Police Squad!

Police Squad!
Title card for Police Squad! The subtitle "in color" was a deliberate anachronism; network TV shows in the U.S. had transitioned from black-and-white to color by the late 1960s.
Created by	Jim Abrahams David Zucker Jerry Zucker
Starring	Leslie Nielsen Alan North Peter Lupus Ed Williams William Duell
Narrated by	Leslie Nielsen
Theme music composer	Ira Newborn
Opening theme	"Theme from Police Squad!"
Composer(s)	Ira Newborn
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Zucker Jim Abrahams Jerry Zucker
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	24–25 minutes
Production company(s)	Paramount Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	480i
Audio format	Mono
Original release	March 4 – July 8, 1982
Chronology
Followed by	The Naked Gun film series

Police Squad! is an American television comedy series broadcast in 1982, created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, and starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedurals, the series featured Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker's usual sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs. While a parody of many television shows and movies, it bore a particular resemblance to the Lee Marvin cop show, M Squad (especially the opening credits) and the late 1960s series Felony Squad. Although cancelled after six episodes, the show spawned The Naked Gun film series. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #7 on their list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".

Police Squad! was created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, who had all previously worked together on The Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane!. Despite critical acclaim, the show was cancelled by ABC after just six episodes. The show gained a strong cult following through repeat broadcasts, which led to The Naked Gun film series. Many gags from the show were recycled for all three films.

Alan North played the role of Captain Ed Hocken on the show; in the films, the role was played by George Kennedy. Peter Lupus co-starred as Officer Norberg, but in the films, O.J. Simpson appeared as the similarly named Officer Nordberg. Ed Williams, who played scientist Ted Olson on the show, reprised his role in the films, making him and Nielsen the only two actors from the series to appear in the movies. Robert Goulet, who appeared as one of the "special guest stars" who were invariably killed off at the beginning of their episodes, appeared as the villain Quentin Hapsburg in the second Naked Gun film. Dr. Joyce Brothers played herself in the first Naked Gun film. She also played herself in the fourth episode of the show.