After his career-changing performance in Airplane!, Leslie Nielsen teamed up with Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker again for the ABC parody show Police Squad! in 1982. After six episodes, it was canceled (though some people were clearly watching it, as it was nominated for two Emmy Awards). Six years later, the show found new life and pronounced success as a comedy movie franchise, beginning with 1988’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!.
Nielsen returned as detective Frank Drebin, an inept police officer who uncovers an assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth II, and falls for the villain Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalbán)’s assistant, Jane Spencer, in Priscilla Presley’s first major film role. O.J. Simpson also
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took a repeated beating as Detective Nordberg. Here are some facts about the film that will make you notice birds singing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, and stoplights for the first time.
1. THE ORIGINAL TITLE FOR THE FILM SOUNDED TOO SIMILAR TO ANOTHER POLICE MOVIE FRANCHISE.
The Zuckers and Abrahams (known in shorthand as ZAZ) were informed by Paramount Pictures that Police Squad wasn’t a suitable title because it was too similar to Police Academy(Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach came out in March of 1988). The filmmakers
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were given a list of 20 other titles, and chose Naked Gun because “it promised so much more than it could ever possibly deliver.”
2. PRISCILLA PRESLEY HAD NEVER DONE COMEDY BEFORE.
She was cast by ZAZ for the same reason that other actors mostly known for serious roles were put in their movies: it makes the dry parody even funnier. Presley had worked on the show Dallas. Zucker often quipped that the only problem with her was when her ex, Elvis, visited the set.
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3. GEORGE KENNEDY HAD WANTED TO WORK WITH THE ZUCKERS AND ABRAHAMS FOR YEARS.
George Kennedy (Ed Hocken) recalled in his memoir: “The first time I met ZAZ, the three of them were in their office at Paramount, and I read a headline from a newspaper in their waiting room: ‘Legless Boy Cartwheels Down Hill to Save Dad.’ A beat. Eruptions of laughter from all, and we were friends.” Kennedy was first offered Lloyd Bridges’ part in Airplane!, but was busy working and making good money acting in the ongoing Airport movie series.
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4. KENNEDY WASN’T A FAN OF THE FILMING PROCESS.
Kennedy claimed that the Zucker brothers (David was the credited director for the first Naked Gun film) didn’t believe in doing any scene without 40 or more takes, and that telling a joke 40-plus times in front of a camera was “painful.”
5. THE ZUCKERS DIDN’T LOOK FAR FOR THEIR CASTING OF DOMINIQUE, LUDWIG’S SECRETARY.
She was played by Charlotte Zucker, Jerry and David’s mother.
