The Guys at Police Squad! Hear of Leslie Nielsen's Passing

It seems like a typical day at Police Squad!.  Norberg is unsuccessfully practicing hitting a paddleball.  (Note:  Norberg was played in the Naked Gun movies by O.J. Simpson.  Since he’s obviously unavailable, O.J. has been replaced by another former NFL running back, Bo Jackson.)  Off to the side, a uniformed officer is attempting to read Miranda rights to a goat who is being charged with vandalism and destruction of private property.  The booking process is impeded by the fact the goat keeps eating the paperwork.   Lieutenant Ed Hocken is reading a newspaper, and has a pained expression on his face.

Suddenly a crash is heard outside as someone drives a car into a row of garbage cans.

Norberg:  “Captain, Frank is here.”

Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank DribenDetective Lieutenant Frank Drebin enters the room.  He removes a banana peel from the brow of his hat and sits down.

Hocken:  “Frank, I’m glad you’re here.  We’ve just received some upsetting news.  Leslie Nielsen has passed away.”

Drebin:  “Who?”

Hocken:  “Nielsen.”

Drebin:  “No thanks, I already have a chair.  And I don’t think you and I are related.”

Hocken:  “No, Frank.  Leslie Nielsen?  The actor?”

Drebin looks puzzled.  “The name doesn’t ring a bell.”

Hocken:  “Leslie Nielsen was born in Saskatchewan in 1926.  His father was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

Norberg:  “I thought I saw a resemblance between a young Leslie Nielsen and Dudley Do-Right.”

Hocken:  “He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked as a disk jockey before winning a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse acting school in New York.  His career started on live television.  He made his debut in the 1956 film The Vagabond King.  This led to his role in the science-fiction cult classic Forbidden Planet." 

Drebin:  “Forbidden Planet?  That’s near Cleveland, isn’t it?”

Hocken:  “He continued working in a variety of movie roles, including Tammy and the Bachelor and The Poseidon Adventure,  building a reputation as a solid lead actor.  He also worked in TV, starring in the Disney series Swamp Fox as the American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.”

Drebin:  “He didn’t want to be called Shirley, but he’ll go by the name of Francis?”

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Article Author: Phillip Barnett

Phillip Barnett is a software geek with multiple, conflicting musical fantasies. He has played jazz piano, folk guitar and klezmer clarinet (not all at the same time - that would look ridiculous). You can follow his meanderings through twitter.

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