"
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
There's a scout troop short a child
Khrushchev's due at Idlewild
Car 54, where are you?"
Car 54, Where Are You? is a police
Sitcom from
The Sixties.
As usual you can find the basics at
The Other Wiki
and at
IMDB.
Tropes featured include:
- Artistic License - Religion: On the Bar Mitzvah episode, the kid "translated" any Hebrew prayers he said as "Today, I become a man." There is no prayer that translates to that.
- Big Applesauce
- Cloud Cuckoolander: 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."
- Couch Gag: Each opening credit sequence had Toody and Muldoon doing different things as they drive in the squad car such as: dropping an ice cream cone, playing checkers, Gunter opening his lunch box and finding everything BUT his lunch, Gunter dangling a rubber spider in front of Muldoon as he drives.
- The Convenient Store Next Door: 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.
- Cross Over: An episode of the animated sitcom Wait Till Your Father Gets Home featured characters from Car 54, although only Joe E. Ross provided his own voice.
- Fat and Skinny: Toody and Muldoon
- The Film of the Series: Filmed in 1990 but not released until 1994, the film basically tried to turn Car 54 into a Police Academy type movie. Original cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell appeared as their original characters.
- History Marches On: A Downer Ending example. The theme song included the line, "Khrushchev's due at Idlewild," a reference to Idlewild Airport in New York City. The show's last episode aired on September 17, 1963. Two months and five days later, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy. On December 24, Idlewild was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport.
- Whole Plot Reference: The episode "What Happened to Thursday?" revolved around Toody and Muldoon trying to stop the Schnausers' weekly fight, which always happened on a Thursday. So, they do everything they can to convince her that it is Friday, leading her to accuse them of trying to "Gaslight" her.
0 reviews