Kumamoto University:
Comparative Culture

Rick Lavin

Comedy:
American Comedy: Police Squad

This time we take a look at American humour. Police Squad is the forerunner of the successful Naked Gun series and is founded on a simple -- and very stupid -- formula, which is nevertheless very funny.

Elements of the formula

Puns

The repetitive puns on the names Twice, Once, Phil Din, etc., in one of the first dialogues of the series, are the best examples of the use of puns, but every episode has a few. In most cases, the aim isn't to get you laughing out loud, but more to have you groaning, almost in sympathy.

The word on the street

In most police dramas, when the detectives are at a loss, they rely on their street contacts. This is taken to ridiculous lengths in Police Squad, where the shoe shiner not only knows who committed every crime and where kidnap victims are held, but also technical details of surgery and baseball team management.

Simplistic action

Drebin always overpowers criminals with ridiculous ease, usually in a parody of the "Oh, look at that!" or "I'm just scratching my chin" strategies.

Mistakes

The episode title written down in the credits is always different from the one announced at the same time.
Drebin introduces himself as "Sergeant Drebin, detective lieutenant".

Repetition

All these aspects are repeated every episode, so that we're laughing in anticipation even before anything funny happens.

Questions to consider

How funny was Police Squad? How did it compare to Rowan Atkinson and Monty Python?

What puns can you remember?