Police Squad: The Complete Series

This predecessor to The Naked Gun films is sadly a comedy show which was either ahead of its time or as Lesley Nielson describes, due to its you-have-to-watch-it style not fit for TV. Most of the great gags were refitted for the movies, and they have great rewatchable value. The gags which become constants in each episode, such as "cigarette.....yes, I know" get funnier every episode. Though the show looks dated, the jokes are not. It has a tendency to reuse sets which are redressed, even in 6 episodes, but they do not detract from the genious of the show. The comedic timing is superb and the high rate of visual gags is sometimes astonishing. Can require multiple viewings to catch all the gags, but worth the effort. A must buy if you love the Naked Gun films. see where it started....at Police Squad

I wasn't around at the time that series was made or aired, but was introduced to it via Paramount Comedy 1 after I had seen all three of the Naked Gun films (which follow on from the series) on the core TV channels. It is truly a shame that bad ratings caused this show to be axed as it is so funny and the parodies police shows of the time and the general stupidity of people very well. Leslie Nielsen is fantastic as deadbeat cop Frank Drebin - Detective Lieutenant Police Squad who is always getting into silly situations it beggars belief. The other actors are also very good in this series - it must have been hard not to crack a smile during production as the jokes are simple, but very clever and very effective - much more so than the toilet humour and the silly or sexual orientated humour we get now-a-days. This is truly where the entire classic spoofs (Naked Gun, Airplane! Hot Shots! etc) came from and apparently it slightly inspired Matt Groening when he was creating The Simpsons, and to be fair that is what this show appears to be like - but better - Frank Drebin is certainly the Homer Simpson of this series. It is just a shame that it didn't at least get a second series or have more episodes within this one - 6 is not enough!! That said the films that followed (The Naked Gun 1-3) were just as funny and clever and all of them are worth a buy, but be sure that once you have bought it and play it that you don't look away as it is likely that if you do then you will miss a joke.

If you loved Airplane and Naked Gun, you'll love this! So much better than the current spate of spoofs!

This series was too good for its time, which is why there are only 6 episodes where there should have been more. If you have see the naked gun series, or other such films such as airplane then you wont be dissapointed. Some of the gags from the films were taken from the series, but they still work in a shorter setting, the pointless 1 liners are so witty its brilliant, there is also much going on in every scene which can be missed, but the background action is just as funny as the main focus. Leslie nielsen just pulls the role off perfectly, although hes not quite as slapstick as he is in the films. A must see for anyone who likes clever, but silly at the same time humour

Ideal if your funny bone is easily tickled. Loads of extra's included too.