History Film / PoliceAcademy

-->'''Pete Lassard:''' "Is all that CRAP necessary?"
* AsideGlance: Mahoney whenever a great prank just set itself up for him (e.g. shoe polish on Harris' face, switching Mauser's shampoo for glue and leaving Proctor exposed in front of a stadium audience).

-->'''Hightower''': ''Now'' I'm mad...

* ExactWords: Oddly enough said by the villain but fulfilled by the protagonist, where Tackleberry and equal gun nut villain Ace are showing off their gun skills to each other, but after they had their fun, Tackleberry disappointingly points out he has to arrest Ace now. Ace responds by stating, "You wouldn't shoot a unarmed man.", drops his guns and runs off. Tackleberry obliges by pulling out a bola from a pocket in his tactical vest and throwing it at Ace's legs to stop him. Tackleberry then looks at his now captured adversary with a large smug grin.

** Mauser and Proctor

** Certain characters, as well as settings and environments, were in their pre-Flanderized stages and forms earlier on with the humor at times coming off as subtle more frequently while not being quite as [[DenserAndWackier Dense and Wacky]] half the time, which makes it more or less resemble people or situations you'd likely find or see in real life during the time. In contrast to how the series would later look and be known for its over-the-top humor and overall wackier tone.

** Certain characters, as well as settings and environments, were in their pre-Flanderized stage and forms earlier on with the humor at times coming off as subtle more frequently while not being quite as [[DenserAndWackier Dense and Wacky]] half the time, which makes it more or less resemble people or situations you'd likely find or see in real life during the time. In contrast to how the series would later look and be known for its over-the-top humor and overall wackier tone.

** Tackleberry has likely broken every safety guideline in the book.

** Also, certain characters, as well as settings and environments, were in their pre-flanderized stage and forms earlier on in the series with the humor at times coming off more subtle and not nearly as [[DenserAndWackier Dense and Wacky]], making it more or less resemble situations or people you would likely find or see in real life at the time. In contrast to how the series would later look and be known for its over-the-top humor and overall wackier tone.

** The first, second, and fourth films were very much '''Adult Comedy''' with more raunchy humor, expletive language, and nude scenes. Later films began a more family-friendly tone starting with the third and sticking on with the fifth.

** The first, second, and fourth films were very much '''Adult Comedy''' with far more raunchier humor and expletive language. The third film started a more family-friendly tone with later films following suit starting with the fifth.
** Also, certain characters as well as settings and environments were in their pre-flanderized stage and forms earlier on in the series with the humor coming off as more subtle by comparison not nearly as DenserAndWackier, making it more or less resemble people or situations you would likely find or see in real life at the time. In contrast to how the series would later look and be known for its over-the-top humor and overall wackier tone.

** Also, certain characters as well as settings and environments were in their pre-flanderized stage and forms earlier on in the series with the humor coming off as more subtle by comparison not nearly having as much cartoony vibes, making it more or less resemble people or situations you would likely find or see in real life. In contrast to how the series would later look and be known for its over-the-top humor and overall cartoony tone.

* {{Cameo}}:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/police-academy-4_5139.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:What an institution!]]

* InevitableWaterfall: Seen in ''Citizens on Patrol''. Harries gets to swim in river with the waterfall before getting rescued in time.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The racial slurs that some of the less likeable cadets throw around in the first film, is meant to be unacceptable (especially when Hightower is involved), but for which the cadets in question escape any form of punishment... which, sadly, was very much TruthInTelevision back in 1984.

* BoobsOfSteel: Callahan is demonstrably the best unarmed fighter among the cast, in addition to being physically strong (she is an avid weightlifter). Camera angles always accentuate her large chest.

** Having a major breakout from the holding cells while [=VIPs=] were visiting the precinct as happened in ''Citizens on Patrol'' should have gotten Harris or at least Proctor (who caused it to happen by bringing his sidearm into the holding area against protocol, and allowing it to be stolen from him) demoted or sacked. Harris' screwups in ''City Under Siege'' should also have gotten him demoted or dismissed, as his mistakes were the main thing keeping the rest of the cast from catching the gang earlier (though in his defense, he had no idea that [[spoiler:the mayor -- an authority figure -- was the gang leader]]).
* KickedUpstairs: In ''Mission to Moscow'', Kyle Connors initially flunks out of the academy due his vertigo resulting in him being unable to pass physical fitness and was even on his way to Lassard's office for his signature to confirm he's flunked out, only to be brought along on the mission due to him replacing the name of another officer on the list of those assigned to the mission with his own and presumably becoming an officer once returning to the US due to his part in bringing down Konali. Him not even hesitating to jump onto a moving car being used as a getaway vehicle after Callahan is kidnapped likely did him some favours as well.

** In ''Back in Training'', Mauser forbids his cadets to respond to the call about the stickup and kidnapping at the yacht club, thinking it to be a prank which allow's Lassard's cadets to swim in and save the day. When they realize it's not a prank, the best they manage to do is get a canoe in the water. This heavily sways the governor's opinion and Lassard's academy remains open. While not shown on-screen, Mauser's academy was shut down with Mauser himself likely having been fired due to ignoring a call for such a serious crime as he does not return in any other sequels. Adding to this: he had Nogata transferred to Lassard's academy, unaware that he knows martial arts, which gave Lassard's cadet an edge against the criminals. And two of Mauser's cadets he assigned as the governor's bodyguards fainted during the stickup.

* OddballInTheSeries: The second film is the only one that doesn't feature the titular academy in a significant way; Commandant Lassard only pops up in a cameo with his brother taking centre stage as the precinct's captain and the six officers that get sent to him (Mahoney, Jones, Hightower, Tackleberry, Hooks, and Fackler) are recent graduates from the first film. Even the FairCop LoveInterest introduced in this film isn't one for Mahoney (or one of his {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s), but for Tackleberry.

* ThePeepingTom: Both Mahoney and Lt. Harris in the first film. In one scene, Mahoney is watching the female police cadets as they shower while drinking a beer. He gets busted by Lt. Harris who takes the beer and starts peeping himself only to be immediately noticed.

* ThePigPen: Officer Vinnie Schtulman. His apartment is a mess, his uniform is always dirty, he's willing to eat a chocolate bar he finds in a bin and will eat breakfast cereal ''after his cat has used it as a litter box''.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Hooks' first scene in ''City Under Siege'' has her writing a ticket for a Mercedes-Benz parked next to a hydrant. The owner of the car calls her over and rips up the ticket and scatters the pieces on the ground before explaining to her that he has the necessary connections to have her busted down a crossing guard and telling her to scram which she does... only to return moments later with a slew of new citations for his car being too far from the curb, parked in a red zone, blocking a fire hydrant, its expired registration sticker and missing front plate in addition to him littering, willfully destroying a court summons and attempting to extort an officer before his car is promptly towed away. He is then informed of the necessary fines he must pay to get his car back.

* TemptingFate: In ''City Under Siege'', Harris is finally in his own precinct away from Lassard and his misfits. Then, he finds himself working alongside them due to fears of there being a leak in Harris' precinct. [[spoiler:The (unwitting) leak is Harris himself, who is telling the mayor -- who is secretly The Mastermind -- everything about the police's efforts to stop the Wilson Heights Gang as part of his typical brownnosing.]]

* WritersCannotDoMath: In the second film, Mahoney, Schtulman, Fackler, Tackleberry, and Kirkland end up shooting up Sweetchuck's shop without catching any criminals. Mauser notes in the after action report that between them they expended over [[MoreDakka a thousand rounds of ammunition]] between them. The problem with this is that it would be very unlikely that even five cops, mostly armed with revolvers, would carry that amount of ammo between them, even taking into account the shotgun Fackler carries and Kirkland's assault rifle. Then again, when it comes to [[GunNut Tackleberry]] (and [[BirdsOfAFeather Kirkland]]), anything is possible.

-->'''Larvelle Jones:''' Wanna fight, huh? Fight me!

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: In ''Assignment Miami Beach'', Hightower holds one of the diamond thieves over the railing at the roof of the hotel to make him talk.
--> "Want me to drop you somewhere?"

** Towards the end of the first movie, the two cadets who Harris had blatantly favored ended up losing their issue sidearms to a man who would use them to take Harris hostage. This is a very serious infraction, and since all cadet issue sidearms had the names of the cadet they were issued to on them, it was obvious who had lost their guns. Despite that, they are seen in the third movie, where they sabotage Lassard's academy in favor of Mauser's including deliberately interfering with the operation of a police dispatch station and getting caught red-handed. And despite that, they're in the fourth movie, having reached fairly high rank in Harris' precinct.

** Having a major breakout from the holding cells while [=VIPs=] were visiting the precinct as happened in ''Citizens on Patrol'' should have gotten Harris or at least Proctor (who caused it to happen by bringing his sidearm into the holding area against protocol, and allowing it to be stolen from him) demoted or sacked. Harris' screwups in ''City Under Siege'' should also have gotten him demoted or dismissed, as his mistakes were the main thing keeping the rest of the cast from catching the gang earlier (though in his defense, he had no idea that [[spoiler:the mayor - an authority figure - was the gang leader]]).

* LatinLover: See "Fauxreigner", above.

* LimaSyndrome: In ''Assignment Miami Beach'', Eric Lassard gets taken as a hostage but the hostage taker eventually felt sorry for him.

* MakeMeWannaShout: In ''Back in Training'', Zed collapses a door at the training grounds by ''screaming at the lock''.

* OhMeAccentsSlipping: In-universe, how George Martin gets caught out as a fake Latin American.

** Sgt. Carey Mahoney of the first four movies, Sgt. Nick Lassard of ''Assignment Miami Beach'' and ''City Under Siege'', and Cadet Kyle Connors of ''Mission to Moscow'', since they're all good-natured troublemakers who fight for justice. The series adds Rich Casey, who qualifies as LegacyCharacter by this point (he's even got the original Larvelle Jones on his side).

* TemptingFate: In ''City Under Siege'', Harris is finally in his own precinct away from Lassard and his misfits. Then, he finds himself working alongside them due to fears of there being a leak in Harris' precinct. [[spoiler:The (unwitting) leak is Harris himself, who is telling the mayor - who is secretly The Mastermind - everything about the police's efforts to stop the Wilson Heights Gang as part of his typical brownnosing.]]

** Blankes and Copeland got their issue sidearms stolen from them during the riot (by the man who held Harris hostage), a ''very'' serious offense (and given that the film demonstrated that all cadet-issue pistols had the name of the cadet they were issued to on the butt, the fact that their weapons were taken from them and used to fire at other policemen would be obvious to any cop who saw the recovered firearms), yet still managed to graduate from the academy and become minor characters in the third and fourth films. Sabotaging a police dispatch system while it was in operation in the third movie should have gotten them canned as well.

-->''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis GIVE ME! BACK! MY! CAMERA!]]''

* {{555}}: Karen's telephone number is 555-4267.

* {{{555}}}: Karen's telephone number is 555-4267.

** Harris takes over the role in ''City Under Siege''. At one point he drives into a standoff and parks ''in the line of fire''. And when Sgt. Lassard tells him to get out of the line of fire, Harris goes on a rant about how Sergeants don't give instructions to Captains, distracting the police and giving the criminals an opening to escape.

* SingingInTheShower: Both Mauser and Harris are known to sing in the shower. Mahoney exploits it by switcing shampoo with epoxy resin in Mauser's case and deodorant for pepper spray in Harris' case while both are distracted.

* InevitableWaterfall: Seen in ''Citizens on Patrol''.

* GenreShift: The first, third and fourth involves police training with the antagonists showing up at the end. The second, fifth, sixth, and seventh feature antagonists relevant to the overall plot.