A Quick Shout Out To The Locksmith Joke From ‘Police Squad!’

There ain’t a whole hell of a lot going on today, so allow to me take a second to give a shout out to one of my favorite lines in television history. It’s from the series Police Squad!, which was produced by the Zuckers and spawned the Naked Gun series of films, and it is a tightly wrapped little ball of perfection. I’ve posted the video below, which you should really watch for full effect because Leslie Nielsen was a comic genius, but I’ll also transcribe it.

GUY IN CHAIR: Who are you and how did you get in here?

DET. FRANK DREBIN: I’m a locksmith … and I’m a locksmith.

God, that’s great. And here’s the craziest part: Even with a bunch of comedy legends behind it (the Zuckers had just come off producing Airplane at the time), Police Squad! lasted only six episodes. Not six seasons. Six episodes. But thanks to the network airing reruns, it gained a cult following and eventually led to three feature films. (And if you don’t enjoy the Naked Gun movies, you and I are going to have WORDS.) So let that be a lesson to struggling comedies everywhere: If it doesn’t look like #SixSeasonsAndAMovie will be a realistic goal, maybe consider setting your sights on #SixEpisodesAndThreeMovies. Couldn’t hurt.

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