TV & Radio

Television Q&A

Complete ‘Naked Gun’ series available on DVD

 

Akron Beacon Journal

Q. Could you please tell me if The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad is on DVD. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Priscilla Presley. I hope you can find it; it’s a crazy movie.

And one with an interesting history. In 1982, the makers of the big-screen comedy Airplane! came to television with Police Squad, a parody of crime shows. Nielsen, who had also starred in Airplane!, played police detective Frank Drebin in the series. It was not a hit, but in 1988, Nielsen again played Drebin in The Naked Gun, and it proved a top 10 box-office hit. Sequels followed in 1991 ( Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear) and 1994 ( Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult 1994).

Now, to what you really want to know: All the movies are on DVD, individually and in a modestly priced collection of all three. The first film is also on Blu-ray, and Police Squad is on DVD, too.

Q. Several months ago, I saw a movie on TCM called Roughly Speaking with Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson. I caught the last half and found it interesting. Are they going to feature it again, and if so when?

I have not seen a telecast scheduled on TCM. But the movie is available on DVD through the TCM online shop (tcm.com) and the online Warner Archive (wbshop.com).

Q. I thought I heard at the end of a Harry’s Law that it was the show’s final few episodes. Has the show been canceled? Also, at the end of the last Fringe they said it was the season finale but I thought this was the last season. What’s really going on with these two shows?

This time of year, ads for TV shows will sometimes amp up viewer interest with bold declarations of a few remaining episodes and a more soft-spoken acknowledgment that those are the last episodes of a season, not a series. But, unfortunately for its many fans, Harry’s Law has indeed been dropped by NBC. The show, starring Kathy Bates, was somewhat popular, especially by struggling NBC’s standards, but it did not do well with viewers under 50 years old, the audience most networks use to woo advertisers.

As for Fringe, it will return on Fox in the fall, for a 13-episode final season that can wrap up at least some of its complicated story lines.Q. I would like to know if you know anything about a movie starring Robert De Niro as Vince Lombardi.

There was a film, and then there wasn’t. With more than a little fanfare, ESPN announced plans to make the film in 2010. Eric Roth ( Forrest Gump, The Insider) was set to write the script. But the network later decided not to go ahead with the film; an ESPN rep offered no explanation. “This happens a lot with scripted projects,” the rep said.Q. The actor in the Time Warner Cable commercials who runs away from danger after a grenade lands looks just like the actor and comedian Ricky Gervais.

That is indeed Gervais helping promote the company’s Enjoy Better campaign.

Send questions to TV Mailbag, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

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