Akiva Schaffer's new film "The Naked Gun" is the fourth entry in the "Naked Gun" movie series. The franchise began in 1980 with the short-lived slapstick TV show "Police Squad!," starring Leslie Nielsen as police detective Frank Drebin. Nielsen played the part completely straight (he was a stone-faced Joe Friday type), which was a marvelous juxtaposition to the absurd sight gags around him. "Police Squad!" was co-created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, the masterminds behind comedy classics like "The Kentucky Fried Movie" and "Airplane!" Sadly, the series was too funny to live, and "Police Squad!" was canceled after only six episodes.

However, the series lived on among a cult comedy crowd, and there was enough interest in 1988 to expand the property into a feature film

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