Classic TV Intros 3

Police Squad!

When was it on? March 4, 1982 – July 8, 1982

What happens? Absolute mayhem. A gleeful piss-take of 1960s cop shows, Police Squad’s credits open with the brilliantly self-important boast that the show is in colour, before the action kicks off from the perspective of a cruising cop car. Suddenly Leslie Nielson bursts out of the car into a hail of gunfire. Alan North’s police chief is then seen entering the police station, before all hell breaks loose, with more random gunfire, people catching on fire and somebody diving out of the window. Suddenly, Rex Harrison is bizarrely introduced as Abraham Lincoln, who has his hat shot off before producing a revolver and returning fire.

Then what? A guest star is announced, before being promptly killed off. Our favourite sees William Shatner dodge a round of bullets before inexplicably glugging down a glass of poisoned wine. Finally, the name of the episode is shown on screen, only to be announced as something completely different by the narrator. The end credits continue in the same spirit, with a spoof of standard freeze-frame ending, in which the frame doesn’t actually freeze, the actors just stop moving. All in all, a better set of gags in the credits than most TV shows cram into half an hour. Top stuff.

Our verdict? Gloriously, wilfully stupid, it instantly captures the tone of the show. Great theme tune as well.