History Film / TheNakedGun

** Dr. Joyce Brothers makes a wordless appearance in the first film as a member of the announcing crew at the baseball game, joining [[NewscasterCameo sportscasters]] Curt Gowdy, Jim Palmer, Tim [=McCarver=], Mel Allen, and Dick Enberg.

* BigBad: Ludwig from ''Police Squad'', [[spoiler:Quentin]] from ''The Smell of Fear'' and Rocko from ''The Final Insult''.

* DeathByLookingUp: Rocko's mother gets hit with a falling APPLAUSE sign. [[NegativeContinuity Which changes to STANDING OVATION as she's struggling]], and makes the crowd indeed applaud.

''(Rocko and Mrs. Dillon point their guns at him)''\\

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Rocko Dillon. His DespairEventHorizon is when [[spoiler:Mrs. Dillon is accidentally killed at the Oscars, causing him to decide to detonate the bomb [[DrivenToSuicide personally]]]].

* EveryoneIsArmed: Rocko and Frank tunnel out of prison and into the parking lot of a Los Angeles high school, where they're immediately shot at by every student there.

* FacePalm: Happens when Frank attempts to get the gun from Rocko while holding on the bomb in the envelope only for them to switch places causing everyone including the audience to facepalm.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Tanya Peters]] never gets punished (at least not onscreen) for being affiliated with Rocko Dillon's terrorist gang, which is particularly odd since [[spoiler:in the end she is the last surviving member of the gang]]. Sure, we know that [[spoiler:[[HighHeelFaceTurn she switched sides to the good guys]] by telling Frank where the bomb had been hidden, but that shouldn't absolve her from punishment for having knowingly collaborated with killers]].

* PrisonRiot: Frank starts one to divert guards' attention from Rocko's escape plan. For completely silly reasons:

** The Dillon gang go to a bunker to test their atomic weapon. After the detonation, the explosion blows their hair straight up, making them look like the main characters from ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', which Rocko himself further alludes to by muttering: "Huh-huh-huh, huh-huh-huh, cool..."

-->'''Drebin:''' Oh by the way, I faked every orgasm.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: All things considered, the film actually does a pretty good job of not telegraphing the twist of [[spoiler:Jane]] being Vincent Ludwig's final sleeper agent. First, we see Ludwig test his device on his secretary Dominique, while later [[spoiler:Jane]] tells Frank that she does what Ludwig tells her to do, but these two scenes are far enough apart in the film that first-time viewers likely won’t notice.

* BrickJoke: The freed zoo animals.

* OedipusComplex: Played for laughs as Frank's internal monologue describes Jane as an alluring goddess when he meets her, only to end with noting that she reminds him of his mother. Then when the captain sees Frank's face he tells him [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike to wipe that look off his face as it looks like he just saw his mother.]]

* AccidentalHero: Frank has a habit of pulling this, especially in the second film: He responds to his award for "One Thousandth Drug Dealer Killed" by remarking that he [[DrivesLikeCrazy accidentally]] ran over the last two with his {{car|Fu}}. In a later scene, he unknowingly saves his colleagues from a crazed gunman.

* RaceLift: Played for laughs when Tyrone (an ostensibly black prisoner stereotype) points out that prison can change a man, because he used to be white... and played drums for TheOsmonds.

-->'''Drebin:''' Say, ''nice'' beaver.\\
'''Jane:''' Thanks, I just had it stuffed.\\
''[hands down a literal stuffed and mounted beaver]''

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The inmates at the state prison (where Frank has gone undercover) riot in the cafeteria simply because they don't like the food they're being served. As depicted in the film the gag is quite funny, but in fact something like that ''did'' once happen at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco (it was known as "The Spaghetti Riot"). In the movie, this culminates in the prisoners ''making the guards eat the awful food''!

* ShesGotLegs: Parodied--Tanya's introduction has the camera scrolling upwards for about 6 solid feet of leg, with two sets of knees.

* MarketBasedTitle: In Japan, the title of the film is basically [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun The Man with the Naked Gun]].

* InsaneTrollLogic: Drebin and Rocco's argument over who should have the gun and who should have the bomb. The audience actually does a collective FaceFault.

** The opening credits are also built on this. A cop car (presumably containing Drebin) viewed from the emergency lights shows absolutely insane or just plain nonsensical driving behavior, including driving on sidewalks, into people's homes, on rollercoasters, into bullfighting arenas, restaurants, hockey rinks, [[FlyingCar the air]], the surface of the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]], and [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs prehistoric times]].

* A fourth movie is planned. [[https://deadline.com/2022/10/naked-gun-paramount-liam-neeson-lonely-islands-akiva-schaffer-1235144065/ Reports]] have the creative team behind ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'' - director Akiva Schaffer and writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand - attached to the project. Creator/LiamNeeson is circling a deal to star. Creator/SethMacFarlane will executive produce.

* AscendedExtra: Nordberg - originally used for one-shot gags in ''Series/PoliceSquad'', he became the recurring ButtMonkey for the ''Naked Gun'' movies, played by Creator/OJSimpson.

* GenreBlindness: The Mayor berates Frank as if they are living in a perfectly normal universe like ours - oblivious to the fact that it's LikeRealityUnlessNoted.

'''Chief of Staff:''' And from the nuclear industry, president of the Key Atomic Benefits Office of Mankind - "KABOOM", Mr. Arthur Dunwell.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Lampshaded or subverted depending on how you want to look at it - Frank and Jane are having a heartwarming moment when Ed reminds Frank about the huge bomb that's set to explode any second

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Rocko Dillon.

* OdessaSteps: Parodied in a flashback, as a baby carriage starts down the steps in a train station shootout. Nordberg manages to pull the baby from it in time, [[ActorAllusion before going to spike it]] - thankfully, the mother stops him before he does.

* A fourth movie is planned. [[https://deadline.com/2022/10/naked-gun-paramount-liam-neeson-lonely-islands-akiva-schaffer-1235144065/ Latest reports]] have the creative team behind ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'' - director Akiva Schaffer and writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand - attached to the project. Creator/LiamNeeson is circling a deal to star. Creator/SethMacFarlane will executive produce.

* DenserAndWackier: The series as a whole. All parodies aside, the first movie actually has some moments of realism. By the second film this has dropped off considerably, being completely gone by the third.

* CoolGun: in the opening, Frank wields a [=LaFrance=] [=M16K=], which was a [[RareGun relatively obscure]] conversion to the classic [=M16A1=] series of rifles from the Vietnam era, shortening them from a twenty inch barrel and a fixed stock to an eight-inch barrel with a collapsible stock. Because the carbine variants of the [=M16=] series typically require at least a ten inch barrel to mount the gas system, handguards, and front sight, the [=M16K=]’s gas system is reworked and the handguard cap is held on by the flash hider, with the front sight actually being welded into the carry handle on the upper receiver.

* ''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' (1988) -While trying to clear the name of Officer Nordberg, Drebin uncovers a plot to assassinate [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]]

* A fourth movie is planned. Latest reports have the creative team behind ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'' - director Akiva Schaffer and writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand - attached to the project. Creator/LiamNeeson is circling a deal to star. Creator/SethMacFarlane will executive produce.

* A fourth movie is planned. Latest reports have Creator/SethMacFarlane attached. Creator/LiamNeeson wants to star.

** In the first film, Frank's dramatic speech is cut short when Ed informs him that the massive crowd gathered outside his plane is actually for Weird Al. They go ecstatic when he departs the plane.[[note]]When he appeared on ''I Love The 80s'' to discuss this movie, he responded to this scene by excitedly exclaiming "...AND THEN ''WEIRD AL'' GOT OFF THE PLANE!!"[[/note]]

** ''33⅓'' director Peter Segal has several. In addition to playing the producer of Sawdust and Mildew, he’s the voice of the suicide bomber in the Film/BattleshipPotemkin/Film/TheUntouchables parody at the start of the movie, the voice of the KSAD deejay, the ADR’d scream of the inmate escaping prison by pole-vaulting, the real Phil Donahue (before Frank knocks him out and takes his place), and the voice of the man shouting "Stop the stairs, Joey!" at the Academy Awards.
* CreditsGag: Happens in all three films. They include people getting credited by their single spoken line, people getting credited for made-up roles like "Second Second Assistant Director," "{{NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED}} DURING THE FILMING... HOWEVER, SOME SPECIES DID BECOME EXTINCT DURING PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY", and the safety warning, "In Case of Tornado: SOUTHWEST CORNER OF BASEMENT."

** Jane driving the humongous semi in 33 ⅓; When she stops at Rocco's place, she has a road worker stuck at the grill.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: All things considered, the film actually does a pretty good job of not telegraphing the twist of [[spoiler: Jane]] being Vincent Ludwig’s final sleeper agent. First, we see Ludwig test his device on his secretary Dominique, while later [[spoiler: Jane]] tells Frank that she does what Ludwig tells her to do, but these two scenes are far enough apart in the film that first-time viewers likely won’t notice.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: When Frank and Jane get back together, we cut to scenes of obelisks being raised, oil wells pumping, dams breakin', etc. Coupled with multiple shots of flowers blooming, and finally, volcanic eruptions, fireworks going off. . .

-->'''Tanya''': ''(upon seeing Frank/Slasher)'' Wait a minute, don't I know you from somewhere?\\
'''Mrs. Dillon''': ''(preparing her gun)'' I smelled cop on him the minute I saw him!\\
'''Frank''': I... get that all the time. It's the underwear ads. They're played everywhere.\\

'''Mrs. Dillon''': Are you saying you're not a cop?\\
'''Frank''': Well, yeah.\\
'''Rocco''': Eh, that's good enough for me.\\
'''Tanya''': Me too.\\
'''Mrs. Dillon''': I'm fine.

* GoingPostal: Parodied. While Frank is dealing with a number of threats (itself a parody of ''Film/TheUntouchables''), a man screams "Oh my god, look! It's disgruntled postal workers!" and he sees a number of mailmen firing assault rifles.[[note]]"Disgruntled" was the media's preferred euphemism for going postal at the time.[[/note]]
* GroinAttack: Ted introduces a rather horrifying anti-carjacking device. It places a metal clamp on the carjacker's groin and detaches, leaving it there while the victim drives off. "We call it the Denver jock-strap.” Frank and Ed wind up [[ShareTheMalePain sharing the male pain]].

* IAteWhat: [[PoliceAreUseless Frank]] goes to the crime lab where [[TheLabRat Ted]] has been examining the explosive used in the bombing their investigating. Frank [[SniffSniffNom dips his finger in the petri dish on Ted's desk, tastes it, and begins to deduce what it tastes like,]] when Ted informs him that the petri dish contains Fertilizer, evidence relating to a completely separate case. Frank makes a "yuck" face and while Ted continues his monologue, Frank grabs a random beaker full of yellow liquid off his desk to wash the taste out of his mouth with. In a double-whammy of this trope, Ted then takes the beaker off Frank's hands saying, "Let me take that urine specimen from you, Frank.", leading to the mandatory SpitTake.

* LethalKlutz: Drebin has accidentally killed his fiancee, a fact he remains unaware of.

* NoMeansYes: The scene where Jane's harassed by the truck driver who keeps insisting, "I know when a woman says "no", she really means "yes", then actually grabbing her when she gets fed up and tells him "Yes", angrily demanding, "What do you mean, telling me "no"?

-->'''Ed''': ''(watching on TV)'' Nordberg, look. That's Frank, at the Academy Awards!\\
'''Nordberg''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Hey, how did he get tickets?]]

** [[spoiler: Tanya's]] gender reveal is a PlayedForLaughs parody of ''Film/TheCryingGame''.

* StatuesqueStunner: Tanya and Dr Rosenblat (Anna Nicole Smith 5'10, Julie Strain 6ft tall).
* StockUnsolvedMysteries: While rifling through files at Tanya's clinic, Frank bypasses several files labeled "Kennedy assassination", "location of Jimmy Hoffa's body", etc.

* YouAreTooLate: When the police squad arrives at the Academy Award ceremony while Frank is already on the stage, causing mayhem. When they declare they are there to stop a disaster, one of the people behind the stage assumes they are talking about Frank and states "you're too late".

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A rare example. Frank attempts to drive a battering tank, Ed yells that he's not trained to operate it. ''He isn't'', and ends up just crashing it through the house, multiple gardens and a ''zoo'' (and inadvertently helping the henchman escape in addition to flooding D.C. with wild animals).

* DramaticUnmask: Drebin attempts this with the impersonator, not knowing that the real Dr. Meinheimer had been freed and taken his place while the impersonator had been arrested. Made worse when the means of unmasking involved pulling down the poor doctor's pants because of a [[DistinguishingMark Distinguishing Birthmark]] on his backside. When discovering it ''is'' there, he assumes it's a fake and tries to remove it with a buffing machine in front of the entire award banquet audience.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:The villain survives falling out of a window. When he gets up, [[KarmaHoudini it seems like he's going to escape]]. Just then, a lion appears out of nowhere and kills him on the spot. It is however incredibly funny and a great BrickJoke since earlier in the film Drebin released a bunch of animals from the zoo.]]

* ButtMonkey: Dr. Meinheimer and Barbara Bush.

->'''Zsa Zsa:''' Ugh. This happens every fucking time when I go shopping.

* TheCameo: Zsa Zsa Gabor slaps the police siren during the opening credits, a reference to her 1989 incident of slapped a police officer who pulled her over.