Misplaced Pages

#307692

39-538: David Zucker , Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker knew each other as children while growing up in Shorewood, Wisconsin and while attending Shorewood High School , which is sometimes referenced in their work. While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison , the trio founded a small theater known as The Kentucky Fried Theater in 1971 which led to their sketch comedy film The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977. This

78-515: A Davy Crockett Rifle Frolic at his ranch in Ojai , California. Zucker wrote 11 updated verses to the song " The Ballad of Davy Crockett ", which he claimed in 1992 that he had worked harder on those than on any of his scripts. He made a cameo appearance in The Naked Gun 2½ dressed as Crockett. Zucker began to focus more on politics starting in 2004 when he began working on political ads for

117-470: A God, I think it would be very depressing. I'd prefer to believe there is. David Zucker has been an active supporter of TreePeople since 1988 and is now the longest continuously serving board member (1990) in the organization's history. He has been an advocate of solar-powered and electric cars since the '90s. "I can't complain about the smog in Los Angeles if I'm contributing to it," Zucker said to

156-520: A cinema increases the efficacy of the visual gags. In its annual "Cheers and Jeers" issue, TV Guide magazine called the explanation for the cancellation "the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series". In 1985, Paramount Home Video first released all six episodes of the show on VHS , Betamax , and LaserDisc formats as two separate volumes: Police Squad!: Help Wanted! and More! Police Squad! , each with three episodes in their production order. Paramount and CBS DVD first released

195-566: A mid-season replacement in March 1982, but was taken off the schedule after four episodes. The remaining two episodes were dumped onto the summer schedule in place of the usual summer reruns. Against critical acclaim, the show was canceled by ABC after just six episodes. The show gained a strong cult following through repeat broadcasts on cable channels. Alan North played Captain Ed Hocken, and Peter Lupus co-starred as Officer Norberg. In

234-448: A more traditional farce that was directed by the trio but unlike their other productions, not written by them. The trio's status as a three-person team of co-directors is highly unusual, although some of their later projects were directed by David working solo and with Jerry and Abrahams credited only as producers and/or writers. The trio split up in the 1990s for fiscal and creative reasons, stating that there were "too many guys sitting in

273-419: A science teacher for many years and had some previous acting experience. Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker were amazed by his performance. Rex Hamilton is credited in every episode as "Abraham Lincoln", with the same clip in all opening credits as his only appearance. Nielsen, Taylor, and Williams were the only members of the main cast who reprise their characters into The Naked Gun film series . Captain Ed Hocken

312-714: Is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized for collaborating with Jim Abrahams and his brother Jerry as part of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker , with whom he wrote and directed the 1980 film Airplane! and created The Naked Gun franchise. As a solo filmmaker, Zucker has also directed Scary Movie 3 (2003) and Scary Movie 4 (2006). Zucker's movies include The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977, Ruthless People in 1986, The Naked Gun in 1988, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991, BASEketball in 1998, Scary Movie 3 in 2003, and its sequel Scary Movie 4 in 2006. Of 18 works with which he

351-524: Is associated, Phone Booth , which he produced in 2002 is the only non-comedic film. He co-directed several films including Airplane! in 1980 and Top Secret! in 1984; along with his brother, Jerry, and Jim Abrahams , the trio make up the ZAZ team of directors. He has worked with Pat Proft (with whom he first teamed up on the Naked Gun show Police Squad! ) and Craig Mazin (writer of three of

390-538: Is his filmmaking partner. The Zucker brothers have a sister, Susan Breslau. When asked in a September 2014 interview by the BBC if he believes in God, David replied: Oh yeah, I believe in God. I think there's much more evidence that there is a God than that there isn't. I don't believe that Mother Teresa and Hitler go to the same place. I believe in justice, maybe not in this life, but there has to be justice. And if there isn't

429-568: The Republican Party . In 2008, he made the political parody movie An American Carol . In 2015, he made a video he called Side Effects attacking President Barack Obama for the Iran nuclear deal in the form of a parody prescription drug ad. In 2017, Zucker said that he was working on a script for a fourth Naked Gun film with Pat Proft . In 2018 he made a cameo appearance on the hidden camera TV series Impractical Jokers , where he

SECTION 10

#1732802226308

468-584: The Sun Sentinel in 1990. Among all of his directed and/or produced parody films, Zucker had frequently cast the late Leslie Nielsen . Police Squad! Police Squad! is an American crime comedy television series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker , Jim Abrahams , and Jerry Zucker , starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin . A spoof of police procedurals and many other television shows and movies,

507-516: The WWE's SummerSlam 1994 pay-per-view event, the Police Squad! characters look for The Undertaker , who had previously vanished. On Rotten Tomatoes , Police Squad! has an aggregate score of 90% based on 28 positive and three negative critic reviews. The website’s consensus reads: "Wacky, inventive, and endlessly quotable, Police Squad! is a hysterically funny leap forward for TV comedy that

546-527: The "special guest stars" killed during the title sequence, plays the villain Quentin Hapsburg in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear . Each episode's voiced title differs from that displayed on screen. In the following list, the voiced title is in parentheses. Leslie Nielsen portrayed Sergeant Frank Drebin, detective lieutenant of Police Squad. Jerry Zucker explained that the name Drebin

585-451: The DVD release of the series, Nielsen said ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos asserted Police Squad! was canceled because viewers had to pay close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor: "the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it". Nielsen also thought the premise was more effective in the successful Naked Gun films because the much larger screen size in

624-492: The Waterfront and The French Connection . In Wuhl's audio commentary for the DVD, he mentioned that it was a nice opportunity, but that he did not really feel a connection with the show, especially because of its short run. The first episode of Police Squad! was directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. Two of the show's six episodes were directed by filmmaker Joe Dante , who recalled in 2008, I knew

663-544: The Zuckers from second unit on Rock 'n' Roll High School and Kentucky Fried Movie and had turned down Airplane! – don’t ask! When they got Police Squad! going, they asked me to do the second one. It only lasted six episodes, two of which I directed. ABC had no idea what to do with the show, which had no laugh track and resembled a rerun of a ’60s program. The network kept changing the time slot so no one could find it, and people casually switching it on thought it really

702-585: The best film he appeared in was The Naked Gun , and that David was his favorite director to work with. Nielsen said of him, "He came to me one time and said, 'Leslie, I'll never make you do anything that is not funny.' ... he kept his word." Most consider his greatest work to be Airplane! , which has brought on many accolades (including preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress ). In his movies, his mother, Charlotte

741-459: The film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! was readily greenlit by Paramount. It performed well at the box office, grossing around $ 78,756,177. The film lead to the Naked Gun trilogy with two sequels, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 : The Final Insult (1994), were released. The Naked Gun 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 : The Smell of Fear

780-410: The filming of the scene. A list of possible celebrity death shots was included in the DVD release. The show was intended to mock police dramas in the same way in which Airplane! mocks disaster movies. Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker wrote the pilot episode, in which most straight lines were directly copied from an M Squad episode. The pilot episode is a near scene-for-scene remake of "More Deadly",

819-411: The films, The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and Airplane! (1980). ZAZ wanted to make another spoof film similar to Airplane! , using the television series M Squad as a basis for the spoof. Lacking an overarching plot to the concept, Paramount Pictures president Michael Eisner instead secured them a six-episode television series, despite ZAZ wanting to make it into a film. The show aired as

SECTION 20

#1732802226308

858-489: The films, those roles were played by George Kennedy and O. J. Simpson respectively, with Norberg renamed Nordberg. The only actors who reprised their roles in the films are Leslie Nielsen, Ed Williams as scientist Ted Olson, and Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor as the very tall Al. Joyce Brothers played herself in the fourth episode and in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! . Robert Goulet , one of

897-447: The five Scary Movies ). In 1987, both David and Jerry Zucker through Zucker Brothers Productions signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures for a two-year non-exclusive production agreement and development deal with the studio, and the brothers had anticipated on making four comedies for Paramount Pictures during the life of the pact. The first film was a feature film version of the early 1980s television show Police Squad! , which

936-510: The opening episode of the second season of M Squad . Pat Proft, who had worked with Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker on The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and Airplane! (1980), wrote the third episode. Robert Wuhl was invited to join the writing staff after he had auditioned for the lead role in Airplane! . He co-wrote the show's second and sixth episodes with Tino Insana . Both episodes contain cultural references to old movies such as On

975-499: The same chair". They also said that they had been treated unfairly by the studios that produced their films, claiming that they failed to see any profits from Ruthless People . Nevertheless, the three still maintained a close friendship. Abrahams died November 26, 2024. The chart below shows which films member(s) of the trio have directed ( [REDACTED] N ) or been a writer for, plus the involvement of Pat Proft: David Zucker David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947)

1014-511: The series features Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker 's usual sight gags , wordplay , and non sequiturs . It resembles the Lee Marvin police show M Squad (in particular the opening credits) and the late 1960s series Felony Squad . It was canceled after six episodes, and yielded The Naked Gun film series from 1988 to 1994. Police Squad! was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ), who had previously worked on

1053-456: The series on DVD in 2006 in a keep case on one disc. The episodes are in airing order from ABC. The DVD extras include production notes from network executives, a "freeze-frame" that was filmed but never used, bloopers, casting tests, and an interview with Nielsen. Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, producer Robert K. Weiss , and writer Robert Wuhl recorded audio commentary for the first, third, and sixth episodes. Critics universally praised how

1092-511: The show was still funny after more than 20 years. The series was released in Blu-ray format in the US on April 14, 2020. After the cancellation of Police Squad! , ZAZ returned to films, creating the comedies Top Secret! and Ruthless People . At this point, they were able to identify a narrative to apply to the Police Squad! formula for a theatrical film by adding a romantic plotline, and

1131-589: The title of each episode, though the spoken title never matches the title caption. The sequence introduces Nielsen and North during a shootout, and Abraham Lincoln impersonator Rex Hamilton, who dramatically returns gunfire to John Wilkes Booth , as his only appearance. Another recurring gag in the opening credits sequence is the "special guest star", a celebrity who is introduced but immediately murdered. These special guest stars are Lorne Greene , Georg Stanford Brown , Robert Goulet , William Shatner , Florence Henderson , and William Conrad . John Belushi

1170-511: Was an old TV show! Like they did in their features, the boys used real TV episodes as their template, mostly a ’50s Lee Marvin series called M Squad . It was lots of fun to do and was the first thing I ever directed on a studio lot. I prefer the TV show to the later Naked Gun movies. ABC announced the cancellation of Police Squad! after four of its six episodes had aired in March 1982. The final two episodes were aired that summer. In an interview for

1209-834: Was considered the most successful of the three, grossing around $ 86,930,411, and Naked Gun 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 : The Final Insult grossed $ 51,132,598. Roger Ebert rated the first movie 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 out of four stars and gave three stars to each of the two following films. A series of British advertisements for Red Rock Cider were made in the same style, with the opening titles changed to other names such as "Fraud Squad" or "Fried Squid", and featuring Leslie Nielsen. The advertisements were shown in British cinemas as well as on television. They were directed by John Lloyd , with such apparent success that Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker approached him to direct Naked Gun 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 : The Final Insult , but he turned them down. During

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-399: Was followed by the trio's breakout hit Airplane! in 1980, which remains a revered comedic milestone. Subsequent collaborations include Top Secret! , Ruthless People , and The Naked Gun . All of their projects relied heavily on parodies, visual gags and breaking of the fourth wall, and established a strong 1980s cult following. The notable stylistic exception is Ruthless People ,

1287-463: Was often cast in a small bit part (like the lady trying to put on make-up in Airplane! and Vincent Ludwig's secretary, Dominique, in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! ). David Zucker is an aficionado of Davy Crockett and collects memorabilia. He has said that his dream project is to make a biographical film, which he has spent time developing. During the 1990s he regularly hosted

1326-683: Was on FaceTime with cast member James Murray in a sketch trying to make the other person laugh. In 2021, Zucker announced his return to filmmaking with a new spoof film titled The Star of Malta . Zucker was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin , the son of Charlotte Zucker and Burton C. Zucker, who was a real estate developer. He graduated from Shorewood High School . In 1997, David married Danielle Zucker, with whom he has two children, Charles and Sarah. He and Danielle were divorced in 2019, although they had been separated for ten years before that. His younger brother, Jerry ,

1365-532: Was originally cancelled after six episodes on the air. ZAZ and Proft helped develop the parody genre of films, in which jokes are spit out with rapid-fire, using puns, physical humor, wit, and double entendres. Some of the veteran actors of ZAZ's vision of parody include Leslie Nielsen , Lloyd Bridges , Charlie Sheen , Julie Hagerty , and Anna Faris (Faris starred in four of the Scary Movie series). Looking back on his career in 2009, Leslie Nielsen said

1404-434: Was picked blindly from the phone book. Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker had met Nielsen when working on Airplane! (1980) and decided that their kind of humor matched. The team said that Nielsen would be perfect as Drebin, as the character lampooned the roles that Nielsen had played in television dramas such as The Bold Ones: The Protectors and S.W.A.T. . Ed Williams , who co-starred as lab technician Ted Olson, had been

1443-462: Was portrayed by George Kennedy in the film series, and O. J. Simpson played Officer Nordberg (slightly renamed from "Norberg"). The show's opening sequence is a satire on traditional crime-drama opening sequences, particularly those of M Squad and various Quinn Martin shows such as The Fugitive and particularly The New Breed (which also stars Nielsen). Hank Simms , who had worked as an announcer for some of Martin's programs, announced

1482-423: Was slated as "special guest star" for the fifth episode and a scene with Belushi tied to blocks of concrete under water was filmed. Following Belushi's unexpected death in March 1982, the scene was replaced with footage of Florence Henderson before the episode was broadcast the following July. Belushi's accidental death shocked Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, as they had joked about it after he had nearly choked during

1521-595: Was tragically ahead of its time." Upon the home video release in 1985, Washington Post critic Tom Shales commented "People can rent them and laugh, and then cry that ABC was so cruel." In 2009, the DVD set was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best DVD Release of a TV Show, though it lost to the DVD set of the eighth season of Fox 's The Simpsons . In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #7 on its list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon". Matt Groening , creator of The Simpsons , has said, "If Police Squad! had been made twenty years later, it would have been

#307692