Police Squad! and Wiliams were the only ones who returned and portrayed their original characters in "The Naked Gun" film series. Captain Ed Hocken was portrayed by George Kennedy in the film series, while O. J. Simpson played Officer Nordberg (slightly renamed from 'Norberg'). The show's opening sequence was a satire on traditional opening sequences of crime dramas at that time, and of the 1960s, particularly "M Squad" and various Quinn Martin shows such as "The Fugitive" and particularly "The New Breed" (which also starred Nielsen). Hank Simms, who had worked as an announcer for some of Quinn Martin's programs, announced the
Police Squad! The final two episodes were aired that summer. According to the DVD Commentary of "A Substantial Gift" (episode 1), then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos said "Police Squad!" was cancelled because "the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." What Thomopoulos meant was that the viewer had to pay very close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor, while most other TV shows did not demand as much effort from the viewer. In its annual "Cheers and Jeers" issue, "TV Guide" magazine called the explanation for the cancellation "the most stupid reason a