MovieChat Forums > The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) Discussion > question - if the series flopped, why do...

question - if the series flopped, why do they decide to make movies?

posted 17 years ago by PeterBlues
7 replies | jump to latest

first of all, let me start by saying these are some of the funniest movies i've seen in my life, but i've read that the series it's based on, "police squad", totally flopped and was cancelled after a few episodes.
so my question is, why in the world do they make a motion picture after a series that has totally flopped?
it's usually the other way around, a succesfull series goes on for a while, then they make a movie that flops.
now i'm not saying i don't like the series, i've seen parts of it, and commercial, and it looked hilarious, but i kept missing it. hope it airs again soon.

i say the weirdest things when i'm sober,
thought you got goofy, when you got drunk or so,
but to tell you the truth, in the matter you know,
i make more sence,
when my body includes alote of %
i say the weirdest things when i'm s0ber,
i found a conlusion, this scientific work is done,
i think more straight, when i'm drunk,
man, am i not a weird funny guy,
when i'm sober, it's the truth, i don't lie,
alcohol don't work on getting me weird,
when i'm a sober, i'm totally out of here,
- hey, somebody give peter a drink,
so he will think what us others think,
peter, you say the weirdest things when you're sober.

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[–] MrBlondNYC 17 years ago

Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker's previous movie "Ruthless People" was a huge hit. So they had the clout to get whatever they wanted for their next project. Plus, Police Squad gained a cult audience on video. I remember renting the videos and watching them over and over as a kid and so did many others.

Recently, there was a movie "Serenity" based on the show "Firefly" which only lasted one season.

George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.

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[–] stevenackerman69 17 years ago

Well, the series didn't do too well because it was very visual. I think they then decided to do it as a film. They first did Top Secret! which didn't do very well so that put the film on the back burner probably. After Ruthless People became a hit, they probably were able to get a green light again on Naked Gun, so they did it. This is just speculation.

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[–] All_American_Rejects0612 16 years ago

I read that police squad was cancelled because the network felt the show was "too far ahead of its time" which is just stupid however people claimed that that was the stupidest reason to cancel a series ever considering the show is hillarious (I have watched it).

...Kyle Massey Ate My Signature...

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[–] stevenackerman69 16 years ago

It got a cult following on video so they decided to try it as a film.

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[–] mcode518 16 years ago

The whole series is now on DVD.

"They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God." -Elwood Blues

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[–] mcfly-31 15 years ago

Live action spoof NEVER plays well on television. They usually disguise it as "sketch comedy" (SNL, for example), but to try and build a half-hour tv series around the same subject every week (police work) doesn't work. Spoof is more suited to film, because it's 90 minutes in and out. All the Zucker's 80s hits are proof of this. And, sadly, the "Seltzberg" films of the 2000s prove there's a market for it, but not always an ability.

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[–] WarpedRecord 13 years ago

The series was a little too "smart" for TV, but it works much better shown in theaters, presumably where people are paying more attention.

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