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Police Squad! Canceled for Being Too Funny?
28 Jun
Summary
- The Naked Gun reboot traces roots to 1982's 'Police Squad!' series.
- ABC canceled 'Police Squad!' after four episodes for being too complex.
- The show's creators later found success with 'Airplane!' and 'Naked Gun'.
The upcoming 2025 reboot of "The Naked Gun" franchise owes its existence to the beloved 1982 series, "Police Squad!". This original show, which featured Detective Frank Drebin, was unceremoniously canceled by ABC after just four episodes, with two more airing later that summer.
The creators, Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker, had previously achieved success with the 1980 film "Airplane!". They applied a similar comedic style to "Police Squad!," a police procedural, resulting in a humorously absurd show.
At the time, ABC president Tony Thomopoulos reportedly believed the show required too much viewer attention. This assessment, made over 40 years ago relative to 2026-06-28T02:17:42+00:00, is now widely regarded as a spectacularly poor judgment call.
"Police Squad!" has since achieved cult status, largely due to the success of the "Naked Gun" film series. Its initial cancellation is often cited as one of the most misguided decisions in television history, with TV Guide calling it "the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series" in 1982.
