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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.
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Quotations
Don't touch those! Don't you ever touch my balls without asking!
Drop that stereo before I blow your goddamn nuts off, asshole.
Excuse me sir, this is a non-smoking area. I'm gonna' have to ask you to distinguish that cigar.
FOOLS! To think they can kill the brother, of Badula!
Gene, Gene made a machine, and Joe, Joe made it go. Art, Art blew a fart and blew the whole damn thing apart.
Good evening, gentlemen. I just came by to see that you were comfortable. Now, as we vampires say, lights out, suckers!
Encyclopedia
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.
Movie details
Police Academy
A new mayor has 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 and their adventures at the police academy.
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
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.
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
New recruits are 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. The final film starring Guttenberg.
Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
The officers attend a police convention in Florida where Cmndt. Lassard inadvertently switches his briefcase with that of a group of jewel thieves. The thieves try to get it back.
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
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 7: Mission to Moscow
The officers go to Russia to help catch an international crime figure.
Future
Plans were in motion for an eighth Police Academy film to be released in 2007 after a decade of absence. 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?'" Most of the main cast members were due to return, except David Graf (Eugene Tackleberry) and Billie Bird (Lois Feldman), both of whom had passed away. Hugh Wilson was slated to direct.
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. 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.
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."
In a radio interview on 26th November 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.. Guttenberg is slated to direct the film, 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.
Blue Oyster Bar
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 1972 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)
Theme song
- 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.
Television series
There were two syndicated television series loosely based on the film.
Animated Police Academy
The first was Police Academy, an animated series in 1988 lasting two seasons.
Police Academy: The Series
The second spin-off television series was Police Academy: The Series, a live action show starring Joe Flaherty in 1997, lasting only one season.
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