Reviews

I thought I'd put in my $0.02 worth on this show since no one else has done so yet, but honestly my views will be on the rose-coloured side of things from what little I recall of it now way back when ... it's a shame that they haven't released this short-lived production onto DVD yet. The concept of different weird and wacky personalities housed in one law-enforcement office ultimately would not have been sustainable for even one season (hence it only made six episodes before getting the axe).

As a teenager, I got a real kick out of seeing the hilarious pilot which was surprisingly another take on what the Police Academy movies and Police Squad TV episodes had already established. The basic premise was a bunch of misfits scattered throughout the police ranks, both street-hardened and rookie cops and cadets, which were put together in the last place that any sensible law-enforcer would want to work in. The various captains of each police station had just about enough of their subordinates and would do anything to get them transferred out of their offices, however these weren't your average trouble-makers like Riggs & Murtaugh who would be seen to do things somewhat excessive in the line of duty ... no, it was more like what these cops did OUTSIDE of normal working hours who would then bring these eccentricities to work with them, like the Elvis impersonator amongst others.

The only scenes that stick out in my mind after all these years is the animosity shown by a rival group of police officers who were well-funded and hence would sport the latest in technology, particularly their new police vehicles that would talk in a calming female voice (more like the one that gave instructions to James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies rather than the one-to-one conversations that KITT provided from Knight Rider). This provided the much-needed confliction comedy that is the bain of great 80s humour whereby both parties of police enforcement would try to outdo each when trying to clean up crime. The under-funded underdogs from The Last Precinct would quite often embarrass their technically superior counterparts mainly by sabotaging or simply out-driving them (ala The Blues Brothers) whilst the new police-cars would inform the hapless drivers of what was going wrong, the funniest line being "You're whole front end is missing".

I wish I could see this TV show again even if I may find that the few fond memories I have probably don't even exist at all when I see it with fresh eyes. Nonetheless, with all the TV shows that are being released on DVD these days, the ones that died an early death (such as the recent Firefly) as well as TLP hardly ever get to see the light of day on a 5" shiny silver platter. I'd be surprised if anyone else out there even remembers The Last Precinct even existed, but I'm sure that it would only take a few people to send a request for this show to be cobbled together for the curious to rent in the weekly section of their local video shop. It may even inspire someone to bring back the "cop comedy" genre again!

Kung Phooey is for anyone who has deliberately forced themselves to watch every eastern and western martial arts chop-socky schlock flick known to man, although only a few of these genre fans will truly appreciate where KP is coming from (and ultimately going to). As bad as this film is to any sensible movie critic, the first few minutes alone will have you spurting out your favourite beverage through your nose - the intro recreates the "Kung Fu sanddune walkabout" Zucker-style with many of those bizarrely unrelated visual tidbits to keep you guessing every few seconds. The rest of this film however takes itself about as seriously as a secondary school stage play and is probably just about as interesting, at least on the surface. The seemingly $2.50 budget does not give one much expectation for world-class fight choreography or acting for that matter, but if you are willing to forgo these "small graces" then there are many mildly amusing filmic, cultural and (the all-important) stereotypical send ups to be savoured here. Basically, Kung Phooey is the martial arts spoof home-movie that you and your mates have always wanted to make but were truly afraid to see through to fruition.

As far as sustaining this one-joke-wonder into a 90 minute foray it inevitably falls short of the mark, well below that of the joke-per-minute classics like Flying High (er, Airplane). Instead, the filmmakers decided that if they couldn't be overtly hilarious, then they should at least try and be clever about the self-contained universe that all martial arts films seem to live in. The humour is thence derived from the characters often using real-world logic to dismantle their own movie-world actions and motivations that occur around them (and vice versa if that's possible). If you can, grab the DVD to watch the making-of featurette which shows all the heavenly glory of Z-budget film-making as well as the fun you can have when you really put your mind to it (you can't make a dream come true unless you have a dream). The deleted scenes also go further into a couple of other characters who should have had equal screen time with the Muscles from Brussels when he finally gets his comeuppance in the most painful way imaginable. And of course, don't forget the outtakes! If you have watched (but not necessarily enjoyed) Kung Pow: Enter The Fist for its unique take on this undervalued film genre, who knows if you will get into Kung Phooey or not ... maybe having a bottle of the cheapest booze on hand will help. But one thing is almost certain with this movie ... it will not have a sequel!