Ain't No Romance Around There Welcome, ?uestlove fans.

And, oh, how the rumors persisted. During the writers' strike of 2007, AD creator Mitch Hurwitz would finally have time to work on the movie's script. Unfortunately, we found out the next year that Michael Cera's refusal to sign a contract was holding up production. But finally, filming for the movie was to begin in the summer of 2009! Then 2010 rolled around, and Will Arnett told us that they're going to start shooting by the end of the year, and he really means it this time.

In reality, all we've seen of the movie is this:


Arrested Development star Jason Bateman recently fanned the flames while promoting his new movie Paul, telling MTV News:

"For the very first time, [Hurwitz] sat me down last week to talk about what he's got and where he's going and what do I think... I can confirm what his update was, which was that he is very deep into the work on it. The odds of him getting it done before the end of the year, as he says he wants to, are good."

David Cross is decidedly less optimistic. Also speaking with MTV News, he sounded exasperated, stating, "I'll believe it when I see it." Cross continued:

"Not even when I'm standing there shooting it. Not even when it's wrapped. Not even when I'm going to do [additional dialogue recording]. Not even when I'm at the theater and it's playing. The next day, that's when I'll believe it."

I, for one, have generally been ambivalent towards the idea of the potential Arrested Development movie, even from the very beginning. As a huge fan of the show, I do feel like the cast and crew got a raw deal from Fox. Not only were production orders cut midseason twice, but Fox seemed determine to hide the show from those that actually watched it religiously by bouncing new episodes from night to night. David Cross, in his Mrs. Featherbottom costume, summed up the challenges faced by those involved with this profanity-laced tirade against the network:


With that being said, I've often wondered if Fox's mishandling of Arrested Development didn't end up as a net-positive for the show. The story goes that early in the show's existence, the powers-that-be approached Mitch Hurwitz and asked that he make the show more relatable by having Michael teach George Michael a lesson. They thought a more formulaic family comedy would attract more viewers. Hurwitz abided the suggestion, wrote the episode "Pier Pressure," and introduced the world to J. Walter Weatherman. For three glorious seasons, the team responsible for AD openly mocked its network, made light of its plight, and continued to put comedy ahead of ratings all the way until the bitter end.

More importantly, I've wondered what the purpose would really be of making AD into a movie. It's not that I think Hurwitz should not be allowed to capitalize on the success the show finally found in the DVD marketplace. I just like to acknowledge that he did get three seasons to tell his story, and he was able to conclude it, however hurriedly. I was as saddened as any fan when the show was cancelled, but I'm grateful that it didn't go on for far too long and become an enormous disappointment on a weekly basis (I'm looking directly at you, The Simpsons and The Office). There's a huge part of me that worries that an Arrested Development movie would be nothing more than an extended reunion episode and would fail to live up to the brilliance of the series. I want the series to exist as its wonderful self, and I fear that a movie would be destined to ruin it for me.

At least that's how I felt until I discovered Police Squad! this past weekend.

Coming off of the huge success that was 1980's Airplane! (the 5th highest-grossing film that year -- ahead of classics such as Caddyshack, The Shining, and Raging Bull), the writing team of Jim Abrahams and brother David and Jerry Zucker created Police Squad! in the spring of 1982 for ABC-TV. Starring Leslie Nielsen as Sargeant Detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the show mocked the serious cop dramas of the time and of today.


We are first introduced to Det. Drebin in "A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise) after witnessing a grisly murder. We see him driving to the crime scene as Neilsen provides the voice-over:

"My name is Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective-Lieutenant, Police Squad, a special detail of the police department. There'd been a recent wave of gorgeous fashion models found naked and unconscious in laundromats on the West Side. Unfortunately, I was assigned to investigate holdups of neighborhood credit unions. I was across town doing my laundry when I heard the call on the double killing. It took me twenty minutes to get there. My boss was already on the scene."

Drebin is joined on the Police Squad by Captain Ed Hokken (played by Alan North) and the bumbling, earnest Nordberg (played by Peter Lupus). Each episode, they are assisted by lab worker Mr. Olsen and shoe-shiner Johnny the Snitch (a man who seems to have the inside scoop for everyone, as long as the price is right) as they solve crimes in a nameless city. You can find every episode on netflix or split up here on youtube.

It should come as no surprise to fans of Airplane! that Police Squad! is ridiculously funny. Without giving too much away, it's as if the Zuckers and Abraham were trying to see how many jokes they could fit into 30 minutes. From the opening credits until the freeze-frame finale, each episode produces numerous laugh out loud moments and includes many more subtle jokes that will be easily missed on the first viewing. It's a show that is firmly entrenched in Comedy World, much like current shows 30 Rock and Community, but Police Squad!'s version of this alternate reality is one in which sight gags and literalism are taken to their extremes. While no character on the show reacts to any of the absurdity surrounding him or her, we're blessed that much of it is delivered via Leslie Nielsen's famous deadpan.


Police Squad! faced difficulties from its network. In its only season on the air, three episodes were broadcast in a different order than their production, making a joke in each episode's epilogue just an odd line. Additionally, it was not given a proper opportunity to build an audience, and was cancelled after just four episodes (episodes 5 and 6 aired during the summer). Then-ABC president Tony Thomopoulos explained the cancellation by saying, "Police Squad! was cancelled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it."

The show was not without its supporters, however. Finding critical acclaim, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, and Leslie Nielsen was nominated for an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy. (Taxi and Alan Alda of M*A*S*H went on to win each category respectively.) Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, argued, "If Police Squad! had been made twenty years later, it would have been a smash. It was before its time."

Sound familiar?

And here's what truly gives me new hope for the Arrested Development movie. Police Squad! eventually found itself commercial and critical success -- on the big screen. A full six years after its cancellation the show was turned into the movie The Naked Gun in 1988. The location changed to Los Angeles, Ed Kennedy replaced Alan North as Captain Ed Hokken, and OJ Simpson became the new Nordberg, but most everything else about the series stayed the same. A brilliant, yet short-lived, television series became a brilliant and successful movie.


Interestingly, imdb.com currently has the Arrested Development movie scheduled for a 2012 release -- a full 6 years after its cancellation. While I still won't be heartbroken if it never actually happens, I no longer fear the worst with the AD movie. As Police Squad! and The Naked Gun proved over twenty years ago, it can be done, and it can be done well.