Leslie Nielson was one of those actors known for his early serious roles before stepping into the world of comedy with fun flicks like Surf Ninjas, Dracula Dead and Loving It. His most popular was the Naked Gun trilogy films, but what some don’t know is that was not the first outing as Detective Frank Drebin. In 1982 Nielson starred in the very short lived series Police Squad! that sadly only ran for 6 episodes on ABC, but now is getting the Blu-ray treatment.

 

Police Squad! follows an ace detective and his captain as they fight against the criminal foes of the big city with plenty of comedic situations along for the ride. I discovered this original series a couple years after the first Naked Gun film came out and fell in love. I was always so bummed that it never got its proper props during its initial run, but understand it not working. It’s one of those silly shows that is so brilliantly written and executed that I think it was misunderstood. You would think that this would be a silly throw away show, but if you aren’t paying attention then you miss half the gags and it just loses its magic.

 

If you have never seen it the show is in the vein of Get Smart, Airplane and obviously the Naked Gun. What makes it really work is that they took the cases fairly seriously while injecting them with non-stop laughs. Nielsen is perfect in the role bringing a serious vibe to it all even when he is cracking the dumbest joke. The ongoing gags through every episode are genius with my favorites being the killing of every guest star at the opening of the show and the freeze frame at the end.

 

I remember loving the show when I first discovered it in the late 80s and loved it even more revisiting it now. This collection features all 6 episodes of the short, but brilliant comedy as well as bonus content including a gag reel, interview and more. Join Detective Frank Drebin on the case and grab your copy of Police Squas!: The Complete Series available now on Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment.