Much like Starsky and Hutch in 2004, or 21 Jump Street in 2012, The Naked Gun was a cop show that’s now being remade as a comedy film, according to Variety. The difference between Naked Gun and those other two shows is, the original show (actually titled Police Squad!) was created as a comedy – in fact it was created by the brothers David and Jerry Zucker with Jim Abrahams, the guys behind Airplane! (1980). So, this new film won’t be a parody of the original, but a straight up reboot.
Police Squad! aired in 1982 for a mere six episodes. The show has was highly praised – by those that actually saw it – but low viewership led to its cancellation. What most people remember is the film version made in 1988, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police!, which was far more successful than the show – grossing over $70 million against a $12 million budget – and received two sequels, which bore the title Naked Gun and left out the Police Squad part, thus many never even realized the show existed.
Both the show and its film versions starred the late Leslie Nielson as Police Lieutenant Frank Drebin. Nielson became wildly popular for his stone-faced deadpan style of humor (no doubt helped by the fact that for the first twenty or so years of his career, Nielson performed mostly serious dramatic roles). Ed Helms of the American version of The Office, and the Hangover series will play the Drebin role in the remake. No other cast members have been announced, but Paramount is producing, and the script is being written by Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant, who have written and acted together for the TV show Reno 911. If nothing else, this new Naked Gun has some people experienced in comedy behind it.
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