The Naked Gun is a media franchise based on the TV show Police Squad!, consisting of American crime spoof-slapstick comedy films, created by the comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. It includes one television series, four theatrical films and a video game. The series centers on a bumbling police detective who solves criminal cases in comical fashion. Leslie Nielsen stars in the television series and the first three films as the protagonist Detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin; a fourth film starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. was released in 2025. Critics have praised the TV series and the films, all four of which have been financially successful.
Television Police Squad! (1982)
Police Squad! is an American crime parody television series that was broadcast on ABC in 1982. The series starred Leslie Nielsen as Franklin "Frank" Drebin, and was co-created and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Parodying police procedurals, the series featured the use of sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs. Although the show was canceled after six episodes, it was later followed by the successful Naked Gun film series, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #7 on its list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20 and 21
Film Title U.S. release date Director Writers Producer(s) The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! David Zucker Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Pat Proft Robert K. Weiss The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear David Zucker & Pat Proft Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult Peter Segal Pat Proft and David Zucker & Robert LoCash Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker The Naked Gun Akiva Schaffer Akiva Schaffer and Dan Gregor & Doug Mand Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) tries to uncover a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, who is on an official visit to the United States. The main suspect is Vincent Ludwig, a rich businessman (Ricardo Montalbán), who uses a hypnotic device to turn others into murderers. On the case, Drebin falls in love with Ludwig's assistant, Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley). She knows nothing about Ludwig's plot, and after the pair spends the night together, Jane helps with Frank's investigation. As with previous ZAZ spoof comedies, the plot was mostly culled from a more serious film, in this case Telefon.
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Frank discovers that Jane's new boyfriend, Quentin Hapsburg (Robert Goulet), is involved in an evil plan to kidnap Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths), a scientist whom President George H. W. Bush (John Roarke) has chosen to determine a new national energy policy. Hapsburg plans to kidnap the real Dr. Meinheimer and replace him with a lookalike named Earl Hacker (also portrayed by Griffiths) who will endorse an energy policy according to the dictates of the energy lobby.
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)
In the third film of the series, Frank is married to Jane, and he has retired from Police Squad. The film introduces the criminal Rocco Dillon (Fred Ward), who is stuck in prison. He is contacted by someone called Papshmir to be given a target for a bombing. Frank is pulled out of retirement. He goes undercover pretending to be a prisoner named "Nick 'the Slasher' McGurk Jr., III" at the jail where Dillon is being held, and they break out of jail. Outside they are escorted by Dillon's gangster mother (Kathleen Freeman) to his country retreat, where Frank also meets Rocco's voluptuous moll (Anna Nicole Smith). The gang plots to blow up the Academy Awards. When Jane arrives looking for Frank, she is taken hostage.
The Naked Gun (2025)
After years of aborted attempts at a new film, a sequel was greenlit in 2022. Directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Schaffer, Dan Gregor, and Doug Mand, the film stars Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. Principal photography was originally tentatively scheduled for summer 2023. Principal photography ran from May to June 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The film was released on August 1, 2025.
Future In August 2025, producer Erica Huggins said in an interview that discussions about a sequel to the 2025 film were ongoing between the actors, writers and producers.
Video games The Naked Gun: ICUP (2012) The Naked Gun: ICUP, a point-and-click adventure game, was released by Gamecentric Media and Paramount for iOS, Android, and Windows in 2012. The story and concept were penned by Robert LoCash, a writer of the Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Due to Leslie Nielsen's death in 2010, voice actor A.J. LoCascio took over as Frank Drebin Jr., the son of the original character. The game received an average score of 60 on the review aggregator Metacritic.
Cast and characters
Character Television Film Video game Police Squad! The Naked Gun: The Naked Gun 2½: Naked Gun 33⅓: The Naked Gun The Naked Gun: Det. Lt. Franklin "Frank" Drebin Leslie Nielsen Cpt. Ed Hocken Alan North George Kennedy Det. Fred Nordberg Peter Lupus O. J. Simpson Ted Olson Ed Williams colspan="2" Al Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor colspan="4" Johnny the Snitch William Duell colspan="5" Jane Spencer-Drebin Priscilla Presley Priscilla Presley "Weird Al" Yankovic Himself Police station thug Himself Papshmir Raye Birk Raye Birk colspan="2" Vincent Ludwig Ricardo Montalbán colspan="4" Mayor Lillian Barkley Nancy Marchand colspan="4" Dominique Charlotte Zucker colspan="4" Queen Elizabeth II Jeannette Charles colspan="3" Quentin Hapsburg colspan="2" Robert Goulet colspan="3" Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer colspan="2" Richard Griffiths colspan="3" Earl Hacker colspan="2" colspan="3" Commissioner Anabell Brumford colspan="2" Jacqueline Brookes colspan="3" Hector Savage colspan="2" Anthony James colspan="3" Terence Baggett colspan="2" Lloyd Bochner colspan="3" President George H. W. Bush colspan="2" John Roarke colspan="3" Rocco Dillon colspan="3" Fred Ward colspan="2" Muriel Dillon colspan="3" Kathleen Freeman colspan="2" Tanya Peters colspan="3" Anna Nicole Smith colspan="2" Louise colspan="3" Ellen Greene colspan="2" Tyrone colspan="3" Bruce A. Young colspan="2" Franklin "Frank" Drebin Jr. colspan="3" Adam Hasart Liam Neeson A.J. LoCascio Beth Davenport colspan="4" Pamela Anderson Cpt. Ed Hocken Jr. colspan="4" Paul Walter Hauser Matthew Faulkner Richard Cane colspan="4" Danny Huston Sig Gustafson colspan="4" Kevin Durand Chief Davis colspan="4" CCH Pounder Det. Barnes colspan="4" Liza Koshy Det. "Not Nordberg Jr." colspan="4" Moses Jones Michael Sweeney Ellen colspan="5" Alison Haislip Bella colspan="5" Michelle Jones Ken Wong colspan="5" Andrew Bush
Additional crew and production details Title Crew/Detail Composer Cinematographer Editor(s) Production companies Distributing company Running time Police Squad! Ira Newborn Sherman Kunkel Tom Benko, and Malcolm Campbell Paramount Television American Broadcasting Company, CBS Television Distribution 144 minutes The Naked Gun: Robert M. Stevens Michael Jablow Paramount Pictures Corp. Paramount 85 minutes The Naked Gun 2½: Christopher Greenbury & James R. Symons Paramount Pictures, Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker Productions Paramount Pictures Corporation Naked Gun 33⅓: James R. Symons Paramount Pictures 83 minutes The Naked Gun Lorne Balfe Brandon Trost Brian Scott Olds Paramount Pictures, Fuzzy Door Productions Paramount Pictures 85 minutes
Reception Box office performance FilmRelease DateOpening Weekend (North America) US/Canada gross International gross Total grossBudget The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!December 2, 1988$9,331,746 $78,756,177 $73,689,000 $152,445,177$14.5 million The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of FearJune 28, 1991$20,817,139 $86,930,411 $105,310,000 $192,240,411$23 million Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final InsultMarch 18, 1994$13,216,531 $51,132,598 $81,273,000 $132,405,598$30 million The Naked GunAugust 1, 2025$16,805,560 $52,647,396 $49,500,000 $102,147,396$42 million Total $269,466,582 $309,472,000 $579,238,582$109.5 million
Critical and public response
Title Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore Police Squad! 91% (32 reviews) The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! 88% (142 reviews) 76 (13 reviews) A−The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear 77% (112 reviews) 65 (21 reviews) B+ Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult 65% (68 reviews) 63 (21 reviews) B+ The Naked Gun 88% (318 reviews) 75 (48 reviews) A− Accolades At the 34th Primetime Emmy Awards, Police Squad! was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Nielsen) and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series ("A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)").
At the 1992 MTV Movie Awards, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear was nominated for Best Kiss (Nielsen and Presley).
At the 15th Golden Raspberry Awards, Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult won Worst Supporting Actor (Simpson) and Worst New Star (Smith).
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