Start the year as you mean to go on and so I'm putting my feet up and handing over the reins of Tainted Archive to Chris from the Louis L'amour Project.
Not only has he had loads of snow to play about in, when the rest of us have to cope with the rain, but he's also found time to review the Police Squad DVD.
So let's put virtual hands together for our guest reviewer, Chris.
Police Squad! is where comedy begins and ends for me. I first learned of it back in the early 90s when Comedy Central was promoting the heck out of The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear and was showing the six Police Squad! episodes over and over again. I recorded them on a VHS tape and for years that was my only means of watching them, until a couple of years ago when my wife bought me The Complete Series on DVD.
It does not disappoint, and any fan of The Naked Gun, Airplane, or other Zucker brothers pursuits should consider adding it to his/her collection. Here are some things I like about the Police Squad! series:
- It has all of the Naked Gun jokes, but predates The Naked Gun films by about ten years. The jokes are way fresher.
- All six episodes were released in 1982, and the sets and quality of the film reflect that, which is a huge plus for me. It's kind of hard to explain, really--it's all about the vibe. If you've seen Charles Bronson's St. Ives, you know what I'm talking about.
- The actor who plays Nordberg is a lot funnier than O.J. Simpson, who played Nordberg in the Naked Gun film series.
- The acting is superb. Leslie Nielsen and Alan North nail every line and play the material as if it were Shakespeare. This only adds to the comedic value for me--that they're completely oblivious to the hilarity surrounding them
***********************************************************************************
Chris's own blog, The Louis L'amour Project (link above) contains postings on the western author as well as musings on other aspects of pop culture. I really enjoyed his postings on Jazz and his debate with fellow Jazz fan and blogger, David Cramer provoked me to discover Miles Davies. I owe them both big time for that......