Police Academy/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Crazy Awesome: The semi-babbling punk Zed from the third and fourth movies, and, arguably, Eric Lassard.
    • Far less arguably, Eugene Tackleberry.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: There's a reason the third movie had Zed join the force. Also, depending who ask, Tackleberry, Jones, and Hightower.
  • First Installment Wins: The series' infamous Sequelitis tends to overshadow the fact that the original was actually a rather good comedy.
  • Misaimed Marketing: Oh, lord. These movies were not for kids. Everything else connected to them was, though.
  • Mission Pack Sequel: The fourth film has a near-identical plot to the third, the only major differences being that the third deals with new Police Academy recruits, and the fourth is based around a civilian training course. In fact, the two movies were meant to be shot back-to-back, but a combination of Art Metrano's injury and director Jerry Paris falling seriously ill (and later dying) forced them to delay shooting of the fourth film.
  • Sequelitis: Your Mileage May Vary (just look at the edit history) but as a general rule, the lower the number in the title, the better the film. The numbers go to 7.
    • Hmm. Seven movies plus two series plus merchandising equals ten. It is now clear why they want to do just one more after all this time.
    • On the other hand, the third movie is considered by many fans to be the peak of the series.
    • The third movie arguably sits astride the point at which the franchise ran out of ideas. The creators were able to add enough fresh material so that they could pick and choose which gags and scenarios to recycle from the previous two. So, whether fresh or not, the third movie could be said to represent the best of what the franchise had to offer. After that, though, the only way was down...
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Chief Hurst and Lt. Harris of the first film. In any other situation, having people like some of the cadets who obviously don't meet realistic fitness requirements, educational levels, and medical standards to be effective cops allowed into the Academy would be extremely foolish. But due to them being Genre Blind and Jerkasses the message is lost.
  • Too Cool to Live: Tackleberry's most likely fate now that his actor has kicked the bucket.
    • And now Hightower, too.