History YMMV / PoliceAcademy

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

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

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

** Just the fact that the JerkAss duo of Blanks and Copeland (their one saving grace being [[JustFollowingOrders following his orders]]) are the only cadets Harris approves of, considering the rise in police brutality in the decades that followed.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Creator/KimCattrall as Karen Thompson in ''Police Academy''.
** Creator/DavidSpade as a young recruit in ''Citizens on Patrol'' in one of his first movie roles.

** In ''City Under Siege'', Proctor commanders a bus to chase the Mastermind... and also picks up the people on the bus’ route. Stopping to let them off, a little girl about to disembark tells him that he’s much better than the regular driver. Proctor’s [[WhenSheSmiles beaming smile]] at the compliment and parting salute to the girl warns the cockles of one’s heart.

* {{Squick}}: Mahoney's new partner [[FatSlob Schtulman]]'s introduction has him flicking a large lump out of his cereal bowl, admonishing his cat for not using the litterbox, and then keep eating the cereal. ''Eeeugh''. This scene was part of why Donovan Scott noped out of reprising his role as Leslie Barbara from the first film (the character was then rewritten into Schtulman).

** 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, now that gay people are no longer considered AcceptableTargets (e.g. Mahoney's throwaway line "Sleep is for fags"). The entirety of the Blue Oyster Bar RunningGag would today be seen as incredibly distasteful at best.

* HarsherInHindsight: Some viewers are bound to find much of the humor with Tackleberry's careless gun use less funny nowadays. One good example is the early scene in the sixth movie where he nearly shoots his own father-in-law after mistaking him for a burglar. Many ''actual'' deaths have occurred since then from careless gun use.

* ReplacementScrappy: Nick Lassard and Connors, neither of whom are anywhere near as memorable as Mahoney. In addition, the former lacks Mahoney's charming charisma and mostly comes off as a [[SmugSnake smirking tool]], while the latter is just generally bland and forgettable.

* {{Squick}}: Mahoney's new partner [[FatSlob Schtulman]]'s introduction has him flicking a large lump out of his cereal bowl, admonishing his cat for not using the litterbox, and then keep eating the cereal. ''Eeeugh''. This scene was part of why Donovan Scott noped out of reprising his role as Leslie Barbara from the first film (the character was then rewritten into Schulman).

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: In the first film, Barbara lamenting Hightower’s dismissal from the academy, saying that he thought of all of them, he would make it. He then adds that “if all cops looked like him, there’d be no crime at all.”

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: In ''City Under Siege'', Proctor commanders a bus to chase the Mastermind... and also picks up the people on the bus’ route. Stopping to let them off, a little girl about to disembark tells him that he’s much better than the regular driver. Proctor’s [[WhenSheSmiles beaming smile]] at the compliment and parting salute to the girl warns the cockles of one’s heart.

* ReplacementScrappy: Nick Lassard and Connors, neither of whom are anywhere near as memorable as Mahoney. In addition, the former is often seen as a cocky SmugSnake, and the latter just generally bland and forgettable.

* {{Squick}}: Mahoney's new partner [[FatSlob Schtulman]]'s introduction has him flicking a large lump out of his cereal bowl, admonishing his cat for not using the litterbox, and then keep eating the cereal. ''Eeeugh''. This scene is the reason why Donovan Scott noped out of reprising his role as Leslie Barbara from the first film (the character was then retooled into Schulman).

* MisaimedMarketing: Oh, lord. These movies were not for kids. Everything else connected to them was, though.

* {{Squick}}: Mahoney's new partner [[FatSlob Schtulman]]'s introduction has him flicking a large lump out of his cereal bowl, admonishing his cat for not using the litterbox, and then ''keep eating'' the cereal. Eeeugh.

* HarsherInHindsight: Some viewers are bound to find much of the humor with Tackleberry's careless gun use less funny nowadays. One good example is the early scene in the fifth movie where he nearly shoots his own dad after mistaking him for a burglar. Many ''actual'' deaths have occurred since then from careless gun use.

* FairForItsDay: Some people today may be miffed by the "Blue Oyster" RunningGag of straight people being lured into a gay bar.
* FirstInstallmentWins: The series' infamous {{Sequelitis}} tends to overshadow the fact that the original was actually a rather good comedy.

* 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, now that gay people are no longer considered AcceptableTargets (e.g. Mahoney's throwaway line "Sleep is for fags"). The entirety of the Blue Oyster Bar gags would today be seen as incredibly distasteful at best. To a lesser extent, the racial slurs that some of the less likeable cadets throw around in the same film, which actually ''is'' indicated 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.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: After leaving the premier, Creator/SteveGuttenberg's agent told him, "I'm getting you into a TV series as soon as possible, this is gonna be the biggest bomb in history". [[HilariousInHindsight Granted it would be 6 movies later...]]

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: After leaving the premier, Creator/SteveGuttenberg's agent told him, "I'm getting you into a TV series as soon as possible, this is gonna be the biggest bomb in history".

* ContestedSequel:
** ''Back in Training''. Some consider it to be where the series started going downhill, for embracing full-on slapstick humor and StatusQuoIsGod. However, those who actually like that sort of humor consider it to be one of, if not ''the'' best film in the series, for starring the series' best-known ensemble of characters, and being able to dive into the action right away with only minimal time needed for set-up.
** ''Mission To Moscow'' is outright considered the nadir of the series, thanks to having very few of the original cast left.

* {{Sequelitis}}: As a general rule, each sequel is considered weaker than the last. The first four are generally considered watchable to some degree (if you can overlook the fact that ''Citizens on Patrol'' is nearly a carbon-copy of the previous film), but ''Assignment Miami Beach'' is seen as where the series really started to get bad, with ''Mission to Moscow'' being where it completely bottomed out. Creator/BobcatGoldthwait on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' when Creator/JayLeno poked fun at him for appearing in the film series: "We had to make six of them. There were so many unanswered questions."

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: After leaving the premier, Creator/SteveGuttenberg's agent told him, "I'm getting you into a tv series as soon as possible, this is gonna be the biggest bomb in history".

* 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.

* TooCoolToLive: Tackleberry and Hightower's most likely fates now that their actors have kicked the bucket.
** Sadly, we must add Eric Lassard to the list; George Gaynes passed away in 2016.

* 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 (Creator/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.

* HarsherInHindsight: It's doubtful many viewers would find much of the humor with Tackleberry's careless gun use funny nowadays. One good example is the early scene in the fifth movie where he nearly shoots his own dad after mistaking him for a burglar. Many ''actual'' deaths have occurred since then from careless gun use.