What Might've Been: The Last Precinct (1986)

Imagine, if you will, the "Police Academy" movies as if envisioned by Stephen J. Cannell.

From there, you'd have a pretty good idea about Cannell's short-lived action comedy, The Last Precinct, which skewered the usual conventions about cop shows, but had the life span of a leaky can of oil, which is to say, not much.

Last Precinct was a parody, particularly, of another NBC series of the period, Hill Street Blues, and the fact that the parody was on the same network might've offended enough people to the point that it caused a quick cancellation. It also served as a comeback vehicle for Adam West (ex-Batman, The Detectives), who, like Leslie Nielsen, was resurrecting his career as more of a comic actor, realizing that straight drama, other than a guest turn on, say, Murder, She Wrote, was not in his future. The ensemble also included Keenan Wynn, Lucy Lee Flippin, tennis star Vijay Armitraj, and comic Rick Ducommon. Suffice to say, Cannell never tried another comedy after this.

Gilmore Box provides the intro. Ironically, Mike Post, Cannell's go-to guy for composing themes, also wrote and charted with the theme from Hill Street Blues.



Rating: C.