International Police Squad: The Complete Series (1 Viewer)

[warnerbro]

This show is hilarious! Every minute is funny. They said the reason it failed is because it requires the viewer to sit and watch closely to catch all the jokes. It can't be just casually listened to like a sitcom where people are doing other things while they watch. You must sit and watch closely or you'll miss the sight gags which it if chock full of every second.

 

[MatthewA]

That's easier to do today because of larger, higher-resolution TVs and DVRs that allow you to rewind stuff you missed. What has changed is people's ability to take a joke.

 

[warnerbro]

Please, Zucker Brothers, give us more!

 

[David_B_K]

George Kennedy was also a recast.

I missed Alan North from the series. It was not until I got to see M Squad many years later that I saw how much Alan North was channeling Paul Newlan from that show. Newlan always played the chief in an extremely laid back style, as if he'd been summoned to the M Squad set with little or no rehearsal. North went out of his way to replicate that style.

I always knew M Squad was the main inspiration for Police Squad!, but had never seen the show in reuns back then. When I watched the M Squad DVD set I was a little surprised at how alike the two shows were (the pilot episode of Police Squad! is a remake of an M Squad episode).