2020. See you later! What a totally horrible year. But we’ve made it to the end and while as a whole we are not out of the woods yet, it seems help is on the way. 2020 will go down as not a great year at the theaters as cineplexes have been effectively shut down since mid-March. But there have been some truly stellar releases on the home video side as more and more people were stuck at home.
So here I am once again counting down my favorite physical(!) releases of the year. If you’ve listened to my podcast, then you know that I will always be in favor of physical releases. Something is lost in streaming. And while major releases don’t always give the most substantial releases, boutique labels such as Scream Factory, Criterion and Warner Archive continue to give us fans a reason to buy physical copies of movies.
So, my dear movie and podcast friends I hope you enjoy my Top 20 Blu-ray releases of the year and maybe, just maybe I can convince you to purchase some of these amazing discs.
20. Police Squad!: The Complete Series
Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) is a Detective Lieutenant of Police Squad, tasked with solving crimes with the help of his fellow officers, Captain Ed Hocken (Alan North) and Nordberg (Peter Lupus).
Police Squad! is a spoof of police dramas. Although the television show only lasted six episodes, it spawned a very successful trilogy of films.
What makes this show so special is it is a non-stop laugh out loud show. Every frame is filled with sight gags, dry humor and stuff happening in the background you have to watch it repeatedly to catch everything.
That might be the reason, Police Squad! Only lasted six episodes. It demands repeat viewings and it’s a show that wither you’re in on the joke or you just don’t get it.
Leslie Nielsen cut his teeth in the style of Jim Abrahams and David Zucker in the 1980 classic Airplane!, which serves Nielsen well. He knows the dialogue is ridiculous but the key to this kind of shows/movies is as an actor you believe that it is not.
Some of the best recurring jokes are in the credits, where the show tells you Rex Hamilton is a star as Abraham Lincoln (who dodges his assassination attempt to reveal he is packing heat). In the credits as well is each week’s surprise celebrity guest, who is murdered before the credits end. At the end of each episode there is a freeze frame, for no apparent reason, in which the actors just stop and in one episode leads to a criminal escaping.
I could go on and on about the brilliance of this show, but trust me, you just need to watch it.
The video presentation of Police Squad! on Blu-ray is pretty great. The pilot episode reveals some distortion but that is it. Each episode after is really well preserved, with great detail and some wonderful colors. For a short-lived TV show from 1982, this is one impressive HD debut.
Police Squad! enters HD with an impressive pop in the audio department. Dialogue is clear and easily heard. The goofy sound effects and bullet firing of the guns comes through with out any pops or hisses.
Police Squad! was released on DVD in 2006 and Paramount has ported all of the extras for its Blu-ray release. Extras include:
Commentaries on three episodes by the creators. These are really fun and help point out some of the stuff you may have missed.
Leslie Nielson Interview: The late-great star of the show talks for nearly 10 minutes about Police Squad!
Behind the Freeze Frames: The story behind the ending of each episode.
Casting Test-Ed Williams and Alan North: really cool peek behind the curtain.
Producer’s Photo Gallery: Stills that automatically change.
List of Celebrity Death Shots: Text about the deaths of several celebrities (in the show).
Production Memo Highlight: A list of changes needed to be made to make the censors happy.
Gag Reel
Police Squad! is brilliant, ahead of its time and an all-time TV classic. Although Police Squad! only lasted for six episodes, it is getting the treatment it deserves with a winning Blu-ray.
Film: A+
Video: B+
Audio: A
Extras: A
Overall: A