User Reviews

A judge gets blown up just as his court session is about to start. The ever-inept Frank Drebin's (Leslie Nielsen in typically terrific deadpan form) investigation leads to a man who was convicted by Drebin in the past. Director Paul Krasny, working from a cheerfully silly, but still witty script by Nancy Steen and Neil Thompson, relates the zany plot at a zippy pace and maintains an amusingly wacky tone from start to finish. The series regulars have a ball with the blithely goofy material: Alan North as Drebin's no-nonsense partner Lt. Ed Hocken, Ed Williams as brainy forensics expert Mr. Olson, William Duell as the incredibly knowledgeable shoeshine guy informant Johnny, and Peter Lupus as the blundering Norberg. Moreover, there are neat guest turns by Spencer Milligan as menacing ex-con Eddie, Bonnie Campbell as Eddie's forlorn ex-wife Lana, and Kate O'Sullivan as ditsy, yet sexy showgirl Mimi. William Shatner hams it up as only he can as a man who gets fatally poisoned while eating out at a restaurant and Dr. Joyce Brothers makes a hilarious appearance as herself asking Johnny for the lowdown on the Cinderella complex. This episode delivers a wealth of inspired offbeat gags: a jury sits down on a floor, a killer floats over stuff while sneaking around a courthouse building, a guy in the back of Drebin's car washing his window, people sitting upside down in chairs at a nightclub, and, perhaps the single most uproarious gag, the police are oblivious to the corpse of a slain man hanging directly in front of them in a tree. A total hoot.

Ever vigilant in the war on crime, clueless police detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) works to solve a case in which a judge and attorney have been the victim of bombing attacks. He comes to believe that the perpetrator could be an ex-con named Eddie Casales (Spencer Milligan), and interviews such people as Eddie's ex-wife Lana (Bonnie Campbell-Britton) and his ditsy new girlfriend Mimi (Kate O'Sullivan).

With Peter Lupus adding to the madcap hilarity as the equally bumbling Norberg, Nielsen and Alan North as Captain Ed Hocken continue the tradition of keeping their faces straight through countless hysterical verbal and visual jokes. Norberg is especially funny in the freeze frame gag at the end. The special guest star of the day is William Shatner, in fine hammy form as a man who survives a shootout only to get poisoned. Johnny (William Duell) advises Dr. Joyce Brothers on the nature of the Cinderella Complex. And Ted Olson (Ed Williams) introduces Drebin to the wonders of decaffeinated coffee. The result is a riot as it perks up Drebin a little too much.

Other great gags involve Drebin and Hocken determining the time by looking at a dead man's watch, Norberg telling a crowd of two people (!) to disperse (gags like this would be recycled for the "Naked Gun" film series), Norberg intruding on Drebin and Hocken's interrogation of Eddie, and multiple "bell" jokes: Hocken says that the name Casales rings a bell, and every time he says the name, a different bell sound is heard. A solid visual happens in a parody of the kind of close-up shots of a character's feet we've seen in countless shows and movies. All in all, a good, giggle- worthy episode of this series.

Eight out of 10.

The visual and verbal gags fly fast and furious that deals with an exploding gavel that kills a judge in the opening scene. Al, the unseen (by face) tall guy had a goofy t-shirt once again and am even goofier hairstyle. There's a married man with an exotic dancer girlfriend who goes to change and comes back with a different wig. Then there's the body simply hanging from a tree at the scene of an accident, pretty much ignored until someone needs to find out what time it is. The scene with a big cat in the police lab misses the mark. There's several gags that were recycled or altered from "Airplane!", and one recycled later on in "The Naked Gun". William Shatner gets the funniest opening guest appearance yet, and Dr. Joyce Brothers exposes how she gets her psychiatric secrets in a very funny cameo. The lack of big-name guest stars though in the supporting roles is disappointing, but overall, this is a very funny episode.