Police Squad!

[Amasov]

I suspect if they did many more episodes it might not be as fondly remembered

Considering the sheer number of jokes packed into each episode, it's hard to imagine they could have kept up the pace for a full season each year.

I wonder that myself. If the show did take off, how would they have been able to sustain all of that for a full season? It's unbelievable.

This show was so ahead of its time. Airplane! had already been released in theaters by this point, but it's been noted that your average viewer in 1982 wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the jokes and visual gags that Police Squad! had. Even Nielsen himself has since pointed out that back then, when you had shows like Three's Company, Happy Days, and MASH on the air, you were able to get up and go to the kitchen to get a drink while still being able to follow what was happening on TV so long as you were able to hear it.

Police Squad! on the other hand, demanded your complete attention or you would miss so many jokes if you turned away.

 

[Balrog]

^Plus it was the first comedy of it's time with no idiotic laugh track.

 

[Amasov]

I also wondered if back when they original aired, the epilogues where the actors stood frozen in place. Would anyone have actually watched that part of the show or would they have either switched the channel or turned the TV off at that point, thereby missing the entire gag? I don't think the average viewer would have kept the show on long enough to realize it.

Man, that show was SO ahead of its time.

 

[Trekker4747]

Wasn't the show canceled because the network, essentially, thought the show was TOO funny? That the humor in it was to well crafted for the simple-minded audiences of America to grasp?

 

[Amasov]

"My name is Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad, a special division of the Police Force. I had just come from the stock yards, we'd gotten a report that hundreds of cows had been senselessly slaughtered in the area, but I couldn't find any evidence. I stopped for a hamburger and then checked in with headquarters."

 

[Amasov]

Wasn't the show canceled because the network, essentially, thought the show was TOO funny? That the humor in it was to well crafted for the simple-minded audiences of America to grasp?

From Wikipedia:

ABC announced the cancellation of Police Squad! after four of its six episodes had aired in March 1982. The final two episodes were aired that summer. According to the DVD Commentary, then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos said "Police Squad! was cancelled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." What Thomopoulos meant was that the viewer had to actually pay close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor, while most other TV shows did not demand as much effort from the viewer. In its annual "Cheers and Jeers" issue, TV Guide magazine called the explanation for the cancellation "the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

From Wikipedia:

ABC announced the cancellation of Police Squad! after four of its six episodes had aired in March 1982. The final two episodes were aired that summer. According to the DVD Commentary, then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos said "Police Squad! was cancelled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." What Thomopoulos meant was that the viewer had to actually pay close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor, while most other TV shows did not demand as much effort from the viewer. In its annual "Cheers and Jeers" issue, TV Guide magazine called the explanation for the cancellation "the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series.

Frankly, I hope that is still the "most stupid reason a network" ever gave or will ever give.

 

[Forbin]

I love how he gave his rank as "Sergeant Frank Dreben, Detective Lieutenant."

 

[Christopher]

Wasn't the show canceled because the network, essentially, thought the show was TOO funny? That the humor in it was to well crafted for the simple-minded audiences of America to grasp?

You're leaving out a step there. Ultimately it's the viewers who decide whether a show succeeds, by whether they watch it or not. The show was cancelled because the ratings were very low, same as with every other show that gets cancelled; and the network concluded that the reason the show got such low ratings was probably because it demanded too much attention from the viewer. And they were probably right about that; it was the kind of humor that works better on the big screen where there are no distractions. A lot of people watch TV with only half their attention (though I'm not one of them, as a rule).

I'll never understand why so many people think that cancellation is a unilateral, arbitrary decision by a network. It's always ultimately about ratings. If a network's executives hate a show but millions of viewers watch it loyally and advertisers are eager to pay the network lots of money to put commercials on it, then the network will keep it around, because they're a business and their ultimate goal is to make money. If the executives love a show passionately but the viewers tune out and the ratings plummet and the advertisers won't buy ad time on it, then they have no choice but to cancel it, because then they simply can't afford to keep making it. Sure, sometimes a network's lack of support for a show can mean a lack of promotion, bad time slots, and other things that keep an audience from finding it, but still, it's ultimately the audience's choices that are the crucial factor.

 

[marillion]

I'm going to have to pick these up on DVD now... I'm rolling, watching the clips!!!...

 

[Amasov]

Wasn't the show canceled because the network, essentially, thought the show was TOO funny? That the humor in it was to well crafted for the simple-minded audiences of America to grasp?

You're leaving out a step there. Ultimately it's the viewers who decide whether a show succeeds, by whether they watch it or not. The show was cancelled because the ratings were very low, same as with every other show that gets cancelled; and the network concluded that the reason the show got such low ratings was probably because it demanded too much attention from the viewer. And they were probably right about that; it was the kind of humor that works better on the big screen where there are no distractions. A lot of people watch TV with only half their attention (though I'm not one of them, as a rule).

I'll never understand why so many people think that cancellation is a unilateral, arbitrary decision by a network. It's always ultimately about ratings. If a network's executives hate a show but millions of viewers watch it loyally and advertisers are eager to pay the network lots of money to put commercials on it, then the network will keep it around, because they're a business and their ultimate goal is to make money. If the executives love a show passionately but the viewers tune out and the ratings plummet and the advertisers won't buy ad time on it, then they have no choice but to cancel it, because then they simply can't afford to keep making it. Sure, sometimes a network's lack of support for a show can mean a lack of promotion, bad time slots, and other things that keep an audience from finding it, but still, it's ultimately the audience's choices that are the crucial factor.

And I feel like we're long past the days where a network will support a show that's struggling in the ratings -- Cheers being the best example I can cite. As I'm sure we all know by now, Cheers was dead last in the ratings when it premiered in 1982, but the network supported it long enough until it began to bring in good ratings several seasons later.

But I don't think today we'd ever see anything like this.

 

[Forbin]

The only thing I can think of was Dollhouse, where Fox gave it a second season to finish its story, despite its poor performance. I think maybe they were still smarting from the backlash of cancelling Firefly.

 

[Christopher]

The only thing I can think of was Dollhouse, where Fox gave it a second season to finish its story, despite its poor performance. I think maybe they were still smarting from the backlash of cancelling Firefly.

Entirely different "they." The executives who'd been in charge of FOX when Firefly was cancelled had been replaced by a whole different set of people by that point. The current FOX regime is much more supportive of weakly performing shows -- including not just Dollhouse but Fringe as well.

 

[Trekker4747]

And I feel like we're long past the days where a network will support a show that's struggling in the ratings -- Cheers being the best example I can cite. As I'm sure we all know by now, Cheers was dead last in the ratings when it premiered in 1982, but the network supported it long enough until it began to bring in good ratings several seasons later.

Seinfeld was very much the same way. The first four "pilot episodes" were paid for by the NBC President (Brandon Tartakof, I believe) sacrificed the budget for a movie-of-the-week to buy production of five episodes of Seinfeld. The ratings were.... okay. But he still believed in the series' potential and went ahead and green-lighted the show for a second season. The second season showed improvement but still not stellar, still faith was had in the show and it was allowed to continue, given a prime slot after Cheers. Before too long, especially after Cheers ended, Seinfeld had become one of the #1 sitcoms in the US, headlined NBC's dominating Thursday night lineup and is a cult-classic that pretty much defined the 1990s.

No TV producer is going to show that much faith in a TV series ever again. Had it been made today, Seinfeld would never exist because no TV producer would risk money on a show rather than produce a movie-of-the-week likely to pull in SOME viewership for sure. Let alone continue to fund the show as it struggled in ratings.

 

[Christopher]

Tartikoff was famous for the lengths he'd go to in order to support a show he believed in. It's because of his unflagging support that Quantum Leap survived tenuous early ratings and stayed on the air for several seasons.

But as I've said, it's wrong to say that there are no executives today willing to take risks on iffy shows. Dollhouse and Fringe prove that there are.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

The problem with this thread is that it seems to be giving backhanded slaps on the films. Sure, it might not have been played as straight as the show, but Neilson's dead-on straight line deliveries still carried the best scenes. I love the scene where he says "follow that car!" and it's a student driver. Or the scene at the docks where he pays an informant to give him a tip, and the informant asks why he wants to know, and then pays him back the same money for the information. The movie worked brilliantly!

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Mayor: Now Drebin, I don't want any trouble like you had on the South Side last year, that's my policy.

Frank: Well, when I see five weirdos, dressed in togas, stabbing a man in the middle of the park in full view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastards, that's *my* policy!

Mayor: That was a Shakespeare-In-The-Park production of 'Julius Caesar,' you moron! You killed five actors! Good ones!

​

LOL

 

[Trekker4747]

The problem with this thread is that it seems to be giving backhanded slaps on the films. Sure, it might not have been played as straight as the show, but Neilson's dead-on straight line deliveries still carried the best scenes. I love the scene where he says "follow that car!" and it's a student driver. Or the scene at the docks where he pays an informant to give him a tip, and the informant asks why he wants to know, and then pays him back the same money for the information. The movie worked brilliantly!

Oh, the movies were funny but as said it sort of missed the mark on what made the series funny. And I watched the movies BEFORE the series! The series is funnier because it's played straight.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Act II: Bruté

There'd been reports of gorgeous fashion models found naked and unconscious in laundromats on the West Side. Unfortunately, I was assigned to investigate holdups of neighborhood credit unions. I was across town doing my laundry when I heard the call on the double killing...

(then later in the episode, "After taking care of an urgent personal matter..." and there's a basket of laundry in the back seat of Drebin's car )

The problem with this thread is that it seems to be giving backhanded slaps on the films.

Because they deserve it.

Sure, it might not have been played as straight as the show

But the whole point of this show, and the character of Drebin in particular, IS to play it straight! Take that away, and the whole thing becomes meaningless.

 

[Amasov]

Mayor: Now Drebin, I don't want any trouble like you had on the South Side last year, that's my policy.

Frank: Well, when I see five weirdos, dressed in togas, stabbing a man in the middle of the park in full view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastards, that's *my* policy!

Mayor: That was a Shakespeare-In-The-Park production of 'Julius Caesar,' you moron! You killed five actors! Good ones!

​

LOL

And isn't that line from the Mayor lifted verbatim from the first Dirty Harry film?