The Arresting Humor of ‘Police Squad!’

You’ve seen elements of “Police Squad!” in “The FBI,” “Dragnet,” “Starsky and Hutch” and a jillion other cop shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

The tough detective, the lab guy, the snitch. That Quinn Martin-like intro (“ ‘Police Squad!’--in color”) and the big-band theme. The special guest star. The epilogue.

But only on “Police Squad!” (1982) would you hear a cop tell the wife of a slaying victim: “We’re sorry to bother you at a time like this. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn’t dead then.”

In this cop show from the bizarro world--four of the six episodes made will be sandwiched between movies in Comedy Central’s Clueless marathon Friday and Sunday--if a name rings a bell, you hear it.

When someone goes back to the lab, they drive there in reverse. You might see the Eiffel Tower out the window of headquarters of Big City, USA. Hypotheticals that start with “Let’s say” end with a group recitation. Expect the mug file to be filled with coffee cups.

Puns and sight gags come so fast that you’d better be watching carefully--and even then you’re bound to miss some. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the show’s creators--Jim Abrahams and Jerry and David Zucker--were responsible for the 1980 movie “Airplane!” They later took “Police Squad!” to the big screen with the “Naked Gun” movies.

Leslie Nielsen, who stars as Detective Frank Drebin--Or is he a sergeant? We’re never sure--manages not to laugh in the face of danger, and there can be a lot of danger here. Each week’s guest star is killed off before the episode starts.

During a crime reenactment, Drebin uses live ammo (makes for a lot of casualties), and when he goes undercover as a small-business owner, the thugs trying to shake him down put a sign in the window: “Sorry. Owner being beaten. Back in 5 minutes.”

Helping Drebin solve cases are his boss, Capt. Ed Hocken (Alan North), and kinky police scientist Ted Olson (Ed Williams), whom Drebin always walks in on during questionable community relations.

And when he wants the word on the street, Drebin heads straight to Johnny the shoeshine boy (William Duell), who knows everything--literally. Johnny explains the Cinderella complex to Joyce Brothers, and, when a priest asks him about the afterlife, Johnny first wants to know, “You talkin’ existential being or anthropomorphic deity?”

Two episodes air Friday from 7 to 8 p.m., the others from 10 to 11 p.m. On Sunday they’ll air from 4 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.

DETAILS, DETAILS: What early-’60s police drama did Leslie Nielsen star in? The answer to last week’s quiz (What was the off-the-air name of “WKRP in Cincinnati” deejay Venus Flytrap?): Gordon Sims.

Set Your VCR

On Monday at 5 p.m., KDOC airs “Hawaii Five-0” on weekdays, starting with the first, 1968 episode. (“The Lucy Show” moves to 11:30 a.m., “Cannon” to 4 p.m.; “Hogan’s Heroes” joins the lineup at 7:30 p.m.)

A bigamist teaches Stuart a foolproof sexual maneuver in the “Venus Butterfly” episode of “L.A. Law” (Wednesday at 10 a.m. on Lifetime).

TV Land’s Saturday marathon this week showcases “Hogan’s Heroes” (5 p.m. to 3 a.m.).

Aunt Bee is “The New Housekeeper” on “The Andy Griffith Show” (Wednesday at 8 a.m. on WGN). She and Opie don’t hit it off right away in this first, 1960 episode of the series.

In another first, this from 1987, a widower with three girls gets help from his brother-in-law and a pal in “Full House,” Saturday at 6:30 a.m. on KTLA Channel 5.