Police Squad! is a television comedy series first broadcast in 1982, created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker are an American comedy filmmaking trio consisting of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker who specializes in slapstick comedy films during the 1980s and the early 1990s...

 and starring Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

. A spoof

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of police procedural

Police procedural

The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...

s, the series was packed with ZAZ's usual sight gags, wordplay

Wordplay

Wordplay is a musician/actor, of mixed British and Black African descent. Gaining worldwide exposure as an actor in 1998 through the Austrian Obscuro Gothic science fiction film "Dandy dust" directed by Hans Schierl...

 and non sequitur

Non sequitur (absurdism)

A non sequitur is a conversational and literary device, often used for comedic purposes. It is a comment that, because of its apparent lack of meaning relative to what it follows, seems absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing....

s. While a parody of many television shows and movies, it bore a particular resemblance to the Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...

 cop show, M Squad

M Squad

M Squad is an American police drama television series that ran from 1957 to 1960 on NBC. Its format would later inspire the creation of spoof TV show Police Squad! Its sponsor was the Pall Mall cigarette brand; Lee Marvin, the program's star, appeared in its commercials during the...

(especially the opening credits) and the late 1960s series Felony Squad

Felony Squad

Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...

. Although cancelled after only six episodes, it spawned the successful Naked Gun film series

The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a 1988 American comedy film that is the first in a The Naked Gun series of films starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson...

.
Police Squad! was created by the comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

making trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker are an American comedy filmmaking trio consisting of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker who specializes in slapstick comedy films during the 1980s and the early 1990s...

, who had previously worked together on The Kentucky Fried Movie

The Kentucky Fried Movie

The Kentucky Fried Movie is an American comedy film, released in 1977 and directed by John Landis. The film's writers were the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. This same team would go on to write and direct Airplane!, Top Secret! and the Police Squad! television series and its...

and Airplane!

Airplane!

Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...

Despite critical acclaim, the show was cancelled by ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 after just six episodes.