Tv Interrupted Police Squad Was The Definitive Parody Of Police Procedurals And Could Be Again
Why Police Squad! was great Paramount Television The ZAZ team knew they’d struck gold with Nielsen on “Airplane!” The stiff star of ’50s classics like “Forbidden Planet” and “Ransom!” was out of step in the loosey-goosey New Hollywood of the 1970s, which made him perfect casting as the mirthless Dr. Rumack (no first name given, but it’s most assuredly not Shirley). His antiquated, method-free performance style demanded further exploitation, and what better scenario than a TV series patterned after rigidly formulaic cop dramas like “Dragnet” and “M Squad?...