They are rebooting... The Naked Gun?

[Harvey]

Since Nielsen is dead, O.J. Simpson is in jail, and George Kennedy is mostly retired, I don't see any point in tying in the reboot to the old series by making him Drebin's grandson.

Honestly, though, I don't see any point of producing a "reboot" (in as much as continuity even mattered to this series, in which the story was of little importance), either, except, of course, the obvious commercial reasons of using the name of an established property rather than producing an original one.

There are certainly plenty of turgid police procedural shows in need of parody, though.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Since Nielsen is dead, O.J. Simpson is in jail, and George Kennedy is mostly retired, I don't see any point in tying in the reboot to the old series by making him Drebin's grandson.

True enough, I guess. And even the style of police shows have changed a lot. The Naked Gun movies felt like the they were parodies of shows from the 70's and 80's. I'd imagine they'd do a take on "ripped straight from the headlines" with this reboot.

 

[Amaris]

Also the dominant style of humor when the Naked Gun movies came out is very different from the dominant style of humor now. The direct absurdity and parody of the Naked Gun movies doesn't fly today, and the Naked Gun franchise doesn't fly without it.

I think this is a fair point. Audiences have changed, somewhat, in how they approach slapstick comedies like these. We've seen what's come from this field of comedy over the past couple of decades, and it pales in comparison to movies like Airplane and Naked Gun.

Now, it could work, if they could find someone who would manage to capture the same spirit as the originals, but I'm not sure if there is such a person who is in a position to do so. The casting would have to be spot on, that's for sure.

 

[Trekker4747]

Is "The Naked Gun" something calling for a reboot? I mean the first movie itself was enough of stretch being a movie based off of an old, failed, TV series.

And didn't the movie work simply because of the sheer brilliance of Leslie Nielsen? Ed Helms is funny but he's not nearly as funny a straight-man as Nielsen was. I mean Nielsen played in all of his comedy movies perfectly straight. Like he was the only man in the entire universe the movie existed in who wasn't "in on the joke." I don't think Helms quite has that capability.

Remains to be see, of course, but... yeesh this seems like a damn-bad idea.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

@Hooves: Remember what I said about the original series that the NG films were based on, though. Police Squad! basically played it straight - the funny things happened in the background. If they really are rebooting this, I hope they actually make films that follow that lead.

(Tonight's special guest star: William Shatner!)

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And Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln!

 

[CorporalClegg]

This sounds a lot like The Pink Panther remake. What made Clouseau work was not the writing, the jokes, or even the direction; it was Sellers and his style/delivery. I'm a huge fan of Martin and normally think he's hysterical, but he just couldn't do it.

I'm normally fine with remakes/reboots, but for them to work the story and/or the characters have to be bigger than the actors who play them.

But there are those rare cases (and Drebin is one of them) were the actors are the characters.

Besides, unlike Martin, I don't think Helms is funny in the slightest.

 

[Venardhi]

Another thought that might have worked better for the casting: Alec Baldwin.

 

[Beagleman]

Yes, Alec Baldwin can play a great straight man surrounded by whacky things, not sure about the clueless part though.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I hate to keep harping on this, but I gotta say it again: Frank Drebin is not clueless. He's a straight man, yes. He doesn't do or say the funny things - that happens to him, and around him. But he's supposed to be a good cop, a decent guy. He is NOT supposed to be the bumbling idiot that the films made him.

Now true, Drebin's not really aware of the funny things going on around him - but nobody ELSE in the show is either.

I'm liking the idea of Alec Baldwin, though...

(Although, with my original choice of Michael Hogan, who is still my favorite for the role? Have EJO as his captain. Now don't even try to tell me that wouldn't rock. )

 

[Gary Mitchell]

^ I hate to keep harping on this, but I gotta say it again: Frank Drebin is not clueless. He's a straight man, yes. He doesn't do or say the funny things - that happens to him, and around him. But he's supposed to be a good cop, a decent guy. He is NOT supposed to be the bumbling idiot that the films made him.

Now true, Drebin's not really aware of the funny things going on around him - but nobody ELSE in the show is either.

Well, they did say it was a reboot of Naked Gun, not Police Squad!.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ There wouldn't be a Naked Gun without Police Squad!. The definitive portrayal of Drebin IS Police Squad!.

 

[JarodRussell]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ[/yt]

I would have also added the animated gif of all Family Guy characters puking, but that was really disgusting.

 

[TheMurph]

Sweet Zombie Leslie Nielsen... No, just no........

 

[Amasov]

Said this when I shared the story on FaceBook.

"Good luck, Hollywood. No one's counting on you."

If it's a retelling of the first film -- which I doubt -- just for laughs, they should cast Cumberbatch as Vincent Ludwig.

I just can't see Ed Helms duplicating this.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOr-1OVHNac[/yt]

 

[JarodRussell]

Frank Drebin is Leslie Nielsen, end of the fucking story. Leslie Nielsen humor is Leslie Nielsen humor, that was the whole point about Leslie Nielsen comedy. Nobody else could play any of the comedy characters Leslie Nielsen played. A great portion of the comedy is reliant on his facial expression, gestures, posture, voice and intonation.

Just like there is no second Robin Williams, Jim Carrey or Rodney Dangerfield.

Ed Helms is funny and talented, but his style is simply not Nielsen's style.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If it's a retelling of the first film -- which I doubt -- just for laughs, they should cast Cumberbatch as Vincent Ludwig.

Actually, Ludwig was one of the genuinely funny things about the first NG film. Because, like Drebin in the series, Montalban played it straight.

"How could you do something so VICIOUS?"
"It was easy, my dear. You forget, I spent two years as a building contractor."

And I can totally see Cumby pulling that off, by the way. I don't exactly see him doing slapstick.

 

[Amasov]

If it's a retelling of the first film -- which I doubt -- just for laughs, they should cast Cumberbatch as Vincent Ludwig.

Actually, Ludwig was one of the genuinely funny things about the first NG film. Because, like Drebin in the series, he played it straight.

"How could you do something so VICIOUS?"
"It was easy, my dear. You forget, I spent two years as a building contractor."

And I can totally see Cumby pulling that off, by the way. I don't exactly see him doing slapstick.

I just like the idea of him doing it as a joke that he's playing yet another role formally portrayed by Ricardo Montalban.

 

[Amasov]

If it's a retelling of the first film -- which I doubt -- just for laughs, they should cast Cumberbatch as Vincent Ludwig.

Actually, Ludwig was one of the genuinely funny things about the first NG film. Because, like Drebin in the series, he played it straight.

"How could you do something so VICIOUS?"
"It was easy, my dear. You forget, I spent two years as a building contractor."

And I can totally see Cumby pulling that off, by the way. I don't exactly see him doing slapstick.

I just like the idea of him doing it as a joke that he's playing yet another role formally portrayed by Ricardo Montalban.

You know, just an observation. Given that The Naked Gun films were done by Paramount, I'm kind of surprised there wasn't at least one nod to Khan in the first movie. Maybe just a throwaway.

 

[JarodRussell]

Actually, Ludwig was one of the genuinely funny things about the first NG film. Because, like Drebin in the series, he played it straight.

"How could you do something so VICIOUS?"
"It was easy, my dear. You forget, I spent two years as a building contractor."

And I can totally see Cumby pulling that off, by the way. I don't exactly see him doing slapstick.

I just like the idea of him doing it as a joke that he's playing yet another role formally portrayed by Ricardo Montalban.

You know, just an observation. Given that The Naked Gun films were done by Paramount, I'm kind of surprised there wasn't at least one nod to Khan in the first movie. Maybe just a throwaway.

That's because back then Paramount wasn't so cheap.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Fun fact: Wikipedia's entry on Police Squad! includes a link to a never-produced seventh episode of the show...