"The Naked Gun" – A Masterclass in Absurd Comedy That Still Kills 37 Years Later

 By Saurabh Sahu, Die-Hard Frank Drebin Fanatic

August 1, 2025

If you’ve never laughed so hard that milk shot out of your nose while watching The Naked Gun, then you, my friend, have not truly lived.

Leslie Nielsen’s Lt. Frank Drebin isn’t just a character—he’s a comedic force of nature. A detective so inept he could trip over a flat surface, yet so confident he’d arrest the floor for assault. And 37 years after its release, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! remains the gold standard of spoof comedy—a relentless barrage of sight gags, wordplay, and sheer, unhinged stupidity that somehow works perfectly.

But why does this 1988 gem still hold up when so many modern comedies crash and burn? Let’s dive in.

Leslie Nielsen: The Man Who Made Deadpan an Art Form

Before Airplane! (1980), Nielsen was known for serious roles (Forbidden Planet, The Poseidon Adventure). Then came Frank Drebin—a role so iconic it redefined his career. With a face like granite and delivery so straight it could cut glass, Nielsen sold every ludicrous line as if it were Shakespeare.

•"Nice beaver!" (Jane hands him an actual stuffed beaver)

•"It’s the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girl dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day."

•"Nothing to see here!" (while a fireworks factory explodes behind him)

Nielsen didn’t just play dumb—he played unaware. And that’s the magic. He never winks at the audience. He believes every ridiculous thing he says, making it 10x funnier.

The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker (ZAZ) Formula: Jokes So Fast You’ll Miss Half of Them

The ZAZ team (Airplane!, Top Secret!) perfected a style where if one joke doesn’t land, another five are already on the way. The Naked Gun fires gags like a machine gun:

•Slapstick: Nordberg (O.J. Simpson) getting shot, falling down stairs, and still trying to radio for help.

•Visual Gags: A police car driving through a car wash, a girls’ locker room, and a rollercoaster in the opening credits.

•Wordplay: "Like a blind man at an orgy, I was going to have to feel things out."

•Satire: A summit of dictators (including a mohawk-sporting Ayatollah) getting punched out by Drebin.

The sheer density of jokes means rewatching still uncovers hidden gems.

The Best Scenes (That Still Destroy Me)

•The Toilet Mic Incident – Drebin’s bathroom break gets broadcast to an entire press conference.

•The Baseball Game Finale – Drebin, disguised as opera singer Enrico Palazzo, botches the national anthem while foiling an assassination attempt on the Queen.

•The Safe Sex Montage – Drebin and Jane (Priscilla Presley) wear full-body condoms, frolic in slow-motion, and clothesline innocent bystanders.

Each scene is a masterclass in escalating absurdity.

Why Modern Comedies Can’t Compare

Today’s "comedies" rely on lazy references and meme humor. The Naked Gun didn’t just spoof cop movies—it invented its own brand of insanity.

•No CGI, Just Chaos – Stunts were practical (Nielsen hanging from a concrete phallus? Real.).

•No Winking at the Camera – The cast played it dead serious, making the dumbness sublime.

•No Forced Nostalgia – It stood on its own, not as a reboot or IP cash-grab.

The Legacy: Still the King of Spoofs

Despite two sequels (The Smell of Fear, The Final Insult) and a 2025 reboot (Liam Neeson as Drebin Jr.), the original remains untouchable. It’s the Citizen Kane of stupid—a film that understood the genius of being gloriously, unapologetically dumb.

So, if you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and watch it now. And if you have? Watch it again. Because in a world full of sanitized, algorithm-approved "content," The Naked Gun is a riotous middle finger to seriousness.

And we desperately need that.

Final Verdict: ★★★★★ (Or, in Drebin terms: "10 stars and a Dugout Dog.")

What’s your favorite Naked Gun moment? Drop it in the comments—I dare you not to laugh while typing it.