History Series / Car54WhereAreYou

* SpottingTheThread: The plot of the episode "Here We Go Again" is ''started off'' with this. An old criminal discovers from one of the main characters that the only thing they had done wrong on a heist they pulled many years ago and served jail time for was that they had disguised as police wearing ''winter'' uniforms instead of summer uniforms. This set off a funny episode as the criminals pull together their now-aged gang to pull off the heist correctly this time. [[spoiler: They pull it off, but are all too weak to pick up the gold bars. They then escape the bank wearing the correct summer police uniforms... from the 1920's, not the PresentDay (at the time the episode aired) 1960's uniforms.]]

[[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops NYPD]] Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) is a short, stocky, dim-witted, married cop who is assigned to Patrol Car 54 in the (fictional) 53rd precinct in the Bronx with the taller, thinner, smarter, unmarried Officer Francis Muldoon (Creator/FredGwynne). Episodes revolve around the comedic tension generated by Toody and Muldoon's opposite personalities, their unsuccessful attempts to "get tough" and carry out their police duties despite both being too warm-hearted to have the steel nerves they think they require, and Toody's lack of intelligence but abundance of enthusiasm and/or stubbornness proving either an asset or a liability depending on the situation.

-> ''"There's a holdup in the Bronx\\
Brooklyn's broken out in fights\\
There's a traffic jam in Harlem\\
That's backed up to Jackson Heights\\
[[Main/ScoutOut There's a scout troop short a child]]\\
[[UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev Khrushchev's]] due at Idlewild\\
Car 54, where are you?"''

* TheConvenientStoreNextDoor: One episode is based around an eatery next to a bank. The crooks who plan to drill through into the vault keep getting pestered by the "Helping Hand Committee" the 53rd precinct has set up, eventually giving up when this results in the business becoming a genuine success. A single scene at the end of the episode [[HereWeGoAgain replays the entire plot with the new owners of the building next to the eatery]], who are posing as stamp dealers.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Series/BarneyMiller'' from the 70s, with detectives instead of patrol cops. And like that show, ''Car 54'' was often suggested by actual Police Officers to be the most realistic police show on television at the time.[[note]] Future ''Barney Miller'' star Hal Linden even appeared in an episode of ''Car 54'' as an Assistant DA.[[/note]]

** Toody, who could go on and on about nonsense while Muldoon casually tuned him out. This became most apparent when a new recruit was added who Muldoon could actually talk to about intellectual/cultural subjects. Unfortunately, it backfires as Muldoon gets exhausted and demands to be put back with Toody, saying "Yes, but Toody talked nonsense."

* TheConvenientStoreNextDoor: One episode is based around an eatery next to a bank. The crooks who plan to drill through into the vault keep getting pestered by the "Helping Hand Committee" the 53rd precinct has set up, eventually giving up when this results in the business becoming a genuine success. A single scene at the end of the episode replays the entire plot with the new owners of the building next to the eatery, who are posing as stamp dealers.

* TheConvenientStoreNextDoor: One episode is based around an eatery next to a bank. A single scene at the end of the episode replays the entire plot with the buildings' next owners, who are posing as stamp dealers.

* DrivingADesk: Many of the scenes of Car 54 on the road are obviously shot with a green screen, with whichever of Toody or Muldoon is at the wheel turning it back and forth even when they are driving in a straight line.

[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR Khrushchev's]] due at Idlewild\\

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: It's impossible for a traffic jam in Harlem to be backed up to Jackson Heights, since Harlem is the northernmost part of Manhattan, and Jackson Heights is in Queens.

There's a scout troop short a child\\
Khrushchev's due at Idlewild\\

[[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops NYPD]] Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) is a short, stocky, dim-witted, married cop who is assigned to Patrol Car 54 in the (fictional) 53rd precinct in the Bronx with the taller, thinner, smarter, unmarried Officer Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne). Episodes revolve around the comedic tension generated by Toody and Muldoon's opposite personalities, their unsuccessful attempts to "get tough" and carry out their police duties despite both being too warm-hearted to have the steel nerves they think they require, and Toody's lack of intelligence but abundance of enthusiasm and/or stubbornness proving either an asset or a liability depending on the situation.

* SpottingTheThread: The episode "Here We Go Again" the plot is ''started off'' with this. An old criminal discovers from one of the main characters that the only thing they had done wrong on a heist they pulled many years ago and served jail time for was that they had disguised as police wearing ''winter'' uniforms instead of summer uniforms. This set off a funny episode as the criminals pull together their now-aged gang to pull off the heist correctly this time. [[spoiler: They pull it off, but are all too weak to pick up the gold bars. They then escape the bank wearing the correct summer police uniforms... from the 1920's, not the PresentDay (at the time the episode aired) 1960's uniforms.]]

[[NewYorkCityCops NYPD]] Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) is a short, stocky, dim-witted, married cop who is assigned to Patrol Car 54 in the (fictional) 53rd precinct in the Bronx with the taller, thinner, smarter, unmarried Officer Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne). Episodes revolve around the comedic tension generated by Toody and Muldoon's opposite personalities, their unsuccessful attempts to "get tough" and carry out their police duties despite both being too warm-hearted to have the steel nerves they think they require, and Toody's lack of intelligence but abundance of enthusiasm and/or stubbornness proving either an asset or a liability depending on the situation.

NYPD Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) is a short, stocky, dim-witted, married cop who is assigned to Patrol Car 54 in the (fictional) 53rd precinct in the Bronx with the taller, thinner, smarter, unmarried Officer Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne). Episodes revolve around the comedic tension generated by Toody and Muldoon's opposite personalities, their unsuccessful attempts to "get tough" and carry out their police duties despite both being too warm-hearted to have the steel nerves they think they require, and Toody's lack of intelligence but abundance of enthusiasm and/or stubbornness proving either an asset or a liability depending on the situation.

''Car 54, Where Are You?'' is a police SitCom from UsefulNotes/TheSixties, created by Nat Hiken (whose previous credits included ''Series/ThePhilSilversShow''). Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) is a short, stocky, dim-witted, married cop who is assigned to Patrol Car 54 in the (fictional) 53rd precinct in the Bronx with the taller, thinner, smarter, unmarried Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne). Episodes revolve around the comedic tension generated by Toody and Muldoon's opposite personalities, their unsuccessful attempts to "get tough" and carry out their police duties despite both being too warm-hearted to have the steel nerves they think they require, and Toody's lack of intelligence but abundance of enthusiasm and/or stubbornness proving either an asset or a liability depending on the situation.