). Mike, Mark, and Chris get into the Naked Gun series where things seem very similar, yet also very different from PS. Drebin and team must foil a plot to assassinate Queen E...
Mark as Played

Episode 06: Dead Men Don't Laugh

February 15, 2023 • 59 mins
Mark, Chris, and Mike reach the end of the show with, "Dead Men Don't Laugh," aka, "Testimony of Evil." Joe Dante is back in the director's chair, but neither he nor Dick Miller can save this episode.

If you like watching Leslie Nielsen ham it up, then this is the episode for you. We also talk about the script for the unproduced seventh episode, "Testimony of Terror," and how it relates (and doesn't) to the show and the film Top Se...
Mark as Played

Episode 05: A Bird in the Hand

February 8, 2023 • 35 mins
On this entry Mike, Mark, and Chris take a stab at the fifth episode (though aired third), "A Bird in the Hand," aka, "The Butler Did It." Nordberg is properly introduced, which, along with the Epilogue Gag, makes the out-of-order airing of episodes both apparent and confusing. Georg Stanford Brown returns to the show, but this time takes the director's chair. Unfortunately, at least for your hosts, we're starting to see the show l...
Mark as Played

Episode 04: The Guilty Alibi

February 1, 2023 • 42 mins
Mike, Chris, and Mark tackle episode four, "Revenge and Remorse," aka, "The Guilty Alibi." William Shatner doesn't make it past the credits, and Dr. Joyce Brothers hits Johnny up for advice on the Cinderell Complex. This episode is rife with literalisms, visual gags, and weird touches, and may be the last really strong episode of the series.
Mark as Played

Episode 03: Terror in the Neighborhood

January 25, 2023 • 36 mins
Chris, Mike, and Mark get a little confused by the timeline with this the third episode produced, but fifth episode aired (months after the first four episodes were shown) "Rendezvous at Big Gulch," aka, "Terror in the Neighborhood." Special Guest Star Florence Henderson shills cooking oil amid a hail of bullets and Nordberg is finally introduced. The sight gags are never-ending and we get one of Frank Drebin's greatest deadpan lin...
Mark as Played

Episode 02: A Dangerous Assignment

January 18, 2023 • 52 mins
Chris, Mike, and Mark discuss the second episode of Police Squad!, "A Dangerous Assignment," aka, "Ring of Fear." Directed by Joe Dante, with "Special Guest Star" Georg Stanford Brown (who would direct a later episode) this episode is a parody with pugilistic panache, puns-a-plenty, and that Dante cartoon humor.
Mark as Played

Episode 01: The Broken Promise

January 11, 2023 • 49 mins
Mark, Chris, and Mike tackle the first episode of the show, "The Broken Promise," aka "A Substantial Gift." Much like they did with Airplane! ZAZ takes inspiration (and whole scenes) from an existing property, in this case the Lee Marvin vehicle M Squad. You can view a side-by-side comparison here. The show starts strongly with visual, verbal, or sometimes both, jokes at every turn.
Mark as Played

Episode 00: Airplane! (1980)

January 4, 2023 • 82 mins
Before Police Squad! (1982) there was Airplane! (1980). Mark, Mike, and Chris talk about the ZAZ team's directorial debut, and their first team-up with Leslie Nielsen, in this hilarious send-up of disaster flicks. Using the bones of Zero Hour (1957) and their "15 Rules of Comedy" ZAZ and Co. fill the screen with sight gags, puns, and parody that holds up to this day.
Mark as Played

From the Files of Police Squad: Teaser

December 17, 2022 • 48 secs
Coming January 2023, a 10-week limited series podcast featuring Mike White (The Projection Booth), Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast), and Mark Begley (Wake Up Heavy). Listen along as they get serious, Shirley, about the comic team-up of Zucker, Abrams, and Zucker (ZAZ) and their muse Leslie Nielsen. From Airplane! to the short-lived Police Squad! TV show and its spawn the Naked Gun series the jokes fly as fast as an out of control 74...
Mark as Played

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