LANGUAGE WARNING

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NO LAUGHING MATTER - Part One

As soon as it landed in cinemas in March 1984, POLICE ACADEMY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEtm-S6-2c) became one of the surprise smash hit films of the decade at the box office. To the bemusement of critics and many within Hollywood, the film made more than thirty times its production budget and spawned a film franchise (https://youtu.be/UCxZ_QdaSQ8) across the rest of the 1980s.

Perceived as a comedy no-hoper by many in the know, Police Academy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdQvuVyutPg) instead created an industry within an industry, with a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of sequels to come in rapid succession. At least for the first few years, POLICE ACADEMY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBMwZdm_fhQ) was a movie business force to be reckoned with.

This is the story of the rise of an unlikely 1980s movie brand during an iconic time for film and pop culture in general. When the first film was released in 1984, there were no expectations of such a financial bonanza - and no possible way of predicting the cinematic chaos that would ensue.

How did the POLICE ACADEMY (https://youtu.be/dH8ZZtZgfKg) boom actually happen? Could modern day Hollywood learn anything from its success? Were the films really as bad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJydmSzu_XU) as the reviews might make out? And…how many POLICE ACADEMY films even are there?


00:00 Intro
01:50 Pop Culture Rewind - Early 1984
02:51 Police Academy - The Surprise Smash Hit
13:13 Steve Guttenberg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZtVooFktJs)'s Golden '80s Run (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYMpHomFH8I)
15:37 1984's Release Slate VS Modern Day Hollywood
19:22 Police Academy II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnAhOOgOkLs) - Getting the Band Back Together
29:37 Next Time: No Laughing Matter - Part Two


This is part one of NO LAUGHING MATTER, the deepest Police Academy dive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQQ5ArS1UfE) you are ever likely to see. Part two and part three are currently in production and will be dropping soon.

POLICE ACADEMY is owned by Warner Brothers. This video is created as a tribute under fair use principles. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the first movie in the series.

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I take a look back (https://outlawvern.com/2012/06/25/police-academy-1-4-the-carey-mahoney-cycle/) at all (https://andyfilm.com/2015/06/10/the-video-vault-the-police-academy-series/) 7 movies (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/episode-178-retrospective-police-academy-part-1/id1169268119?i=1000588197507) to see if they could stand up today.

The first one is good,the rest suck.............

LANGUAGE WARNING

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NO LAUGHING MATTER - Part Two

Police Academy (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/PoliceAcademy) was one of the biggest brands in Hollywood…until it wasn’t.

Despite being dismissed by many before release, by early 1986 the first two POLICE ACADEMY films had made hundreds of millions of dollars already and the third film, Back in Training, was about to hit number one at the box office.

But what comes up, must also eventually come down - and by the end of the decade, POLICE ACADEMY had become little more than a pop culture punchline, still hated by critics but now unable to be a bankable asset with audiences as well.

As the second half of the 1980s rolled on, and a new POLICE ACADEMY arrived every year without fail, how did the franchise descend from a comedy film hit factory to a brand on life support? Could attempting to crack TV, the music charts and other new mediums halt the decline? And, just how bad the later films get?

This is part two of NO LAUGHING MATTER, a documentary series telling the story of POLICE ACADEMY’s epic rise and fall.


00:00 Intro
03:08 Pop Culture Rewind - Early 1986
06:31 Police Academy 3 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Academy_3:_Back_in_Training): Third Time’s a Charm?
16:56 The Wonderful World of the Police Academy Imitators
20:01 Police Academy 4 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Academy_4:_Citizens_on_Patrol): Sequels on Patrol
25:44 '80s Hollywood’s Love Affair with the Soundtrack
31:38 Police Academy: The Animated Series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Academy_(TV_series)) - Part One
33:03 Police Academy 5 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Academy_5:_Assignment_Miami_Beach): No Gute, No Hope?
38:32 The Animated Series (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/PoliceAcademyTheAnimatedSeries) - Part Two
40:10 Police Academy 6 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Academy_6:_City_Under_Siege): Franchise Under Siege
45:15 Next Time: No Laughing Matter - Part Three


NO LAUGHING MATTER is the deepest POLICE ACADEMY dive you are ever likely to see.

POLICE ACADEMY in the 1990s | Mission to Nowhere (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYjIsoJusxY)

NO LAUGHING MATTER - Part Three

At the dawn of the 1990s, one of the most profitable Hollywood franchises of the previous decade was staring into the abyss.

Police Academy had built its own comedy film empire in the 1980s, with the first three films in the series each making over $100 million dollars from their cinema runs alone. By the time part six limped onto screens in 1989, however, the party was pretty much over for the brand as a whole.

As a new decade began, could the Police Academy franchise ever hope to reclaim former glories? Would a mid-’90s Mission to Moscow be the golden ticket the series required? As the story moves into the 21st century, would Police Academy get the modern reboot treatment? And…what legacy does Police Academy leave behind in its wake?

The documentary also explores the wider cultural and social landscape of the era, and the changes seen across film, music and politics.


00:00 Intro
02:31 Culture Slice - watch and subscribe
03:11 The dawn of the 1990s - life outside the Police Academy bubble
10:14 Mission to Moscow: Police Academy 7 (https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/what-went-wrong-with-police-academy-7/) and the wider cultural landscape
25:51 The short-lived history of Police Academy: The Series (https://www.google.com/search?q=Police+Academy%3A+The+Series&sca_esv=9922c09ff6e53a84&sxsrf=ACQVn08m0Lf4y2q985Arx-YfWxZWeWAcyg%3A1710892912012&source=lnt&tbs=bkt%3As%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3AJanuary+1_2+1997%2Ccd_max%3ADecember+31_2+1998&tbm=bks)
29:20 Police Academy's journey in the 21st century
33:28 End of the line: The legacy of Police Academy


This is part three of NO LAUGHING MATTER, a documentary series telling the story of POLICE ACADEMY’s epic rise and fall.

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THE COMPLETE STORY OF POLICE ACADEMY
NO LAUGHING MATTER PARTS 1-3

How did Police Academy go from a 1980s Hollywood profit-making machine to a trainwreck punchline by the dawn of the 1990s? What happened next to the franchise and the major players who made it all happen? And what legacy does the film series leave behind?

Follow the full journey of the ups, downs and strange sidebars of one of the most memorable and iconic comedy movie franchises in Hollywood history, with all three parts of the No Laughing Matter documentary series together in one place.


00:00 Intro


PART ONE - THE RISE

01:57 Intro
03:43 Pop Culture Rewind - Early 1984
04:44 Police Academy - The surprise smash hit
15:06 Steve Guttenberg's golden '80s run
17:29 1984's release slate vs modern day Hollywood
20:53 Police Academy II: Their First Assignment
31:30 Next Time: No Laughing Matter - Part Two


CULTURE SLICE PROMO #1

32:29 The Culture Slice frogs


PART TWO - THE FALL

32:50 Intro
35:51 Pop Culture Rewind - Early 1986
39:14 Police Academy 3: Third time’s a charm?
49:40 The Wonderful World of the Police Academy imitators
52:44 Police Academy 4: Sequels on Patrol
58:28 1980’s Hollywood’s love affair with the soundtrack
01:02:10 Steve Guttenberg departs Police Academy
01:04:22 Police Academy: The Animated Series - Part One
01:05:45 Police Academy 5: No Gute, No Hope?
01:11:19 The Animated Series - Part Two
01:12:56 Police Academy 6: Franchise Under Siege
01:18:01 Next Time: No Laughing Matter - Part Three


CULTURE SLICE PROMO #2

01:19:03 Culture Slice: It’s the right Slice now


PART THREE - THE 1990S AND BEYOND

01:19:23 Intro
01:21:52 The dawn of the 1990s - life outside the Police Academy bubble
01:29:16 Mission to Moscow: Police Academy 7 and the wider cultural landscape
01:44:36 The short-lived history of Police Academy: The Series
01:47:44 Police Academy's journey in the 21st century
01:52:12 End of the line: The legacy of Police Academy
01:58:29 What happened to Police Academy’s stars and major players?


POLICE ACADEMY is owned by Warner Brothers. This video is created as a tribute under fair use principles. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the first movie in the series.

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🚨 It started with charm, chaos, and misfit heroes… but somewhere along the line, Police Academy became the joke it used to mock. In this breakdown, we reveal 7 major reasons why the Police Academy franchise went wrong—from tired gags to offensive humor and everything in between.

💥 Here’s what went off the rails:
1️⃣ Same Jokes, Overused Humor* – The hooker-in-the-podium bit was hilarious once... not seven times. Repeating the same slapstick without reinvention drained the comedy dry.
2️⃣ Same Plot, Every Movie* – From training montages to clumsy cadets, the films became copy-paste sequels with no story growth.
3️⃣ Random Edits, No Flow* – Gags strung together like bloopers instead of a coherent movie. Paint buckets, pratfalls, and no plot.
4️⃣ Offensive & Outdated Humor* – What passed in the ‘80s now feels cringeworthy—sexist, tone-deaf, and sometimes straight-up inappropriate.
5️⃣ Cheap Effects, Sloppy Cuts* – Body doubles, bad dubbing, awkward rap songs—proof the budget and care were both running low.
6️⃣ Franchise Fatigue* – No innovation, no real effort—just a nostalgia cash grab with zero growth.
7️⃣ Lightning in a Bottle, Never Recaptured* – The original had charm and soul. The sequels? Cookie-cutter copies chasing a faded formula.

👮*♂️ From a surprise hit inspired by The Right Stuff to a saga of recycled laughs, Police Academy is a masterclass in how to run a comedy franchise straight into the ground.

💬 Could this series have been saved? Or was the original just too unique to follow up?

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In 1984, another project joined the ranks of those fast-turnaround films, and it had nothing to do with horror. The massive box office success of the first Police Academy—which cost just $4 million and was shot in just over a month—showed Warner Brothers that the movie was perfect for conveyor-belt production. That’s exactly what the studio went for, pushing the creators to deliver a film every year.

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Culture Slice attempts to answer one of the most important questions of 1980s cinema…how do you rank the Police Academy movies?

From the 1984 original through to sequels like Citizens on Patrol, Assignment Miami Beach and City Under Siege, the Police Academy franchise delivered six films in six years - and even attempted an ill-fated revival in 1994 with Mission to Moscow.

In this 2-year channel anniversary chart show special, we rank every movie in the series using four key metrics, including our viewers’ own top 7 public vote.

So join us as we head back to the Blue Oyster Bar to revisit the highs and the lows of one of the most beloved (and ridiculed) comedy series of the 1980s.

🚨 All aboard for the ultimate Police Academy chart show!

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro + opening titles
01:14 Breaking down the ranking criteria
04:13 The first entry
08:45 The next contender
12:42 Another Academy arrival
15:39 Just missing the podium
20:03 I miss chart shows on TV
21:47 Cracking the top three
25:49 So close to the top spot
29:49 The number one Academy movie
33:02 Final Police Academy thoughts

We dont like BOTS posting on this site!!

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The Police Academy franchise dominated the box office for a decade before suddenly disappearing from Hollywood entirely. This retrospective investigates how a low-budget comedy became a global phenomenon and why the studio ultimately shut it down after seven films.

The analysis covers the surprising origins of the original movie, the creative decisions that led to Steve Guttenberg's departure, and the disastrous final sequel filmed in Russia during a constitutional crisis. We also examine the careers of the ensemble cast, exploring the legacy of Michael Winslow's sound effects and the tragic loss of key actors in the years following the series' conclusion.

This channel explores film history and pop culture nostalgia through detailed video essays.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction
0:43 - The Accidental Inspiration
1:28 - Building the Squad
2:12 - Police Academy (1984)
3:01 - The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects
3:46 - Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
4:32 - The Gentle Giant
5:20 - Police Academy 3: Back in Training
6:00 - Tackleberry
6:41 - Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
7:19 - Call to Action
7:32 - Why Guttenberg Left
8:11 - The Animated Series
8:54 - Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
9:31 - The Heart of the Academy
10:10 - Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
10:53 - The Villain We Loved to Hate
11:35 - The Five Year Hiatus
12:15 - Mission to Moscow
12:59 - The Historic Flop
13:39 - The TV Series
14:14 - Tragedy Strikes
14:58 - The Reboot That Never Was
15:41 - Where Are They Now?
16:19 - Where Are They Now?
16:56 - The Legacy
17:32 - Conclusion
18:06 - Outro

How did Police Academy go from a 1980s Hollywood profit-making machine to a trainwreck punchline by the dawn of the 1990s? What happened next to the franchise and the major players who made it all happen? They ruined it... They let others think for them!!!!

They didnt like the R rating so they lowered it so younger ones could more easily go....

The First one is R and excellent
The 2nd one is PG-13 and is OK
The rest are PG and not very good.....

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Explore the history of the Police Academy film series, from its origins to its surprising legacy. The video details the franchise's evolution through seven movies, an animated series, and a sitcom. Discover the behind-the-scenes stories and unexpected twists that shaped this comedic institution.