# Police Squad! (1982)

> A deadpan parody of 1980s cop dramas in which the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin and the Police Squad bungle every case with farce and sight gags.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/5670

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy, crime
- Created by: Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Alan North, Ed Williams, William Duell, Marvin Miller, Tiny Ron, Rex Hamilton, Kathryn Leigh Scott
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083466/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: deadpan, farcical, breezy, absurdist, silly

## What critics say

Cult parody praised for its relentless sight gags and deadpan absurdity, with a devoted following built after its short ABC run.

## Synopsis

Police Squad! (1982) is a United States parody series created by Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams for ABC. Leslie Nielsen plays Lieutenant Frank Drebin, a dim and earnest detective whose sincere devotion to his job is undone by his own incompetence. Alongside him, Alan North as Captain Ed Hocken and Ed Williams as Ted Olson keep the department grinding forward, while William Duell's Johnny the Snitch supplies street-level trouble. Each of the six half-hour episodes is built like a crime investigation of the era, with a case to crack, suspects to question, and an eccentric narrator who solemnly frames the proceedings. The engine of the show is the gap between procedural seriousness and the chaos the detectives create: every clue leads somewhere absurd, and every stakeout ends in a visual gag. The tone is deadpan, breezy, and gleefully silly, with farce and sight gags filling nearly every scene. A single season of six episodes, the series was cut short, leaving it a cult favorite. Fans of Naked Gun, Hot Shots!, and Monty Python's Flying Circus will find resonance in its anarchic spoofing and fearless commitment to the joke.

## Shows like Police Squad!

- [A Touch of Cloth (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41283)
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- [Barney Miller (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/3095)
- [Sledge Hammer! (1986)](https://ember.film/tv/490)
- [Reno 911! (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/2074)
- [Nash Bridges (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/444)
- [Dragnet (1951)](https://ember.film/tv/3536)
- [Dragnet (1967)](https://ember.film/tv/41051)
- [Get Smart (1965)](https://ember.film/tv/4236)
- [Moonbeam City (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56555)

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