#155 - "Police Academy" (1984) with Chad Sheppard, Laramy Wells & Robby Retro

0:01 In 1984, a new wacky ensemble comedy marched in the theaters and proved that anyone, and we mean anyone, could wear a police badge. With a cast of relative unknowns and a script born from a chance encounter on a movie set, this film captured the hearts of audiences by celebrating the hilarious, incompetent but lovable misfits. When a mayor makes a decree to open the gates to every oddball in town to join the Metropolitan Police Force, a smooth talking troublemaker is forced into the police Academy as an alternative to jail. But he soon finds himself surrounded by human beatbox, a gun fanatic and a soft spoken powerhouse who's a lot stronger than she looks. So grab your megaphone, tuck in that uniform, and meet us at the Blue Oyster Bar as Chad Shepard, Laramie Wells, and Retro.

0:47 Robbie and I discussed Police Academy on this episode of the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast. Welcome to the show, everybody.

1:38 I am your host, Tim Williams. I was just looking at my goldfish and thinking we need more law and order around here. So I've called in three cadets who have absolutely no business wearing a badge. First is the cadet who wishes he could make sound effects to get him out of trouble. It's Chad Shepherd. How you doing, Chad? Next up is the guy who swears he's never faked an accent to meet women. It's Laramie Wells. Really. No. I I I probably have. Not recently though. Thank you. No, not recently. And and joining us for the first time, the man who loves to play saxophone at beachside fire Pits, it's Robbie Retro.

2:22 Welcome about me, Tim. Hey, everybody. What's? In. The show beer, it's Chad Laramie. Great to be on the show. Love the show and I love talking about the 80s. Awesome. So glad to have you with us this time. So talking about police Academy, of course, the month of January, as I talked about the last two episodes, 2025 is a year. It was a year. That's all I'm going to say about it. So I said I want to start 2026 with laughing and a January just for laughs. So we did airplane, we covered Naked Gun. So why not tackle one of the greatest franchises of the 80s? Police Academy, starting with the first one. So this is how we start the show.

3:03 So we're going to start with Robbie this time. When did you see Police Academy for the first time? Yeah, it's like it's always been a part of my life. I mean, wow. I I think more as a kid it would be the sequels. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, always love police Academy. Probably wasn't until, you know, I'm thinking the 90s and 2000s. Of course, things in the 90s were so good and I was just talking to a friend like things were so good. You look ahead, you know when things are good, you look ahead. But then as you're getting into, I think probably 2000 tens ish, I think you started looking back.

3:49 And I remember I was with my dad and we were flying together. We were flying on a flight and we were both were able to watch Police Academy on the plane. And we're just both dying laughing. Like, I forgot how great this was. Oh, my gosh. First Police Academy so good. Yeah. So then it was like, now, you know, going back, it's like, you know, really the original Police Academy really is an awesome movie. And you think, you think of the, the Empire, it launched franchise, it launched the IP it launched, you know, and I've got a lot of it here. I can. But, you know, you think the sequels and you think the cartoon and you think the toys and had the toys and the cartoon had a comic book, a Marvel comic book, which I also have the movies all had, you know, soundtracks, several like Part 4 and I think 6 or 7.

4:48 They all had vinyl soundtracks, you know, big songs. And yeah, Drew Suzanne doing some of the posters. And you had, you know, they, they just took over the video stores back in the day. It was everywhere. And I mean, 1984, that's something we we could get into later. But what a year that was. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. For movies and for franchises and for IPS. But Police Academy is a movie. I, I think now it's getting, maybe starting to get the love it deserves because there was a time where nobody wanted to talk about Police Academy. Think about Police Academy. Probably by the time you got to the TV series, you know, like 90. 7 I think. Right. Yeah, but man, that the original and and even sequels to two and three.

5:34 But the original is so good, So good. And Steve Guttenberg is a legend. Yeah, the goot. Absolutely. Total legend. He is so great in this. I mean, everybody's on their egg game in this movie, but when did I I'm sorry. The question was when did I see? Yeah, I mean, I grew up in Police Academy, grew up with the sequels, but. But really appreciated the original. It would have been about 15 years ago when I was really like, OK, that first Police Academy is so so. All right. What about you, Laramie? When did you when did you see it on TV? When did I see it on TVI actually don't remember when I saw the first.

6:18 I do know I kind of like Robbie saying like I I think the 4th 1 was the 1st police Academy I saw. I know I did not see them in order and it wasn't until later. Part of me though thinks instead of actually seeing it on television part of me thinks I rented it. OK, because I'm pretty sure I saw it when I, whenever I did see it for the first time and it, it was probably late 90s, early 2000s when I finally did see the first, the first one. I'm pretty sure I saw it unedited because there were, there were a lot of the moments that I remember a lot of things that I'm just like, wow. That's because I mean the 4th 1 as much fun as it is, you know, they that's when they started going a little bit more cartoonish.

7:05 And this one, although has some cartoonish elements is is online with, you know, things like, you know, Animal House and Porky's and you know, it kind of it rides that, you know, that line of a rated R movie with a lot of the material that that you see. But no, I'm a huge fan, just like Robbie saying loved the cartoon. In fact, if I went digging in a box over here, I'm pretty sure I'll, I'll have my Tackleberry and Zedd figures that I had when I was a kid. And yeah, loved, loved them all. I I have watched Mission to Moscow, but but yeah, that that that's one of my favorite franchises. Love everything about it.

7:56 Always wished I could do what a motor mouth could do what? Michael Winslow. Yeah. Oh yeah. Could do always, always did so, but yeah, no, don't. Can't pinpoint exactly, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't actually on television. I'm pretty sure I saw the the first one as a as a rental. Gotcha. All right, Chad, you're up first time. Well first time watching the film is different. The first time I was aware of police Academy. I know I have a vivid memory and I may have said this in another one a podcast I did police Academy 1984 in the theater. My kindercare took us to the go see. I think it was Ben the Benji.

8:41 They they re released the Benji, the 1 from 77 where the little girl he falls in love with a little girl dog dies and it was horrible. I remember being in the lobby waiting for everybody to go to the restroom, looking over to the wall and seeing the giant. It's it's on the it's on the cover of all them together. Yeah, and seeing it and I like I have a vivid memory blank. Well, what's that? The I didn't I'm like, I'm like everybody else. I saw probably I think I saw two and four before. I don't think I saw one for a long time because my parents wouldn't let me watch Rated R. Movies. Yeah, exactly. Especially that one. Yeah. But I think the first time I really watched it, TBS had a thing called Dinner and a movie and I watched. So they, they were doing, you know, cooking. I don't know what they were cooking, but I remember watching it was like, Oh yeah, I, I love this movie. So I, I recorded it.

9:39 I've rented them. I put them all on Avhs and in order that I basically bought them then the DVD probably 9098. I think that was when I saw it like falling. Well, it was still edited for TV, but right and then to my to to my gladness, I saw the the the full full cut. So I was like OK but. Yeah, I, yeah, I'm like you guys, I saw the sequels before I saw the original. I probably, I remember seeing 2 on cable. I probably saw three on cable. I don't know.

10:21 I don't know. I might have seen like four and five in the theater by that point. But I know I recorded the TV version when it came on, you know, after I'd seen the sequels. So I really remembered the TV edit. So it probably was, I was probably like 17 or 18 before I saw the unedited version, like when it came on, when the R rated one came on cable. And I was, you know, left to my own devices of what I could watch on TV. So yeah, there was there was a. Free weekend of HBO or Showtime or Cinemax, whatever. It was. I'm pretty sure that's how we had it.

11:02 Like I'm pretty sure, like for the one I first saw, I'm pretty sure it was a recording off of HBO. It was just, it was one of those VHS tapes that, you know, those Polaroid or whatever VHS tapes that I just wore out watching 4 over and over again. Part of me thinks I saw six in theaters. But then when I think back to it, I was like, I was 8 when that movie came out. I don't know if I saw it in theaters unless I saw it like, you know, it was one of those like dollar theater, you know, they're, you know, during the summer where they just show older movies. And I saw it. Yeah. So I don't know if I have seen any of them in the theaters. Of course, Mission to Moscow did not come out in theaters. I was going to say I was going to watch that one, but it never came out in theaters.

11:49 That one did not come out in theaters. Yeah, I don't think I even, I don't think police Academy was even a thought in my mind when Mission to Moscow came out. It had been so long, so like. Police Academy is always a thought in my mind. What are you talking about? I mean, I was moving on to other franchises. I was. AI was a a true film auteur at that point. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I was. Excited when? Because when they were filming Mission of Moscow, like Entertainment Tonight did like a whole piece of them filming it. I was like, oh cool, another police Academy movie I'll go see that never came out in the like I said it had come out of theatre, came on video. So yeah. It was HBO. It was like one of the first, like HBO, HBO. Made for. HBO movies. So that's why I was and I don't think. I saw it until I bought the DVD set, Yeah. And I think that was when I I finally saw Mission to Moscow. I think, I think I started it on HBO at some point when I was much older, but I don't know if I don't. I can't remember if I have watched it all through. Well, eventually we'll get there. Maybe no I.

12:50 Don't think because I because I think that was 66. Came. Out in 89. Gotcha. Yeah. So, yeah. So there's no way. Mission to Moscow. Yeah, I was finally able to get the, I got a complete Blu-ray set of all the police academies a couple of months ago. So because I remember we'll kind of go into like, when's the last time you watched before you're watching it for the podcast? So I watched it again probably a year or two ago. It's been in the last three years, but I could find like all of the sequels on like HBO Max, like one of the streamers, but it was really hard to find like the original Police Academy. So I was able to, I think I ended up having to rent it to watch it.

13:33 But I was like, man, I wonder why this one's not available? And so that's when I started looking for the Blu rays. So is it 1? Of those that like change studios. Yeah, yeah, 'cause you know that's. Like, like that was always my thing with the Child's Play movies. It's like I could always find the box sets but it would only have two and on it wouldn't have the first one. And I can't come to find out us because the first one was released by a different studio. And of course, now they're all together because every studio ends up buying each other and so it eventually all works out. Yeah, Because I. Think even when I watched my Blu-ray today, it's still like the the Blu-ray opens with the Warner Brothers logo, but the movie is not the The movie wasn't originally distributed by Warner Brothers. The sequels, I know, were so well my. My copy of the DVD, to give you an idea how old my copy of the DVD, it's in the butterfly case.

14:21 Yeah, there you go. And it's one of those that when you put it in, it just starts playing. There's no. No menu. No menu. Nope, you don't see the menu until unless you let it play all the way towards the end and then it'll go to a. Little. Menu, not really any special fees. Like there's the trailers, obviously there's I think like little synopsis of the cast and crew. And I want to say there was a making of document. I didn't watch it, but yeah, but yeah, no, that's how old my DVD copy is. Butterfly case. And no, like just straight into the movie. And apparently mine's also. I don't know if it's, I mean, again, you know, TV's now are all wide screen televisions, but it had had the you know, the following movie has been formatted to fit your screen, right?

15:09 Right. And to warn you before you take it back, why are there black bars on my screen? I. Was not, but I do think it was getting pulled because when I was I'm sitting here watching it, I'm just going some of their faces feel a little fat like so I'm thinking maybe my copy is a full screen copy and and it just happened to get pulled for instead of having the black bars on now the left and the right, which is what you get when you you watch full screen stuff now it it filled the screen, which I think stretched it a little bit so all. Right. Well, when did you watch it? How long has it been since you rewatched it, Laramie? Real quick, it's. Been a hot minute.

15:52 Yeah, it's been a while. And I know I always bring this up as an excuse, you know, whenever I talk about this, but, you know, having small children, Yeah. Even even when I watched it for this, like, I I went into a completely separate part of the house because I'm like, I know it's got the language. I know it's the. Nudity. I know it's got the, you know, the sexual innuendos and like, I cannot watch this around my children. So. So it's, it's been a good decade probably, if not more since I I've last seen it. Yeah, re. Watching it again, I'm actually surprised the language isn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's really more the innuendo and the nudity.

16:33 But it yeah, language isn't like if it was made today, the language would be a lot worse. But. Yeah, there was definitely a scene where he was when he was saying he said nobody and I thought he was going to drop the F bomb, but he didn't. He said something else and I was like, wow, OK, yeah. So how long have you been for you, Chad? Like I mentioned, I, I was on a actually he's been on this podcast before press. He and I talked about police Academy on his podcast and I did that one and that was the last, that was one of the last times I've watched it since just a few minutes ago. Gotcha. So yeah. But so that was, it's been a year, maybe a little more so maybe. Yeah, yeah.

17:18 I don't remember. It's hard when. It's a, it's the start of a new year. Then you're like, it was last year, right. But they're really thinking about two years ago because, yeah, exactly. Yeah, so. Well, I think we might have lost Robbie. He, he dropped off our video. So if you're listening to the audio, I, I sent him a message offline, but I haven't heard back. So I don't know if he if he had some Internet issues, but we'll, we'll move on. I'll let you guys team up on the How did it Get Made trivia game. I give you 5 true or false questions and you guys can make a consensus about some trivia about how this movie got made. So Are you ready? Ready.

18:00 Yeah, money. The answer is money is. True or false? Steve Gutenberg was the studio's first choice to play the lead role of Carrie Mahoney. I have to. Think that's false? Yeah. 84 He was, I think this was has started being big. So he yeah 'cause everything else was was bigger after this. So probably not. I would, I would say false as well. All right. You're correct, it was false. It was actually pretty far down the list. The role was turned down by who's who of 80 stars, including Michael Keaton who was their top choice. Tom Hanks, who auditioned and Judge Reinhold Gutenberg won the role over by acting.

18:45 Sorry won the role by overacting during his audition to prove he had the charisma for the character. He also wore a the his father was an actual police officer and wore his dad's police uniform shirt, which probably helped as well. All right, next one, True or false? Although the film is set in an unnamed American city, the production actually filmed primarily in Toronto, Canada, using an old psychiatric facility and a college campus for the Academy sets. True or false I think. I think that might that says. Sounds like that could be true. I know they filmed in Toronto. Well the other part is true. I'm not sure I'm I'll. Stick with true though. Let yeah. I agree. All right, you're 2 for two.

19:29 It was film in Toronto. The Academy itself was a mix of the cowardly abandoned Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital in Humber College. The film was one of the early trendsetters in using Toronto as a stand in for a generic American city. Yeah. No, I believe the college thing like it definitely gave off like a a college college enormous feel with some of the the shots, the cafeteria. Too. It looked like a school. Sorry. Yeah, all. Right. The Blue Oyster Bar was a real functioning club in Toronto. The production rented for the night. True or false? I'm going to say true again, Chad. You concur, Yes.

20:10 Unfortunately you're both incorrect. It is false. The Blue Oyster was actually a set. It was built inside an old warehouse in Toronto, but the production design was so convincing that people actually tried to walk in off the street thinking it was a real bar. All right, so you're still still doing good. 2 for two out of three. So here we go #3 or #4 I'm sorry. Director Hugh Wilson fought with the studio to make the film more vulgar and raunchy, while the producers were the ones trying to keep the humor clean and realistic. True or false? Oh, that's. A tough one. It's in the 80s. What would have been the case? Well, he did he he Wilson was definitely was director of or did a lot of stuff for WK KRP in Cincinnati. He created the show.

20:59 So would he. That's a tough. One I, I am going to say, and again, Chad, if you you want to fight this, you can fight this. I'm going to say true. I'm going to think that they didn't want it to be, but I'm going to think again, we're talking 80s here. So you had, you know, movies like, you know, Animal House and Porky's and movies like that that had been successful by being a little bit raunchier. So I'm, I'm going to think they tried to make it raunchier. But the, the producers and writer directors, all whoever, all Tim's talking about, I think they, I think they wanted to keep it hoping they could hit a broader audience, which also would probably explain why there's not a lot of language and it's, it's more in some of the scenes. So I'm, I'm going to stay true on that. All right, you agree?

21:52 I'm going to. I'm going to say false because I think it might be the other way around. It might. The studio might have been like, hey, you need to make him more vulgar. And he was like, oh, we don't need to do all that. So that's why I say I would say false. So that's what it was. That's what he was saying. Was that what he was saying? So I thought you said. The director, The statement is the director wanted to make it more vulgar and raunchy, but the producers were trying to keep the humor clean and realistic. So I miss I misunderstood it. Well, then I'll I'll then just so that we both on the same page, I'll say false to it as well. All right. Good job. It is false. It would lie as as Chad said it was actually the other way around.

22:33 The director, because he had it was more for TVWKRP didn't think it needed all the bathroom humor. No, the producers. But the producer really wanted it to be raunchy, to capitalize on the Animal House Porky's market. So yeah. So yeah, it was. My argument, but I would. I misinterpreted the question. Yeah, yeah, 'cause didn't, Didn't the director, wasn't he also the same guy that wrote Blast From the Past, the Brendan Fraser movie? Yeah. So yeah, yeah, yeah, he didn't. He didn't want it to be raunchy. Absolutely. This one, I, I'm I shouldn't even ask this question. It's so easy, but you'll be able to sweep the sweep the the trivia, true or false? For the scene where Jones, played by Michael Winslow, simulates a machine gun firing at the shooting range, the production team had to dub in real gun sounds and post production because Winslow's vocal mimicry wasn't loud enough for the microphones.

23:26 Bull. Crap. False. Yeah. No, that dude, that dude, right? That that is definitely false. Michael Winslow did it all. He is known as the man of 1000 of 10,000 sound effects for reason. The director noted that Winslow's vocal control was so precise that he didn't need to rely on post production trickery for the character signature noises. And I did go ahead and I was just going. To say I saw him on something just like in the last couple of years and he could still do that stuff. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh, he did like. Led Zeppelin song, he had a a guy had a guitar and he was doing it. The sound doing. Actual. Yeah, I've seen him do that, playing with the guy, yeah. Yeah.

24:08 So the, so the Blu-ray that I have has the documentary, the behind the scenes documentary thing from like 2006, I think was the copyright on it. And they told the story that the Jones was not even a character in the movie originally, but the director and the producers saw him open for another comic. And they're like, we've got to get this guy in the movie. And they said in the show there was a fireman there, like doing crowd control, whatever. And he asked him if he could use his like megaphone, the thing that kind of uses. And that's how he did, he did the sound effects there and they're like, we've got to use it like that's our sign to use them in the movie. So.

24:50 Now, that's what I loved. I I had the toy. I had his toy from the cartoon and he came with a megaphone. It was my favorite character. I'm just going to Jones is my favorite character. Yeah. So whether you're going to ask that question later or not, I'm saying it right now, Right. And. We'll get there. I don't know if this will be trivia or not, but it wouldn't because it's just the first movie. But wasn't Jones and Taco Berry the only two that were in all three? Or maybe the Commandant too? But but he was in all all no yeah, all 7 movies. Yeah. But he's the only one that actually like he was in all the movies. I think there's two other people that were in all three movie, I mean all 7 movies, but Winslow was the only one that was actually in the TV series as well. So he's the yeah, that's right.

25:36 That's right to be in. Every, you know, all of them. So all right, so the the abbreviated story origin of pre production is the concept of police Academy was inspired by real events that transpired in San Francisco while producer Paul Manzlansky was filming The Right Stuff. The mayor had an ambitious plan to open the enrollment of the local police Academy to anyone, regardless of their height, weight or any other physical attribute. Apparently they were in dire need of recruits. A Sergeant of the Academy reportedly confided in producer Paul Maslansky that they had to accept anyone who enrolled, but they would weed out the less suitable candidates. This intriguing idea sparked his imagination with all with what if all the recruits actually graduated?

26:18 He pitched the concept to Alvin Ladd Junior, and writers were hired to develop a script. Initially, the original script wore resemblance to movies like Animal House, Meatballs and Porky's. But Hugh Wilson, the creator of TV series WKRP in Cincinnati, as Chad Really mentioned, was hired to direct. He asked them to remove all of that, but they had a compromise that kept certain bits in the final version. So that was it was kind of funny that it's kind of somewhat based based on a real city's, you know, attempt to open the police Academy to the general public. But yeah, fun, fun, fun. All right, well, let's jump into casting. And as I I mentioned before we started, this is a pretty it's an ensemble cast.

27:08 So it does take does have a lot of people in it. We're going to just kind of hit the highlights and we'll skip over some, but let's start with the goot. Steve Gutenberg as Cadet Mahoney, of course, He also acted in Three Men and a Baby in 87 in its 1990 sequel. He was also in the movie Diner in 1982, Cocoon in 85, Short circa 86, The Bedroom Window in 87, The Big Green in 95. On television, he started his career in the CBS sitcom Billy in 1979, and he was also most recently on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs, and he was a contestant during season 6 on the dance competition series Dancing with the Stars.

27:52 Yep, and. I also have I also have to throw out for for Bethany. He was also the Olsen twins dad and it takes 2, it takes 2. There you go. And forget that movie. Christie Alley, Yeah. Yeah, so. But yeah, fun fact, he got to keep his one in the oven shirt that he wore in the movie. Very nice. But yeah, the Steve. Gutenberg, I mean like this, this really launched him. I mean that he from this of course he got cocoon short circuit. He was in several of the sequels, at least the first couple. What? What? 234 and five, I think, no. No, he's not in five.

28:35 That's when he gets replaced by Lassard's nephew. Right? Right. Yeah. So. But he held on for as long as he could. But yeah, he was. He was very happy to to be in the movies. All right, Next up, we got Kim Cattrall as Cadet Karen Thompson. Of course, we just talked about her recently with our Mannequin episode. We also talked about her from Big Trouble in Little China. So you can go back and listen to those episodes to get her back story. I thought she was a decent. Yeah. She's in this movie. She's in this movie. I mean, she's really doesn't have anything she doesn't need to. Be in this movie, yeah. She's just a love interest to keep Mahoney there. I mean, that's true. Yeah.

29:17 Yeah, yeah. So that's because. Even even after like, he's still trying to get kicked out. So it's yeah, yeah. I don't know. She's she's my least favorite part of this movie. You know, when I rewatched it a couple of years ago, I forgot she was even in the movie. Like I forgot she was in it completely so. But also because she's not any of the sequels. It's probably why. Another reason why? All right then we got Bubba Smith as Cadet Moses Hightower. Of course. He played in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders, and the Houston Oilers. After retiring from professional football, he began acting in small movie and TV roles in late 70s, early 80s. He played the chauffeur for Ned Beatty's character Clyde Torkel in the movie Stroker Ace with Burt Reynolds. He also starred in the short lived TV series Blue Thunder, partnering with Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive star Dick Butkus, with whom he frequently Co starred in advertisements for their light beer.

30:16 I remember, I remember the TV show Blue Thunder more than the movie. Yeah. Is that the? One that didn't Dana Carvey in that too Blue Thunder. He's in, yes. I think he was on the TV show of that. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, because on the more recent like DVD copies he's prominently showed on the cover even though his role is very small. Fun fact, early test audiences responded most positively to Hightower out of all the characters, so Bubba Smith was moved to 2nd billing, just behind Steve Gutenberg. Which is crazy because he doesn't talk for the majority of the movie. Right, right. I don't. That you talk about forgetting that Kim Cattrall's in it. I want to say I don't.

31:00 It's not until I rewatch this that I realized that he does not speak. Yeah. Yeah. For probably 70% of the movie. It's not until the end, right before he gets kicked out that he's. He finally starts to speak. Yeah. He. Didn't say a lot then either. Yeah. Yeah, he's a man of three words. Yeah, and that's OK. Yeah. He was there for his menacing presence for sure. So so then we've got this was really short, but Donovan Scott as cadet Leslie Barbara and yes, that is the name of a male person in this movie. But he was also in Popeye in 1980. Savannah Smiles in 81, Sheena in 84.

31:43 He was in Best of Times in 86 and Back to the Future Part 3 in 1990. Get him out of that. Crap. And he, he is an actor that if I ever see him nowadays, he's Santa Claus. Yes, that's. Right. Yeah, he probably, he primarily has. Like a professional Santa Claus. Yep, I. Didn't read that for sure. Yep, I'm moving right down the line. We've already talked about him already. Michael Winslow as Cadet Lavelle Jones, best known for his role in the seven Police Academy films, he also appeared in Spaceballs, Cheech and Chong's next movie, Nice dreams, The Love Boat of course, if you're in the 80s and you run a little boat, what are you doing and commercials for Cadbury and GEICO.

32:25 In addition to playing Jones, he also supplied the voice for all public address announcements heard at the Academy. That's. Awesome, yeah. Which there is an inside joke when they when the the announcers made for them to all get in their tactical gear before the big showdown downstairs and the one cadets like, hey, was that you? He's like, no, was an inside joke because it really was him, because he was the voice. Yeah, 'cause it wasn't. Him as the character, but it was him as the actor that was the voice. So but. Yeah, Well, that's funny. It makes sense because he, you know, the character uses that to to get Harris at one point. Yeah. Yeah. Calling him to. Yeah. Yeah.

33:06 And then we've got David Graff as Cadet Eugene Tackleberry. He made his first television appearance as a contestant on the game show The $20,000 Pyramid in December of 1979, where he teamed up with actress Patty Duke. He would later appear on subsequent versions of the show as a celebrity contestant twice with Duke. As a struggling actor in the early 80s, he also took small roles in popular TV shows including MASH, The Dukes of Hazard, Airwolf, Hardcastle and McCormick and The A-Team. And in the fun fact, in the party scene he's seen playing the saxophone. In real life, he's actually an accomplished saxophone player. Which he he does later in the series. Yeah, he either. Plays it again, don't he? Yeah, yeah.

33:47 He does. He plays it several times throughout the series. I look, this is something I did not pick up on this myself. I I found it out later that a a really cool just how well the character of Tackleberry was either written or the way he performed it. But that part where Leslie has the the shotgun and he turns and everybody ducks except Tackleberry. It's because Tackleberry knows the gun isn't active at that point because he he hasn't re cocked it, but the shell hasn't been ejected and and I love that like this such like yeah, I didn't catch it at first, but as soon as you see it, you watch it. You go, oh, that is genius.

34:31 Yeah, genius, I did have. That in my notes, but I but I you're right, I I had when I saw that I was like that I like once again, was that in the script? Was it improv at the moment? Was it, you know, I don't know how was, you know, decided to do that? But brilliant for him to be the only person that stays standing up and doesn't even flinch, like when you watch him, like he doesn't even move. So. Yeah. All right. One of my favorite characters, Marian Ramsay as Cadet Laverne Hooks in the DVD making of documentary, Marian said she came up with Hooks's voice by reading the description of her character in the script. And they said she was very the in the script, it said that she was afraid of her own shadow. Like she's just a very timid person. So to put to to do the voice, she recalled the time she had met Michael Jackson who would attended a stage production of her and little shop of oars.

35:27 The voice is a parody of Michael Jackson. She also recalls in the moment where she explains where she exclaims don't move dirtbag. The sound texts were used to her meek voice and were surprised when she said the line so loudly they had to reset the mic because it registered too high. They had to re record it. So awesome. Yeah, I did not know this about her either. Or not about her, but about her character, which I'm glad. It's kind of a weird part. So she was actually asked to wear a fat suit for her role as hooks, with the idea that hooks boot camp training would have rented her slim by the end of the film. Due to time constraints, the scene showing Hooks after a weight loss was removed from the final cut. By the time the work on the sequel began, producers changed their minds, opting instead to have her remain wearing the fat suit in order to garner audience sympathy for a character. A brief shot of slim hooks remains in the film, however, as a close up of her without the fat suit is seen during the graduates March at the end of the film. So I don't get why she has to have a fat suit. Like, it doesn't make any.

36:31 I don't really like that That was part of a plan. But yeah. But you know. That her and Gutenberg reunited for like a sci-fi movie about like AI. Don't remember, it's like a killer spider or something. They. Made two of. Them and they're both in both of them like yeah, wow, completely random, but but yeah, it's like the little little cause Michael Winslow is in them too. So it's like a small little. Small. Little Police Academy reunion for these. Horrible like. Sci-fi Movie. Yeah, on the on the on the little behind the scenes video on the Blu-ray it there's an interview with her and Bubba Smith. And he was like, don't let her, don't let the movie fool you. She's the loudest person of all of us. Like she, you know, she doesn't know how to, she really doesn't know how to be quiet.

37:25 She was really acting as it was funny to kind of see her in an interview in her normal regular speaking voice. So. And I love that just became the like, that was the like that was a gag in every single movie. But she had that one moment where she just snapped and and yelled at somebody. I got to talk. I got to say, though, the going off a little bit, I, I think I this may have been the first time it really hit me, but the what word, the derogatory word that Copeland uses against her, I just went. I was in a. Movie in in the 80s Like yeah. Yeah, once again, the TV version did not have that. No, yeah.

38:14 And what's funny is when I was going to like, I always go through the quotes in IMDb on the quote in IMDb, they don't use they they have the TV edit, they have the TV edit version of that. So I was like, yeah, you don't want to. Yeah, but I. Understand that there's there's movies that sometimes use derogatory words in a way. That word, though, yeah. Yeah. And, and I'll, for people who don't know what I'm talking about, it's not the N word. No, it's not. No, it's not right. I don't honestly. To be honest, I don't think the N word would have shocked me as much as the word he says. Yes, yeah, yeah. Like you're thinking a word worse than the N word. Yes. And yeah. Cool story.

38:56 I'll go and push this around and talk about that scene. Bubba. Bubba Smith said that he actually. Lifted the car. Well, he did. But but he said like this is the only movie that he's ever seen or been a part of where a black male or African American man has defended an African American woman being spoken to in that way in a movie. I was like, OK, that's an awesome. Moment yeah, it's great and I'm. Like, I'm glad that was, you know, it's a, it's such a, it's a such a good moment for a movie that's supposed to be like, really silly.

39:36 But yeah, a good moment for sure. But yeah, I can definitely, 'cause you talked about how test audiences fell in love with Hightower. I mean, that had to have been one of the moments. Definitely, definitely. He has some of the best moments 'cause even at the end where he come back and, you know, after being kicked out and I even love the the. You know he pulls the seats out of Copeland's car in order, but just how childlike he looks considering he's this giant of a man. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah, God, Bubba Smith was great. There's some. And that's the thing about this cast is there's some great, talented people. But to be perfectly honest, this is like the only thing I know them from.

40:23 Yeah, and. That's the sad part about it. Yeah, Yeah, I agree. All right, moving on the lists. Keep it going. GW Bailey as Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris. His role includes Staff Sergeant Luther Rizzo and MASH. We just talked about him in our mannequin episode as well, so you can go back and listen to that episode. His trademark walking stick or stick was not originally in the script. The prop was you brought on set by an extra who gave it to GW Bailey to keep. So ended up using it and polishing it whenever he was on on camera and then George Gaines as commander. Hold on, hold on. I want to go back to. GW Bailey real quick.

41:04 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you remember? You remember the Jeff Foxworthy show? Yes. Yeah, he was in that. He played his. Dad, Yeah, yeah, that's. Right. Yeah, yeah. I loved him in the the closer, yeah. The closer yeah, it was off. Of Major Crimes, Yeah. The closer was good. Yeah, so good. Yeah. All right, now we got George Gaines as Commander Eric Lassard. He's most recognized for his role in this movie. He was also in the 81982 movie Tootsie. Well, I remembered him from Punky Brewster on NBC, so it was quite a shock when I saw the unedited version of. This movie favorite scene if we talk about it.

41:48 We'll get there, but the role of Commander Lassard was written for Leslie Nielsen. Oh, that makes. Sense I can see that but didn't get the role. Or I think he was scheduling conflict why he didn't do it so. And I'll I'll throw out some of my my you know, host of moving panels. I got my comic book knowledge. He is in the The Forgotten Never was actually released Fantastic Four movie. Really. What? What was his? Character he was. Just like some scientist, professor, right? Type guy. Yeah, Gotcha. What could have been.

42:32 And then we've got Leslie Easterbrook as Sergeant Debbie Callahan. She also appeared in Private Resort Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Baywatch, Matlock Hunter, The Dukes of Hazzard. Of course, in 22. I'm sorry. In 2005, she replaced Karen Black as Mother Firefly on Rob Zombies, The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to the 2003 horror film House of 1000 Corpses. In 2007, she played security guard Patty Frost and Rob Zombies remake of Halloween. So I've seen her in those, wouldn't have known it. And if memory serves me correctly, no, I'm getting mixed up with somebody else. Never mind. Scratch that. So, yeah.

43:13 But yeah, Leslie Easter book. So of course, that's when I know her from, I know her from police county. Yeah, she, she's Callahan. That's, that's who she is. That's what she. Is all right. And the last on the cast that I'll mention is just a director cameo. Director Hugh Wilson stated that when it came time to film the driving scene with Hightower 2:30 in the morning, the actor originally cast as the angry driver was found passed out drunk in his trailer, though Hugh himself ended up playing the role of the angry driver who Hightower crashes into. There you go. Anybody else from the cast that you wanted to mention that I didn't bring up and that, you know, there were other people that were, of course, in the movie. They just didn't really do anything else outside of these movies or had much to talk about.

43:58 A shout out to Guy what his name is now the the African American who put Bahoney in the police Academy. Captain Reed. Captain Reed. Captain Reed was played by I believe his name is Ted, Ted Ross. Who? Was the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz? Yeah. That's right. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Yeah, I don't, I don't even think his name came up with the I mean, I don't think his name popped up on the cast when I was pulling up the cast on Wikipedia. So he's but he, you know, he's there at the beginning and there at the end. So it's kind of more of a cameo than anything else. So all right, well, let's talk about iconic scenes. So if someone said to you Police Academy, what's the first thing that pops in your head?

44:44 I'll let Chad go first because he seems to be really excited about it. This first slide, sorry. Yeah, the it's, I know it's we can't talk about it too much. No, we can't. Yeah, but. But oh gosh. I watch. I watch it just just before we got on here and I still laugh every time. Like it. Oh, that's it's so in like they, it's, they put it in the, the, the, the TV, but it's different. It's not as it doesn't catch you like the other one. There's nothing like you don't see anything. It's just George Gaines's reaction to what's going on. Oh, it's, it's one of it's, it's so funny. What about you?

45:31 Laramie yeah, I, I, I have to admit the, the podium is, is probably 1, but other than that, probably the if I'm honing in on the very first police Academy, it probably is Hightower learning how to drive. Yeah, yeah. There's just something about that one that this is a big scene for me. But there there's so many other Police Academy moments for me, but they're from the other movies like this one. Yeah, this one doesn't Scenes by scene does not hold in my head the way some of the scenes from other Police Academy movies do. That was.

46:17 That was what I was going to have. I was going to say the same thing. Like it's it even after I finished watching the movie, I was like, I'll like I nothing stands out like of like the scene that I think of. I think it's there's so much stuff from the from the sequels that I think of first, maybe because I didn't see this one first. So it can be for me. Or or as frequently because I'm pretty sure I've seen four and six like the most. Yeah, numerous times, whereas this one I've I've probably only seen a handful of time. Yeah, I think for me, it's like the the scene that I think I remembered the most from is the high tower flipping over the car might be the only thing that like really stands out to me. There's really not, there's really not any other scenes that I can think of that really stand out so. The guys Copeland and and the other guy going to the washer bar, which they yeah, they.

47:15 Yeah, it gets redone so much in the in the sequels, Yeah. And then the the the brown shoe Polish on the megaphone, which you know, is like the only real gag that they pull on him. But it seems like there's always a gag in the sequels that that happens too. So. But once again, I think the the ones that came after are actually better than that one to me. So yeah, I didn't. Get it, Like I get it that he had brown around his his mouth, but I'm like, is that supposed to be in some kind of innuendo that I'm not getting? I I didn't understand. No, you just see them putting the shoe Polish around the Yeah, yeah.

48:01 So, OK, yeah. It's just that it. Hits on his face, but he doesn't know it. I mean, it's just that it's he's oblivious that he's using a megaphone that's staining around his mouth. But yeah, OK, So what about favorite scenes or any scenes that that you, I mean, Chad has already mentioned his. Nah, I just kind of that I do, if you just want to talk, favorite. I do like the introduction of Jones, you know, with him sitting, especially after Mahoney walks away and he just pulls his hand out where he's just undone the the handcuffs. No call to it.

48:44 No, it's never brought back to where he gets himself out of handcuffs. He just, And then starts playing the harmonica without a harmonica. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but. Again, this is This is just. The. I like the movie, but the sequels just stick with me so much more. So, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's like favorite scenes. Like I like the the introductions of the characters. Like I love the opening with Tackleberry, like the whole thing with him in the office and the guy comes out, he's like, can I leave now? He's like, that's affirmative. Yeah, he's like I'm. Having one of them and then he starts shooting those, finally shooting.

49:24 Into the the pitch black room then. Turning on the line, Yeah. Oh, you guys. Well, what's funny is like because we just well, sorry, because we just covered Naked Gun. It feels very Naked Gun like in that sequence, even though Naked Gun threw out after this because it's got the music where it seems like it's going to be serious, but you know, it's going to be something really, really goofy and zany so well. When was the there was a the TV show the police squad TV show? Was it around this time too? Like I know it was before the movie. I think it was still after, still after. This no, I think police squad was before, was it? Yeah, it was just two weeks ago and I can't remember. Yeah, I'm pretty.

50:07 Sure. Police squad was like early 80s. Yeah it. Might have been, yeah, maybe like 83. I think you're right. At the same time they were filming it so. I enjoyed and he's not, again, he's not in any of the sequels. And we kind of just kind of blew him off though. But but Leslie is the thing with the the guys who are bullying him, you know, and, you know, has a good arc. And the scene at the end when he's, you know, finally, you know, fighting him and beating him up. Oh yeah. You get that stuff and you take it back in there and they're like, well, let's it's our stuff that's funny. He's like, OK.

50:47 I did like that he got his comeuppance, you know, he got to defend himself. But, you know, you know, let's just once again, reality, there are thugs and there are like, you know, bad guys. But why would they pick up the whole, like, photo, photo booth, which, you know, we miss those nowadays. Yeah, who remembers? Going, yeah, the drive up little photo photo booth, yeah. You dropped off your film and then came back like a two weeks later, Yeah. Yeah, back we paid 10 extra book bucks for one hour photo at Walgreens. Why are they snickering at my pictures? Yeah, yeah. But yeah, they they they put it on the truck and then drive to a bridge, then throw it in the water like it just it's still absurd.

51:33 And then even how the riot gets it was. Buoyant. That's, that was a yeah, it floated, yeah. Yeah, and then like the way the the the ending with the big riot like was like how that just escalated so quickly. It's like they just needed like the riders like we need something to have this big ending. But it really didn't wasn't very well thought out how that kind of came to pass. Also the. Guy who just hands the TV over to the other. Here, hold this. It's like, yeah, free TV's, yeah, yeah, yeah. But once again, like, very much like the end of Animal House, it's just kind of, you know, for the sake of having a big, big. Moment. Big moment. Yeah, so I was talking about a couple of scenes and trivia.

52:17 We would think about some other other scenes as well, which I just jumped out at me immediately. Due to being filmed out of sequence, the haircut scene of Scott Thompson and Brian Van Hoffman caused problems and was later determined they would need to be shown arriving at the Academy beforehand with their full heads of hair intact. Producers worked their way around this by issuing wigs for all of Scott and Brandt scenes that play prior to the haircut. On the DVD commentary, they refer to the wigs as hair helmets, which they are. The worst wigs. Yeah, they're. Obviously wigs. Yeah. As soon as they showed up, I was like, Oh yeah, that's right, they're going to shave his head because those are the worst, worst wigs I've ever seen.

52:58 The term Tackle Berry has become a standard and private security industry. To know the officer who is inordinately fond of firearms and other high tech equipment, which is awesome. You know, pop culture makes it. Makes it I love the music and I love I saw this composer Robert Folk based The Maine Police Academy theme on the theme from Stripes, which once again is very a lot of similarities between those two. But the riot scene compositions were inspired by the TV show Hill Street Blues, which was like this feels like a very like 80s cop drama music. So I thought that was that was fun. And then the last one I have here, which as soon as it came, as soon as it started, I was like, I got to let Jerry D know.

53:39 This movie is played on television in the UK during Christmas. The film's only Christmas reference is the tune heard during Hook's driving test. Santa Claus is coming to town. And I was like, well, Jerry can do it now for, for Christmas because it's got a Christmas song in it. I love her. Giggle when she goes through the the spray. Yeah, I, I turned on halfway through it. I was like, there were some questions I had on my DVD and I was like, I wonder. And it had commentary and yeah, yeah. And I got to that scene and like I, I think it was Gutenberg who was like, he's like, I love it when she she like just like you just said, I love it when she laughs and giggle was so funny. Like it's like she's on a roller coaster or something. All right, let's talk about box office. Police Academy open in the number one spot in the US theaters on March 23rd, 1984.

54:32 With a budget of just under $5,000,000 and no A listers in the cast, the film was made with no massive expectations and Warner Brothers were projecting it to be a modern success and earn them around a profit of around two or three times its budget. However, despite some stuffy press reviews, the film was an unexpectedly huge box office hit with a worldwide gross of almost $150 million. It was a huge relief for the lad company, which was the, I think the the actual production company that made it, who previously had made several critically lauded but financially unsuccessful films for Warner Brothers, The Right Stuff being one of them. So and I also saw that originally it was going to come out in June, but they bumped it up to March because they didn't want it to compete with the other summer of 84 movies that were coming out like a Goonies was 84 back no back back feature was 85.

55:26 I can't remember the other Movies Now, but. Karate Kid or yeah, Karate? Kid Beverly Hills Cop. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So anyway, I'm pretty. Sure. None of the rest of them made six sequels, though. No, they're not. Probably. Well, I don't know why they didn't. Karate kids, Karate kids getting. Close that. Close. Although it's. Taken up until this point to to reach what, the 5th movie? Our 4th movie if you count the one with Jackie Chan right? Which would now be canonical because of the newer movie one, Yeah. Yeah. So they've got 55 in ATV show. Yeah, 5. Five and what, three or Four Seasons of ATV show so. And then if you count the Jackie Chan, when does that mean the Jackie Chan Adventures is the cartoon? I don't know sorry, I'm stretching taking it too. Far taking it too far there was.

56:19 A Karate Kid cartoon though, there was. Yeah, there was a Karate Kid of Yeah, but but way before Jackie Chan. Yeah, yeah, yes, I had the. Well, not before Jackie Chan was alive, but no but. Before he was part of the that. Cartoon show all right now. It's time to take a look at how well this 80s flick holds up today. It's the Rewatch Ability Nostalgia Meter, our way of measuring how enjoyable a movie is for repeat viewings along with the waves nostalgic brings. Here's how it works. It's a one to 10 scale. Any number between 1:00 and 10:00 will do. Here a few parameters to help you decide. At the bottom of the meter is a number one kind of means. I saw it once and that was enough. Right in the middle is A5. It's a good rewatch every couple of years, and at the top, the highly coveted #10 means it's highly rewatchable and full of nostalgia.

57:06 So Laramie's thinking intently. So I'm going to go to Chad. Chad, where does Police Academy rank for you on the rewatch ability and nostalgia leader? As as the as a series, it would be, I would probably put it higher because like we've talked about, we've, we've we've seen a lot of the other ones and I've enjoyed the other ones as well, But as just the lone first one, I I feel bad. Maybe 5.5 OK. OK. I mean, yeah, that's. Yeah, I mean, that's what it is. I mean, you know, I like. I like the other ones. The other ones I enjoy those better. Yeah, this is this is good watch. Like you said, not all of them.

57:51 There is no, no, no. No, there is. Mission to Moscow, you know. That's not I'm not. I'm not even talking 2 is even. 2 is even questionable. Well. I have. Well, there's reasons I like to, but we can get there because it's in the 80s, yeah. Right they're. All of them except mission to Moscow. That's true, yeah. 4 is. The best 4 is. Yes, yes, I do agree. So when we get to 4, then it'll be higher, but yeah, 55.5 for for the first one for me. All right, What about you? Laramie, I'm in that. Same ballpark. I, I was sitting here, especially when you went through your criteria and and when you said, said what 5 represented. I really, I, I think, I think I settled on exactly A5 at that moment.

58:43 I was thinking about it a little bit more, but as Chad said, I got to separate the, the full series to this individual movie and, and probably it, it's probably close to the middle of the pack of the entire series for me anyway. So, so yeah, I'm probably going to have to to put it at A, at a five, yeah. I'm right there with you. I'm like, it's a solid 5, which you know, doesn't mean it's bad. Doesn't either, just it's just, it's just not once again, because it wasn't the first of the series that I saw. I don't have the strong nostalgia for like I have for the other ones, and it's not one that I am probably going to watch every couple. I mean I'll watch every couple years, but it's not the one that I'm going to I'm not going to want to rewatch this one as much as I want to rewatch like 4 four citizens on patrol, right, That's four yes, that's.

59:33 Four. Yeah, that is. By far the best. And then? Six city under siege, Yeah. Yeah, is one of my. Favorites as well, even though, you know, Gutenberg had left by that point, but it's still, it's one of my favorites. Yeah, 5's OK. I was OK. Yeah, I was OK. Yeah, 'cause it's. 2 The next assignment. 3 Back in training for citizens on patrol. Yeah, yeah. And three, three is the one where we get introduced to Zed and and sweet Chuck and yeah, I love. Three, yeah, yeah, 3 is one of my favorites for sure. So we'll get there. We'll get there. So all right, well, let us know where you think Police Academy. The first one should rank on the rewatch ability nostalgia meter. You can send us an e-mail, let us know on social media, or you can leave us a comment right here and YouTube if you're watching it.

1:00:15 With us and then also let us know how you did on the the trivia game at the beginning so hopefully you played along well thanks guys for joining I appreciate it sorry I want to so thank Robbie as well his the laptop he was working completely shut down on him he was trying to jump back on and couldn't get there but but we'll have him back again but thanks Robbie for joining us glad to see you this time at least get to have you on the show briefly but we'll have you back again and good to see Chad back with us it's been a minute I'm glad to have you back and Larry Laramie always good to see you so what's going on over at moving panels so. You know, February, we always do our Valentine's date night episode.

1:01:01 This year it's a it's a surprise. So you're going to have to tune in to our one shot for me to reveal that to Bethany. But we got that. And and then, you know, I always get excited as we go into May and do the animated movies and and then I'm excited for this summer. This summer I've decided to do the movies that are inspired by that actually aren't comic book movies, but are more heavily inspired by comic books. So, yeah. And then we've got we've got plenty of other stuff. We got Daredevil episode. I did a lot of shows. I realized lately we we did season 1 of Daredevil. We're doing Moon Night, so we're Falcon and The Winter Soldier. So, so yeah, a lot, a lot of exciting stuff there. So yeah, check that out.

1:01:50 Yeah. Definitely do that. Go check it out. And of course, if you're in the Jackson, GA area, are you still doing the afternoons? Yes. Afternoons with Chad. That's right. Yeah, give us your. Station and call sign a 92. .1 down in Jackson, GA If you're familiar with Stranger Things, you can come down them. Yeah, that's Hawkins, Indiana. That's right. Yeah, it is. Exactly. They they're. It's funny. I was, we were, we were watching it earlier or I was, my wife was asleep. And they, they're in the library and they walk out of the library. I'm like, that's not a library, That's City Hall. Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah. So yeah. Well, look, I turn down that.

1:02:31 Street every day, yeah. Yeah, again, you, you with, with Stranger Things. Me. It's Mystic Falls. You know, I live. I live where they film Vampire Diaries. So. Oh, that's right. So it's the same. Thing I, I look and go, hey, look at there. That's that's not what that building is exactly. Yeah, and that building. The the pawn shop is actually now where you go to do tours of Strange thing, yeah. Which I have done the tour and it's it's great. If you're ever in Jackson, do the Stranger Stranger tours. It's very, very good. But yeah, I live, I live close to the square where a couple of scenes of Smokey and the Bandit were filmed. So there you go. There's been other stuff on there, but that's the one I recognize, the Madea.

1:03:13 Christmas movie, Yeah. As well as filmed at the square. Yeah, sorry. All right, well, thanks everybody for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a five star review on Apple podcast. Be sure to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. We would love for you to support.theshowbybecomingapartner@buymeacoffee.com. Jump online and visit the website 80s flickflashback.com and RT public store for some awesome 80s flick flashback merchant original designs. Thanks again for tuning in. Thank you Chad, Laramie and Robbie for being a part. I'm Tim Williams for the 80s flick flashback podcast. Of all the guys who I thought were gonna make it, Hightower was the one. I mean, if all the cops would like him, there'd be no crime at all.

1:03:54 Somebody. Call a veterinarian.