You Can’t Even Stream One of the Best Comedy TV Shows of All Time

Police Squad! is a universally acclaimed satirical television series that launched in 1982 and subsequently paved the way for the oddball feature film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad and its outrageous sequels. While The Naked Gun movies took off, resonating with audiences and developing a loyal fan base, the TV series that made the franchise possible has been all but forgotten in the years since release, fading into relative obscurity over the past several decades. The fact that Police Squad! isn’t currently available to stream anywhere surely isn’t helping anyone rediscover the long-forgotten program. Now, to be clear, I don’t just mean that the series isn’t available to stream with a membership or that it’s not on any ad-supported VOD platforms, I mean that the show isn’t even available as a digital rental or download.

The only way you can watch this cult classic at present is via physical media. The series is fortunately still available on both Blu-ray and DVD.

Police Squad! Is a Series Cancelled Too Soon

The satirical comedy program starring Leslie Nielsen follows a group of inept police detectives as they attempt to solve crimes with limited success, often resulting in hilarious results. The ABC program ran for a total of six episodes, only four of which made it to broadcast before the network pulled the plug on the show. The remaining two episodes of Police Squad! eventually aired during the summer reruns season of 1982. Over time, the program amassed a cult fan base, with new fans discovering the series as it re-aired on cable.

David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (collectively known as ZAZ, an acronym for the last names of each of the three collaborators) created Police Squad!. Before coming together for that televised effort, the trio also worked on the satirical films Airplane and Kentucky Fried Movie.

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After their first round of collaborations, ZAZ looked into making a spoof movie that lampooned television series like the retro police procedural M Squad, however, the executives at Paramount suggested a six-episode series might work better than a feature film. That was all the more encouragement ZAZ needed to create the eventual cult classic Police Squad!.

The Series Developed a Loyal Fan Base, Ultimately Serving as the Inspiration for The Naked Gun Films

Although Police Squad! has the impressive distinction of helping to kickstart The Naked Gun franchise, the television series has far fewer fans than its feature film counterparts. That’s by no means an indication of the quality of the show. In fact, critics really connected with the program, which is even certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critical approval rating of 90%.

Six years after Police Squad! went off the air, the creative team realized their original designs with a feature film. The first franchise installment, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, was a hit with both critics and fans. The box office success of that adaptation opened the door for two more series installments, The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.

Speaking of the beloved films in The Naked Gun franchise, fans of the series likely know that Liam Neeson is toplining a franchise reboot where he will play Frank Drebin Jr. (the son of Nielsen’s character from Police Squad! and the subsequent film trilogy). Akiva Schaffer is helming the project for Paramount, the director scripted the film alongside Dan Gregor and Doug Mand.

Neeson has big shoes to fill in the upcoming redux, but we will get to see how the actor stacks up before long. The Naked Gun redux will bow in theaters August 1st.

Although you cannot currently stream Police Squad! anywhere or even rent it digitally, the series may be worth tracking down on physical media so you can see the celebrated origin story behind The Naked Gun films.

Have you seen the Police Squad! series in its entirety? And will you be making your way to theaters to see how Neeson fares as Frank Drebin Jr. when The Naked Gun bows in theaters this summer? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below.