Police Academy (franchise)
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| Police Academy film series | |
 Police Academy DVD boxset |
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| Directed by | Hugh Wilson - (PA) Jerry Paris - (2 & 3) Jim Drake - (4) Alan Myerson - (5) Peter Bonerz - (6) Alan Metter - (7) |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Paul Maslansky |
| Starring | David Graf G. W. Bailey Steve Guttenberg Bubba Smith Leslie Easterbrook George Gaynes Michael Winslow Bob Goldthwait Tim Kazurinsky Tab Thacker |
| Music by | Robert Folk |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 1984-1994 |
| Running time | 627 min. (total) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Gross revenue | $239,643,235 [1] |
Police Academy is a series of comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s. The seventh and to date last installment, Mission to Moscow, was released in 1994. The series opened with Police Academy (1984) which started with the premise that a new mayor had announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The movie followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers. The main character, Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), was a repeat offender who was forced to join the police academy as punishment.
In general, all of the movies and television shows depended on low-brow humor, usually based on simple characterizations and physical comedy. As with many similar movies, the theme was a group of underdogs struggling to prove themselves while various stereotyped authority figures tried to suppress them. The sequels have not been well received by some critics over the years. The first film grossed $81.2 million in North America, with the following films earning $150 million in total.
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[edit] Films
[edit] Overview
Police Academy was released in 1984, and directed by Hugh Wilson. The film has a newly elected mayor announcing a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The movie followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers and their adventures at the police academy. In Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, the newly graduated cadets are sent to one of the worst precincts in the city to improve the conditions. Lt. Mauser undermines their attempts so that he can get Capt. Lassard fired and get the position in charge. Police Academy 3: Back in Training was released in 1986, and directed by Jerry Paris. When the governor of the state announces that budget cuts are in order to get rid of the worst of the two police academies, the Metropolitan police academy, led by Cmndt. Lassard, work on ensuring it is not theirs. This is hindered by their unusual gang of new cadets. The fourth installment, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, released in 1987, involves new recruits being brought in when the officers work with a newly formed Citizens On Patrol group. However, Harris and Proctor are in charge and plan to dismantle the program. Citizens on Patrol was the final film starring Guttenberg. Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was released in 1988 and directed by Alan Myerson. The plot involves the officers attending a police convention in Florida to honour Commandant Eric Lassard as police officer of the decade where Commandant Lassard inadvertently switches his briefcase with that of a group of jewel thieves. The thieves try to get it back. The sixth installment, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege directed by Peter Bonerz, was released in 1989. When the city suffers from a dangerous set of crimes by a gang of jewel thieves, the Metropolitan Police Academy graduates are brought in to do something about it. Police Academy: Mission to Moscow released in 1994, and directed by Alan Metter involved the officers go to Russia to help catch an international crime figure.
[edit] Development
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (March 2009) |
[edit] Cast
This is a list of actors and characters who have appeared in the Police Academy franchise.
[edit] Crew
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (March 2009) |
[edit] Music
- There is an instrumental theme used throughout the series. However, a pop song entitled I'm Gonna Be Somebody by Jack Mack is used at the end of #1. For #4, a rap song (with the same title as the film) Citizens on Patrol was written by John Debney and sung by Michael Winslow & The L.A. Dream Team.
[edit] Future
Plans were in motion for an eighth Police Academy film to be released in 2007 after a decade of absence.[2] Says series creator Paul Maslansky: "I felt it was time to start again. I saw that Starsky & Hutch and a number of other revivals were doing really well. Police Academy has such a great history, so I thought, 'Why not?'"[3] Most of the main cast members were due to return,[4] except David Graf (Eugene Tackleberry) and Billie Bird (Lois Feldman), both of whom had died, and Tab Thacker (Thomas "House" Conklin), who had lost his legs to diabetes and died as well. Hugh Wilson was slated to direct.[5]
Leslie Easterbrook and Marion Ramsey mentioned that filming for the next Police Academy film was due to start shooting in summer 2006 for a release in 2007.[6] The film was shelved in October 2006. Leslie Easterbrook did mention that there was still hope for a direct to DVD sequel. She added that while Warner Bros. wanted to do one, they wanted a producer to get independent financing.[7][8] In May 2008 Michael Winslow replied to a question about a possible new Police Academy film: “Anything’s possible. You’ve got to hope for Paul Maslansky and those folks over there to put it together. It’s up to them. It would be great to see everyone again."[9]
In a radio interview on November 26, 2008 with Colin Paterson for BBC Five Live's Simon Mayo show, Steve Guttenberg confirmed that 8 was still in development and that he was working on the script with Warner Bros..[10] Guttenberg is slated to direct the film,[11] and stated that all of the cast from the previous installments (except for the deceased David Graf, Billie Bird, and Tab Thacker) would return to reprise their roles.[11]
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
There were two syndicated television series loosely based on the film. The first one was an popular animated comedy, entitled Police Academy. The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and Warner Bros. Television. It ran from September 1988 to September 1989, lasting 2 seasons with 64 episodes produced. Police Academy: The Series was a 1997 live-action show based on the films. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Protocol Entertainment. Michael Winslow reprised his role from the films, the only cast member to do so.
[edit] Setting
The Blue Oyster Bar is a fictional bar, and the setting of a recurring gag-scene of the comedy film series Police Academy.
The bar is a stereotypical depiction of a leathermen's/bear gay bar, featuring patrons dressed up as bikers in leather clothing, police officers, sailors, and other stereotypical masculine gay fashion archetypes. The Blue Oyster was originally located on Howell St. in the first movie but was relocated to 655 Cowan Ave. in the second (Proctor erroneosly gives the address number as 621).
Within the Police Academy film series, unsuspecting characters periodically enter the bar unaware of its nature (this usually happens as a prank by the lead characters). Once inside, a group of patrons are depicted as leering towards the police officers and ready to force the frightened victims to dance with them, invariably to a tango called "El Bimbo", a 1974 hit from Bimbo Jet.
The Blue Oyster Bar only appeared in the first four Police Academy movies. Among those lured into the place were...
- Cadets Blankes and Copeland (twice in the first movie; once intentionally by Mahoney, once accidentally in order to avoid rioters)
- Sweetchuck (as a civilian in the second movie as he tries to evade Zed's gang, although he manages to escape after a brief tango)
- Mahoney (in the second movie as he fails to put down a bar-room brawl between Zed's gang and the patrons - the brawl was singlehandedly brought to an end by Hightower)
- Proctor (in the third and fourth movies)
- Captain Harris (in the fourth movie)
- Com. Eric Lassard (in the sixth movie)
In the animated series, the bar did not appear, but it is substituted by the "Crime Club".
[edit] References
- ^ "Police Academy franchise". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=policeacademy.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-21.
- ^ Police Academy 8 is in the works
- ^ New "Police Academy" movie in the works
- ^ What's happening with Police Academy 8? at Moviehole
- ^ Police Academy 8
- ^ Police Academy shuts down
- ^ Police Academy (2007)
- ^ Police Academy dead?
- ^ "The Den Of Geek Interview: Michael Winslow - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. 2008-05-08. http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/51617/the_den_of_geek_interview_michael_winslow.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-07.
- ^ BBC Radio Five Live
- ^ a b Morris, Clint (2008-11-26). "Guttenberg returns to Police Academy". Moviehole. http://www.moviehole.net/200816749-guttenberg-returns-to-police-academy. Retrieved on 2008-11-27.
[edit] External links
- Police Academy at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 3: Back in Training at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 6: City Under Siege at the Internet Movie Database
- Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow at the Internet Movie Database
Watch online The police Academy
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