AVERAGE

After the success of Airplane! (1980), Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers were hired to create this spoof of old cop shows like M Squad (1957-1960), where we follow detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), a member of a special police unit, who had a new case to crack every week.

Sadly, it didn’t last long due to ABC’s inability to let the show find an audience open to its unusual format, consisting of countless sight gags and wildly inventive silliness. Incredibly uneven; in later years, the reputation of the series grew thanks to a great feature adaptation, The Naked Gun (1988), and from repeat viewings of the show’s best bits on platforms like YouTube.

Old pro Nielsen knows exactly how to work this material.

1982-U.S. 6 episodes. Color. Created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker. Theme: Ira Newborn. Cast: Leslie Nielsen (Frank Drebin), Alan North (Ed Hocken), Peter Lupus (Norberg), Ed Williams, William Duell. 

Quote: “We’re sorry to bother you at such a time like this, Mrs. Twice. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn’t dead then.” (Nielsen)