Shark Bytes

Didn't last long enough to jump. I never got to see it during its short first run; managed to catch the reruns on A&E many years ago and it became one of my all-time faves. 6 episodes of pure comedy genius.

Loved it. Very fast-moving and a person had to be observant to catch everything, Sight gags were good. Leslie Nielsen was great. I think fans of "Airplane!" movie would love the show.

This show burned the candle at both ends comedically, so I agree with many others who imply that it couldn't have lasted two, maybe three full seasons at tops. Which begs the question: as the cumulative number of episodes progressed, how would they have handled the trash can gag? By season three when Drebin coasted his bigass sedan into a crime scene he would have been knocking over a literal pyramid of garbage cans.

With only six episodes, Police Squad never had a chance to jump the shark. The show was canceled, because TV viewers are not used to having to pay close attention, to get all the gags. My favorite such moment was in the final episode, when they completely take apart a Lincoln Continental, looking for drugs. They finally find the drugs -- in the glove compartment! Then they put the car back together, but the car we see now is a Corvair. Another funny moment comes earlier in that same episode, as someone driving experiences the effects of being drugged. And his hallucinations include images of roller coasters, along with The Three Stooges with Moe slapping the others.

I find it funny how people state "I can't believe nobody has mentioned.."

- the "IN COLOR" joke
- the "COVER ME" joke
- the "MARRIED, ONE CHILD" joke

in the 2007 posts because they didn't read through all the posts. I was one of the first posters on JtS and trust me, ALL of the jokes have been mentioned. If you want to read through all dozen or so pages of posts, be my guest or you could just take my word for it.

One of the best comedies ever - maybe the best. I vividly remember watching all the shows and how dissapointed I was that it was cancelled. In 1982, for six weeks, this was magic, pure magic.

Never jumped, the commentarys mention why it was cancelled, the jokes were so densely packed that they couldn't think up any more, this was a weekly show after all.

Plus a lot of people never did appreciate the humor, these would be the same people who laugh at endless fart jokes so it never was high rated.

One of the funniest lines in all of TV-
"Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"I'm a locksmith, and I'm a locksmith"
The reason it got cancelled is because people are stupid and they did'nt get it.

It never jumped because it never got the chance. However, the ZAZ guys admit on the commentary of the series DVD (BTW, how often do you see a "complete series" set with only one disc?) that while they were disappointed that it was cancelled so quickly, they were also relieved because they didn't think they could keep doing their kind of humor on a weekly basis and keep it fresh. There was also friction with the outside directors who didn't understand how the ZAZ type of humor worked. Nonetheless, it would have been better to have a few more of these. The movies weren't the same because they made Drebin into more of a Maxwell Smart type. In the movies he would screw up and the other characters would react to it, whereas on the series everything was played straight. "We sent the ransom note to the lab. They're demanding a million dollars." "Why would the lab demand a million dollars?" "The kidnappers made the demand, Frank."

Criminally overlooked in the recebt speight of 'Funniest Ever...' countdown shows.Certainly the pound for pound funniest TV show i've ever seen. The movies were top quality to and although we now judge OJ differently now, he was a funny as chuff Nordberg.

Pure genius! Police Squad was comedy at it's best. Too bad it didn't last. You had to watch this show to really appreciate it. My brother and I still use the one liners from the show. Cigarette? Yes, I know.

right, even if dreben and the entire cast actually did jump a shark, the show wouldn't have jumped the shark. it was too good.

Never jumped the shark! It never had the chance with so few episodes. This was a terrific comedy show from start to freeze-frame finish. If HBO had been doing good comedies back then they could have picked up this show. No Brian Benben, no problem!

If it had been allowed to continue past six episodes, eventually Drebin would have been filmed on a police jet-ski, with siren and lights flashing, chasing a crook and actually jumping a shark.

The TV series Police Squad! never went downhill because it only lasted 6 episodes. I thought there were more that I missed, but no, only 6 were made.

The movies are not the TV series. The movies do not count. The TV series had a 1970's "Heavy" style not fully recreated in the movies.

The writers of NBC's Scrubs have borrowed from Police Squad! in many ways.