Police Squad! (lost John Belushi scene from ABC crime comedy series; 1982): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:17, 7 June 2023

John Belushi.

Status: Lost

On March 4th, 1982, ABC premiered the show Police Squad!, created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, and starring formerly dramatic actor Leslie Neilsen in one of his many comedic roles. A broad spoof on police procedurals, Police Squad! only lasted six episodes but would go on to spawn the hugely successful Naked Gun film series, also starring Nielsen. One of the TV episodes was to include a guest appearance of comedian John Belushi. Due to the actor's death on March 5th, 1982, his scene was cut and has yet to resurface.

Background

As a running gag, the opening sequence of each episode would highlight a "special guest star" credit, then immediately kill that guest star off, as for instance fading in on William Shatner at a restaurant sipping what turns out to be poisoned wine. Another episode was to open on breakout film and Saturday Night Live star John Belushi having his legs tied to blocks of concrete, then drowned.

These plans were complicated when on March 5th - a day after the series premiere - Belushi was actually found dead in his home, of a cocaine and heroin overdose. The Police Squad! creators were shocked, mentioning in a DVD commentary that they had joked about Belushi dying after he had almost choked during the filming of the scene.^[1]

Availability

Belushi's scene was quickly pulled from its episode and replaced with one starring William Conrad. Despite the show's cinematic revival and subsequent emergence as a cult classic, the Belushi footage has never resurfaced, and is presumed to have been either lost or destroyed during Police Squad!'s prior decade or so of obscurity.^[2]

References

↑ Police Squad: The Complete Series: Audio Commentary for "The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)". Retrieved 31 Aug '21
↑ New York Magazine mentioning his Police Squad! scene. Retrieved 31 Aug '21

[1] Police Squad: The Complete Series: Audio Commentary for "The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)". Retrieved 31 Aug '21

[2] New York Magazine mentioning his Police Squad! scene. Retrieved 31 Aug '21

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-On March 4th, 1982, ABC premiered the show ''Police Squad!'', created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, and starred Leslie Nielsen. A spoof on police procedurals, the series lasted six episodes before it was cancelled on July 8th the same year. This show later spawned the successful ''Naked Gun'' film series, also starring Nielsen. '''One of the episodes was to include a guest appearance of comedian John Belushi'''. Due to the actor's death on March 5th, 1982, his scene was cut and has yet to resurface.
+On March 4th, 1982, ABC premiered the show ''Police Squad!'', created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, and starring formerly dramatic actor Leslie Neilsen in one of his many comedic roles. A broad spoof on police procedurals, ''Police Squad!'' only lasted six episodes but would go on to spawn the hugely successful ''Naked Gun'' film series, also starring Nielsen. '''One of the TV episodes was to include a guest appearance of comedian John Belushi'''. Due to the actor's death on March 5th, 1982, his scene was cut and has yet to resurface.
 ==Background==
-In the opening sequence of each episode of ''Police Squad!'', it would show a "special guest star" credit, with the guest star immediately getting killed off. An example of this is William Shatner at a restaurant and dying from poison in his wine. John Belushi's death scene was being tied to blocks of concrete under water. On March 5th, 1982, a day after the premiere of the show, Belushi was found dead in his bungalow. His autopsy found a combination of cocaine and heroin in his system. The creators were shocked by the death of Belushi, mentioning in a DVD commentary that they joked about it after he had almost choked during the filming of the scene.<ref>Police Squad: The Complete Series: Audio Commentary for "The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand). Retrieved 31 Aug '21</ref>
+As a running gag, the opening sequence of each episode would highlight a "special guest star" credit, then immediately kill that guest star off, as for instance fading in on William Shatner at a restaurant sipping what turns out to be poisoned wine. Another episode was to open on breakout film and ''Saturday Night Live'' star John Belushi having his legs tied to blocks of concrete, then drowned.
+These plans were complicated when on March 5th - a day after the series premiere - Belushi was actually found dead in his home, of a cocaine and heroin overdose. The ''Police Squad!'' creators were shocked, mentioning in a DVD commentary that they had joked about Belushi dying after he had almost choked during the filming of the scene.<ref>Police Squad: The Complete Series: Audio Commentary for "The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)". Retrieved 31 Aug '21</ref>
 ==Availability==
-Due to Belushi's death, the Zucker brothers and Abrahams pulled his scene from its episode and replaced it with anothers death. In the years since the shows cancellation, the scene has never been released on home media. It is believed that the footage is either lost or completely destroyed.<ref>[https://www.vulture.com/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-john-belushi.html New York Magazine mentioning his ''Police Squad!'' scene.] Retrieved 31 Aug '21</ref>
+Belushi's scene was quickly pulled from its episode and replaced with one starring William Conrad. Despite the show's cinematic revival and subsequent emergence as a cult classic, the Belushi footage has never resurfaced, and is presumed to have been either lost or destroyed during ''Police Squad!'''s prior decade or so of obscurity.<ref>[https://www.vulture.com/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-john-belushi.html New York Magazine mentioning his ''Police Squad!'' scene.] Retrieved 31 Aug '21</ref>
 ==References==