History YMMV / PoliceAcademy

* FranchiseKiller: ''Mission to Moscow'' is considered to be this.

** While opinions certainly vary on the quality of the films themselves, most viewers can agree that the main [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA-NRyWoYII Police Academy March]] is a surprisingly great theme.

* HilariousInHindsight: In ''Assignment: Miami Beach''

* {{Sequelitis}}: As a general rule, the lower the number in the title, the better the film. The numbers go to 7.
** On the other hand, the third movie is considered by many fans to be the [[EvenBetterSequel peak of the series]].

* CrazyAwesome: The semi-babbling punk Zed from the third and fourth movies, and, arguably, Eric Lassard.
** Far less arguably, ''Eugene Tackleberry''.

** Hmm. Seven movies plus two series plus merchandising equals ten. It is now clear why they want to do [[UpToEleven just one more]] after all this time.

** The third movie arguably sits astride the point at which the franchise ran out of ideas. The creators were able to add enough fresh material so that they could pick and choose which gags and scenarios to recycle from the previous two. So, whether fresh or not, the third movie could be said to represent the best of what the franchise had to offer. After that, though, the only way was down...

* CriticalDissonance: * This series was always critically panned. Some will try to tell you that only the first film was good, but even that received a critical drubbing (RogerEbert rated the original ''no stars'', something he almost never did). The series' reputation is so bad that any time it's referred to in other fiction, it's ''always'' intended as a TakeThat, ''never'' as an affectionate ShoutOut. And yet the original spawned six sequels, which doesn't happen to a series if absolutely nobody likes it.

* ValuesDissonance: There's a LOT of anti-gay language in the first movie that was fine in the 80s, but would be unacceptable by today's standards (e.g. Guttenberg's throwaway line "Sleep is for fags".)

* TooCoolToLive: Tackleberry and Hightower's most likely fates now that their actors have kicked the bucket.

* TooCoolToLive: Tackleberry and Hightower's most likely fates now that their actors has kicked the bucket.

* DeaderThanDisco: You couldn't escape ''Police Academy'' in the 80s and even well into the 90s thanks to frequent television syndication, merchandising and pop culture references (a then-contemporary episode of ''The Simpsons'', 'Homer the Great" even had a throwaway joke about Steve Gutenberg's star power). By the turn of the Millennium, however, the movie series had been all but completely forgotten while other 80s icons such as ''{{Franchise/Rocky}}''/''{{Franchise/Rambo}}'', ''{{Franchise/Ghostbusters}}'', ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'', ''{{Franchise/Robocop}}'' and others are not only still fondly remembered but even had new movies or at least other material come out (though a ''Police Academy'' reboot is scheduled for 2014/2015).

* TooCoolToLive: Tackleberry's most likely fate now that his actor has kicked the bucket.
** And now Hightower, too.

* MissionPackSequel: The fourth film has a near-identical plot to the third, the only major differences being that the third deals with new Police Academy recruits, and the fourth is based around a civilian training course. In fact, the two movies were meant to be shot back-to-back, but a combination of Art Metrano's injury and director Jerry Paris falling seriously ill (and later dying) forced them to delay shooting of the fourth film.

* {{Sequelitis}}: YourMileageMayVary (just look at the edit history) but as a general rule, the lower the number in the title, the better the film. The numbers go to 7.

* TooCoolToLive: Tackleberry's most likely fate now that his actor has kicked the bucket.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Chief Hurst and Lt. Harris of the first film. In any other situation, having people like some of the cadets who obviously don't meet realistic fitness requirements, educational levels, and medical standards to be effective cops allowed into the Academy would be extremely foolish. But due to them being [[GenreBlindness Genre Blind]] and {{Jerkass}}es the message is lost.

** The third movie arguably sits astride the point at which the franchise ran out of ideas. The creators were able to add enough fresh material so that they could pick and choose which gags and scenarios to recycle from the previous two. So, whether fresh or not, the third movie could be said to represent the best of what the franchise had to offer. After that, though, the only way was down...

* FirstInstallmentWins: The series' infamous Sequelitis tends to overshadow the fact that the original was actually a rather good comedy.