Police Squad!
Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)
TV Flash files “Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)” as a desk essential hour — Police Squad! (1982) on ABC, season 1, episode 2, aired 1982-03-11, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 6 in the Police Squad! guide, hour 2 of 6 in season 1. It aired 1982-03-11 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)” (S01E01). Next is “The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)” (S01E03).
Essential hour: “Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)”. Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment) is already too much attention for ABC: visual-gag density as religion, the later Naked Gun revenge tour implied.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Frank investigates a veteran boxer who lately has been throwing his fights. He takes the boxer under his wing in order to expose the boxer's corrupt manager. Unfortunately, the manger has kidnapped the boxer's girlfriend and put the boxer's title fight in jeopardy. Frank now tries to save the boxer's girlfriend in the hopes that the boxer won't have to throw the match so he can have a shot at rejuvenating his career in the ring.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment) sit in the Police Squad! guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 6 — hour 2 of 6 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did Police Squad! S01E02 air?
Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment) aired 1982-03-11 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is that really the whole show — six episodes?
Yes. ABC, 1982, then cancellation for requiring too much attention. The Naked Gun movies are the revenge tour. A compact master class; there is no backlog to fear.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Six episodes. That's the entire series. Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker visual-gag density with Leslie Nielsen discovering deadpan as a religion, then ABC canceled it for requiring too much attention. The Naked Gun movies are the revenge tour. A compact master class in background jokes that punish anyone who only listens.
Six episodes. That is the entire silhouette. ABC, 1982: Detective Frank Drebin investigates with nonstop background gags and straight-faced absurdity — Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker visual-gag density, Leslie Nielsen discovering deadpan as a religion, Alan North as Capt. Ed Hocken, Peter Lupus as Norberg. Police Squad! is a look that requires eyes. *Background jokes as tailoring, deadpan as a costume, a frame packed until it photographs as a dare.* Style is the plot. If you only listen, you are watching half the show —…
Filed against
- Leslie Nielsen as Det. Frank Drebin
Leslie Nielsen discovered deadpan as a religion playing Det. Frank Drebin on Police Squad! — six episodes of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker visual-gag density before ABC decided attention was too much to ask. Background jokes as a full-time job.…
- Alan North as Capt. Ed Hocken
Alan North’s Capt. Ed Hocken straight-faced Police Squad!’s entire six-episode life — Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker visual-gag density, Leslie Nielsen discovering deadpan as a religion, ABC canceling it for requiring too much attention. The…
- Peter Lupus as Norberg
Peter Lupus’s Willy Armitage was Mission: Impossible’s human set piece — IMF muscle as a specialist, strength as one instrument in a weekly machine of disguises and briefings. Competence was the glamour. TV Flash still files the strongman…