Alot of people do rightfully know of the The Naked Gun movies as not only is the most recent film currently out in cinemas but the films on the whole are just that good and funny. However there is something that alot of people don't know and that's the fact that those films are also spin offs of a not really very well known TV show and well I thought that i'd take a look at the first episode of this show and so then join me as I review the episode that introduces us to the character of Frank Drebin with the episode in question being called simply just "A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when a costume and a teller are shot dead it's up to Frank Drebin to find out who killed them before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad with this episodes plot being dumb but in a good way as the plot of the episode isn't meant to be taken seriously and is meant to be dumb and silly and because of that the episodes plot does come of as being really fun to watch as the episodes does treat this very outlandish plot very seriously which is something that could have very easily backfired and made the plot less fun to watch but it's the fact that the characters and the makers of this show treated this episodes plot so seriously that it does oddly work in it's own unique way with the plot of the episode being a pretty strong plot to start out on as well as while no one would have expected this shows plot to be good and would have just written off right away it is something that once you get into does feel like the plot that you would still find in cop shows today which is something that does go to show you that the makers of this show in their own unique way loved the cop show genre as his is a plot that is still being used with this episode being the best example of this plot due to how much fun that it is to watch with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Leslie Nielsen as Det. Frank Drebin , Alan North as Capt. Ed Hocken and Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln. Also starring in this episode is Lorne Greene as Stabbed Man , Ed Williams as Mr. Olson , William Duell as Johnny , Barbara Tarbuck as Mrs. Twice , Terry Wills as Jim , Terrence Beasor as Dr. Zubatsky , Russell Shannon as Ralph Twice , Jimmy Briscoe as A Cop , Kathryn Leigh Scott as Sally , Marvin Miller as The Narrator , Mallory Sandler as The Dental Assistant , David Schwimmer as An Extra In Waiting Room and Tiny Ron as Al.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acing that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors really understanding just what it kind of episode that there making and really having fun with the concept and because of that we do get alot of really fun performances in this episodes even from those who only appear in the shows opening titles fully get that this show is meant to be parody of cop shows and even with that in mind none of this episodes actors give an over the top performance because they don't really need to as by doing that then they'd make the episode less funny to watch and yet by playing every single thing straight and treating it seriously then everything in this episode does become a whole lot more funnier to watch with the best actor in this whole entire episode being of course Leslie Nielsen who even in this first episode really does totally own the role of Frank Drebin as he just gets the character down perfectly with him basically being the only actor who could play this character due to the fact that before he did Airplane he did more dramatic roles and he brought that dramatic actor mentally to this role with it being something that really does shine through in not only this episode but the whole show and the original Naked Gun trilogy as well with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes really have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
While it would be to hard to if this episodes characters are the best in the whole show what can be said is that alot of them are really good characters in their own right. With all of this characters whilst they are yes all variations on the dumb one character they all do work in their own unique way take for example Frank Drebin himself as while yes he is a pretty clueless character he is pretty much Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther movies only without the trench coat , French accent and beard but at the same time tho he's also a really dedicated police officer who is always willing to go the extra mile to get the job and while how he reaches hos conclusions are always really dumb they do work for his character with the character of Sally being another good character in this episode as she is basically a play on the idea that "the blonde girl didn't do the crime" just because of the fact that she's a girl so why would she do it but the episode takes that idea to such extremes by not revealing that she did do the crime in the first place but that she also committed several other crimes in several other citifies as well which is such a good idea is defies what us the audience are expecting to happen but doing so in a way that doesn't feel forced as it is entirely believable that in this world this seemingly hopeless character in Sally could have done this crime as it's well within her character to do just like how it's within the character of Frank to solve the crime despite not having a clue on how to do so in the first place with the rest of the episodes being just as good but not as memorable as those two are tho as there not really the main focus of the episode with the little that we get from characters like Ed and Johnny for example are enough to get across the joke of their characters but enough to male them memorable enough characters in this episode.
Much like with another from the eighties this time being Columbo this episode not only straight up tells us who did the crime but also reveals how they did it as well. With this very idea being something that very easily could have backfired as it could have made the episode pretty dull to watch but in doing so it does oddly enough allow for more jokes to happen without them getting in the way of the episodes main plot but in saying that tho since this show is meant to be a spoof of cop shows and those don't usually reveal who did it until the very end of the episode thus allowing for us the audience to build up our very own list of suspects and works it out for ourselfs who did it it would have made more sense for the makers of this show to do something very similar only to put there very own unique spin on it like maybe the person that there leading us to believe did the crime actually didn't and it instead turns out to be some extra or something like that just something that would put that concept of revealing who did it on it's head instead of just outright saying who did it and reveling how they did it at the very start of the episode and heck this episode even reveals the villains main motivation for killing of those two people as well which is something that is fitting for this show as it does add to the absurdism of the whole episode but at the same time if you didn't know that this was a comedy then it would have left you with no reason to watch this episode in the first place where as both the comedy aspect and whole cop show aspect of the episode could have worked hand in hand by creating a genuinely good mystery for us to solve only with alot more jokes thrown in for good measure.
The reason why alot of you won't have heard about this show in the first place is because of the fact that it got cancelled after just six episodes. However it wasn't cancelled because of the quality of the show far from it it was instead cancelled because of the fact that the show and this episode does have alot of sight gags in it and the audience at the time couldn't see them all as they would stop watching the show to either check out something else on the TV or to go into the other room both of which they have every right to do so they were instead getting a pretty bad mystery cop show that just so happened to star the guy from Airplane in it this is way The Naked Gun movies not only were able to borrow jokes from this show buy also became massive hits as well as now the audience can't leave the room with it being shocking right now that this show would even get cancelled in the first place as while yes alot of people would have stopped watching any given episode to do whatever but there also would have been some people that didn't do that and while it is hard to say just what the final viewing numbers were for the show on a week to week basis it still did surely have to fairly decent as they did after all turn it into a very successful film series but at the same time tho given the fact that not alot most likely didn't watch it then they more then likely got a different viewing experience to those that did stick around to watch the full episode as those that did stick around to watch a full episode would have gotten a really good comedy with a lame mystery but those that didn't only got the lame mystery part with one or two decent jokes at best.
To be frank here this episodes central villain Sally Decker isn't that interesting of a villain which fair enough might be the whole point of not only the characters but also the show as well. As her whole reason for stealing the money and for killing those two people was so that she could pay off her dentist and that's really it which granted is wonderfully absurd and is something that does feel perfectly in line with this show but at the same time tho it doesn't make the character all the more interesting as there's nothing about her character that really does stand out with her not even appearing in the episode all that much either which only leaves her character to be really underdeveloped and while it is understandable as to why her character isn't featured all that much as it would have seemed out of place for them to featured this character that the police are meant to believe is innocent until the last minuet it would have made the mystery aspect of the show alot more stronger if not only we the audience got to know the character just a little bit more as even a scene or two with her talking about anything else other then the crime would have helped as would the fact if the episode didn't reveal that it was she that did it in the first place and instead gave us small clues hidden all through the episode as that then would allow for us the audience to work out who did it they could keep the wonderfully silly reasoning behind it as that is something that does add to the humor of the episode but it would have helped both the episode and the character if we got to know a little bit more about Sally Decker as a character even if it's something that she makes up as that then could be as wonderfully ridiculous as you'd want it to be and it would still work as well.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grad total running time of exactly twenty five minuets and seven seconds. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running time for al of the episodes of this show with this episode even having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place however the in saying that this episode really doesn't use it's running time time all that wisely tho as while the plot of the episode is as focused as it's ever going to be it's also not as developed as it ever could be as alot of the time it does feel like that Frank is just stumbling around from one location to the other with rhyme or reason with this being something that could have been linked to the fact that the mystery aspect of the episode isn't all that good as without a good mystery then how could this episode have had a more well developed plot but that again could also have been the point of the show as as well as this whole show and this episode is meant to be a spoof on cop shows and those don't typically have that well developed plots to them with the lack of a well developed plot also effecting it's characters but not much tho as again cop shows don't have that well developed characters in them either and so it wouldn't make sense for this episode to have that well developed characters in it either it would have helped the episode be a better episode tho but it also would have gotten in the way of the episodes jokes as well and with this being a comedy show that would mean that character development would have to get put to the side as the episode would have to stop a joke to develop either it's plot or it's characters alot more then what it already does in the actual episode itself but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episode being painfully funny with there being several jokes happening in each and every single scene of this episode be it from the franchises more traditional word play gags to things that the characters are saying to sight gags to even some slap stick jokes there's something in this episode for every one and something in this episode that will make any one laugh as that's just how funny that this episodes jokes really are with it being really hard to say just what the best joke in the whole entire episode as really all of the episodes jokes could rightfully make that claim and it would be totally justifiable with this episode being a good example of just good comedy should be as while yes alot of the word play jokes in this episode could be seen as being sully and over the top there's nothing worn with that as along as what your saying is actually funny in the place with this shows humor being on the same level of absurd as the Monty Python films as much like with alot of there films you never really know just what it is that your going to be getting next in this episode from a joke point of view but if I were pushed i'd say that the best joke in this episode being the joke where the informant Johnny ends up teaching a priest about live after death which is an example of just how wonderfully silly that all of this episodes jokes really can be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall if you love shows like Brooklyn Nine Nine then your going to love this episode as this show has the exact same sense of humor that that show had as well only this episode has a more silly sense of humor that does make up for the lack of any plot or character development in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as or where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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