Police Squad

[greenwich1754]

Can anybody verify this? - I swear I saw a Duncan Donuts commercial (quite?) a few years ago, and there was some little old guy in a line (for coffee, I guess) that a woman called "Earl". I swear that was Johnny, and this was well after the Police Squad! movies. I thought they didn't use Johnny in the movies because the actor was either too old, or perhaps dead. Am I crazy on this?

[BobBlaylock]

Who died in 1986? William Duell, the actor who played Johnny, is still alive, though he's getting quite old now. Judging from his appearance on TV tonight, it appears that Dick Clark has been dead for quite some time, but hasn't realized it yet, and continues to act as if he's still alive. But he surely was still well past 1986.

[smithrs]

Someone needs to upload the clip where he explains the Cinderella Complex to Dr. Joyce Brothers.

[Ogar666]

rip

[mrska1]

Love it RIP FRANK DREBBEN!

[Kowalski1979]

I love how this has started a Ska discussion with those who are void of sense of humour.

thebritish25: the clip is from Police Squad not Naked Gun.

[bruno192]

That's the guy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

[MAJORSNODGRASS]

Ska came to England soon after Blue Beat. See Don Drummond. We,re talking mid to late 60's.

[poughkeepsiejohn]

Love "Police Squad!" I'll never understand why they didn't use Johnny the shoe shine guy in the movies. He was terrific. It should be noted that Tommy LaSorda and Dr. Joyce Brothers made a visit to Johnny on the show. And yes, ska is great music!

[thebritish25]

He died in 86 I dont know how but the first film came out in 89.

[paper000000]

If you mean William Duell who played Johnny then he's still alive according to IMDB and WIKI.

And it was a big loss to the films that he wasn't in them. Johnny the shoeshine was probably the best gag in the series.

[thebritish25]

Oh no I meant Alan North But I was rong he died in 2000 but why was he not in the films ??

[BeckoffShow]

@paper000000 William is still with us!

[machetezombie]

@thebritish25

well paramount studios assembled producers, a director, a writer and lots of behind the scenes workers and paid them to make a feature length movie from this material. but that's not important right now.

[ProfessorpH]

@thebritish25 This is not from The Naked Gun. This is from the TV series Police Squad, which ran in 1982.

[thebritish25]

@ProfessorpH I know that I said the Naked Gun came out in 1989

And Johnny the Shoe shine died in 1986 but I dont know how

[goodlad22]

@poughkeepsiejohn SHOWS HOW FAR AHEAD YOU AMERICANS ARE IN COMEDY SHOWS !! POLICE SQUAD BRILLIANT !! NO ONE KNOWS WHAT COMEDY IS ANY MORE !!

[devilskin]

Ska actually predates reggae by several years and is not in fact a "modern offshoot of reggae", nor did it start in England. Ska had a come back in England in the late 70's thanks to 2Tone Records and English bands that mixed ska with punk to form the 2Tone sound, which in turn fueled the American 3rd wave of ska which focused more on the fast, upbeat, punk influenced ska sound. Traditional ska bands such as Hepcat, The Slackers and Go Jimmy Go pattern their sound more on early Jamaican ska.

[devilskin]

Ska actually predates reggae by several years and is not in fact a "modern offshoot of reggae", nor did it start in England. Ska had a come back in England in the late 70's thanks to 2Tone Records and English bands that mixed ska with punk to form the 2Tone sound, which in turn fueled the American 3rd wave of ska which focused more on the fast, upbeat, punk influenced ska sound. Traditional ska bands such as Hepcat, The Slackers and Go Jimmy Go pattern their sound more on early Jamaican ska.

[MoonstompingMike1985]

very true. i've been in too many debates with younger ska punk fans over this issue i've even tried to reccomend the early ska artists such as prince buster to them but many are still unaware and refuse to accept that ska came before reggae

[MoonstompingMike1985]

however that aside i still love police squad

[marcometer]

man Im 24, go into ska in 95, by 97 I pretty much knew the roots of ska. I now find myself as one of the "older" people at ska shows. The most annoying thing to me is when people say "Oh ska, it's a combination of reggae and punk" it makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Im usually forgiving when teenagers say that, but I go nuts when I hear people my age or older use that term to define ska.

[dtumahtsew]

is ska from england?

[SatanTheCat]

Ska is, actually, from Jamaica (Kingston, to be a bit more exact). It predates reggae by a tiny amount of time, but like the question about the egg and the chicken, it will be debated until the end of days, I think.

[Skibz777]

But...ska isn't a 'modern offshoot' of reggae. Ska preceded reggae by at least a decade. I hope Dick got some of his money back for that answer. I'd also question that "youth cream"...

[bebopdude7]

Johnny is the top man, knows everything, I want to find where he works and slip him a few dollars for the lottery numbers

[bigf1526]

i was so shocked when he asked about ska...made my day.

[Pablucho0]

yaaa! ska rocks man, best mood of music

hahaha i love this show

[killerjellybaby]

LIGHTYEAAAAAAAAAAR

[WheresPoochie]

The best explination of ska and Dick Clark's appearance.

[TonyK4]

This was included on the introduction to Lighyear's "A Pack of Dogs". What a song

[Timinator62]

Too Funny..I was lucky enough to the DVD's of all the episode's of this classic show