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Police Academy (film Series)
''Police Academy'' is a comedy franchise of seven theatrical films and two spin-off television shows. The 1984 film ''Police Academy'' followed the premise of a new mayor requiring the local police department to accept all recruits. The film franchise relies heavily on slapstick humor and physical comedy, as the misfit recruits attempt to prove themselves capable of being police officers, succeeding despite their eccentricities. The first four films follow Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), a repeat offender forced to join the police academy as punishment. The 1994 film ''Mission to Moscow'' marked the seventh installment, with cast members George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, and David Graf appearing throughout the film series. The first film grossed $149.8 million worldwide. While the subsequent films failed to impress critics, they sustained commercial success, grossing $391 million in total. Parallels have been drawn between ''Police Academy'' and the British '' Carry On'' series, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Police Academy (film)
''Police Academy'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson (director), Hugh Wilson in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Its storyline follows a new recruitment policy for an unnamed city's police academy to take in any recruit who wishes to apply and study to become a police officer. The film stars Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, and G. W. Bailey. The film was produced by The Ladd Company. It premiered on March 23, 1984. It grossed $8.5 million in its opening weekend and more than $149 million worldwide, against a budget of $4.8 million, and remains the most successful film of the series as of 2022. The film spawned six sequels in the Police Academy (franchise), ''Police Academy'' franchise, and is the only film in the franchise to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association, MPAA. Plot In an unnamed city, the mayor announces that the Metropolitan Police must accept all willing applicants for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as ''commedia dell'arte'' in 16th-century Italy. The "Clapper (musical instrument), slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which makes a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. More contemporary examples of slapstick humor include ''The Three Stooges'', ''The Naked Gun'' and ''Mr. Bean (character), Mr. Bean''. Origins The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''batacchio'' or ''bataccio''—called the "Clapper (musical instrument), slap sti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Maslansky
Paul Marc Maslansky (November 23, 1933 – December 2, 2024) was an American film producer and writer best known for the ''Police Academy'' franchise. Early life Maslansky was born in Harlem, New York, on November 23, 1933. He played jazz for a living while briefly attending law school in New York. He graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 1954. Career Maslansky had 41 film credits as producer or executive producer. His first production credit was for 1964's '' Castle of the Living Dead'', which starred Christopher Lee. Initially, Maslansky used his middle initial in his credits, though this was later dropped. Maslansky worked throughout the 1960s and 1970s as producer, notable credits include '' Race with the Devil'', '' Damnation Alley'', '' The Villain'', and '' Love Child''. Maslansky was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the 1978 series ''King''. Maslansky had a breakthrough hit with ''Police Academy'' in 1984. From a budget of $ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Proft
Pat Proft (born 1947) is an American comedy writer, actor, and director. Born in Minnesota in 1947, Proft began his career at Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis in the mid-1960s. He went on to perform as a one-man comedy act in the late 1960s. In 1972, Proft began working at The Comedy Store in Hollywood which led to work in television and film writing for the Smothers Brothers and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Of the many feature films Proft has written, ''Wrongfully Accused'' is the only one he also directed. It was released in 1998. Proft continued to work with David Zucker, and in 2013 announced he was working on a parody film with Zucker involving the ''Jason Bourne'' and ''Mission: Impossible'' series. Biography Proft was born in 1947 in Minnesota. Proft attended Columbia Heights High School where his English teacher Stuart J. Anderson encouraged Proft to develop his talent. Proft would later perform at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's stage, acting in musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neal Israel
Neal Israel (born July 27, 1945) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his comedic work in the 1980s for films such as ''Police Academy'', ''Real Genius'', and ''Bachelor Party''. Israel has also directed episodes for several TV shows, including '' The Fresh Beat Band'', ''Lizzie McGuire'', '' Zeke and Luther'', '' Dog with a Blog'', and '' I Didn't Do It''. Biography Career Raised in Manhattan in a Jewish family, Israel started his career on the Broadway stage as assistant to legendary director George Abbott. After working at the New Dramatists Guild and the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, he came to Los Angeles, and was an executive at both ABC and CBS. During this time he wrote and directed the break through indie hit ''Tunnel Vision,'' which introduced such future stars as Chevy Chase, John Candy and Al Franken. On television, he wrote '' Ringo,'' a special that starred Ringo Starr and George Harrison. He then wrote w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Wilson (director)
Hugh Hamilton Wilson Jr. (August 21, 1943 – January 14, 2018) was an American film director, writer and television showrunner. He was the creator of the TV series ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' and '' Frank's Place'', and was the director of the film comedies ''Police Academy'' and ''The First Wives Club''. Background Wilson was born in Miami, Florida. He attended Coral Way Elementary, Ponce de Leon Jr. High, and Coral Gables Sr. High, where he was a member of the Ching Tang Fraternity. He entered the University of Florida in 1961 and graduated in 1964 with a degree in journalism. At Florida, he was a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and president of his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. Wilson received the school's Distinguished Alumnus award in 1982. He has also served as a guest professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. Career In 1966, he entered the advertising business in Atlanta at the Burton-Campbell Agency. He was a copywriter before becoming creative dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Development Hell
Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic challenges. A work may move between many sets of artistic leadership, crews, scripts, game engines, or studios. (The related terms production hell and production limbo refer to situations in which a film has begun production but has remained unfinished for a long time without progressing to post-production.) Some projects enter development hell because they were initially designed with ambitious goals, the difficulty of meeting those goals was underestimated, and attempts to meet those goals have repeatedly failed. The term is also applied more generally to describe any project that has unexpectedly stalled in the planning or design phase, has failed to meet its originally expected date of completion, and is languishing in those phases ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low Comedy
Low comedy, or lowbrow humor, is a type of comedy that is a form of popular entertainment without any primary purpose other than to create laughter through boasting, boisterous jokes, drunkenness, scolding, fighting, buffoonery and other riotous activity. It is characterized by "horseplay", slapstick or farce. Examples include the throwing of a custard pie into someone's face. The definition has expanded to include obvious physical jokes, such as the wedgie. The term "low comedy" was coined by John Dryden in his preface to his play '' An Evening's Love''. History This type of comedy has been a fixture ever since Greek plays. For instance Sophocles once wrote a satyr play, no longer extant, about satyrs who seek to persuade a king that they are worthy suitors of his daughter by bragging about their capacity for flatulence. Aristophanes claimed that he hoped his plays would not be too highbrow for the common people to understand though he acknowledged that his work presuppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On (franchise)
''Carry On'' is a British comedy franchise comprising 31 films, four Christmas specials, a television series and stage shows produced between 1958 and 1992. Produced by Peter Rogers, the ''Carry On'' films were directed by Gerald Thomas and starred a regular ensemble that included Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Jack Douglas, and Jim Dale. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards. The success of the films led to several spin-offs, including four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of 13 episodes, a West End stage show and two provincial summer shows. The ''Carry On'' series contains the largest number of films of any British film franchise, and is the second longest running, albeit with a 14-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Graf
Paul David Graf (April 16, 1950 – April 7, 2001) was an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the ''Police Academy'' series of films. Early life and education Graf was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and later moved to Lancaster, Ohio, and graduated from Lancaster High School. He studied theatre at Otterbein College in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, where he graduated in 1972. He attended graduate school at Ohio State University until 1975, when he dropped out to pursue his acting career. Acting career Graf made his first television appearance as a contestant on the game show '' The $20,000 Pyramid'' in December 1979, where he teamed 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 1980s, he also took small roles in popular TV shows, including ''M*A*S*H'', ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', ''Airwolf'', '' Hardcastle and McCormick' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Winslow
Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven ''Police Academy'' films as Larvell Jones. He has also appeared in ''Spaceballs'', ''Cheech and Chong's Next Movie'', '' Nice Dreams'', ''The Love Boat'', and commercials for Cadbury and GEICO. Early life Winslow was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Verdie and Robert Winslow. He grew up at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, and later attended the Lisa Maile School of Acting, Modeling, and Imaging. According to his own account, Winslow had few friends growing up. To pass time, he would imitate the sounds of engines, animals, flatulence, or anything that made noise. Following high school and college, he performed in nightclubs and theaters, where his sound imitation skills won him positive appraisal and enough money to move to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gaynes
George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Dutch-American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to a Dutch father and a Russian mother in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway. Gaynes' most recognized roles in cinema were that of Commandant Eric Lassard in the '' Police Academy'' series and as John Van Horn in the 1982 comedy film '' Tootsie''. He appeared as the curmudgeonly but lovable foster parent Henry Warnimont on the NBC series ''Punky Brewster''; as high-powered theatrical producer Arthur Feldman on '' The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd''; as Senator Strobe Smithers in the hit TV show '' Hearts Afire''; and as Frank Smith, the mob boss brought down by Luke Spencer ( Anthony Geary) and Laura Spencer ( Genie Francis) on the soap opera ''General Hos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
