As The Naked Gun legacyquel hits theaters at the beginning of August, the 2025 movie schedule is about to find itself under arrest…with laughter. Since the schtick seen in the classic Leslie Nielsen trilogy needed some updating for a new generation, I was afraid that some of my favorite sorts of humor would be lost in the shuffle.
Seeing as the first Naked Gun screening reactions saw audiences "in tears," I had a feeling we were all in good hands. By the time the credits rolled on the Liam Neeson/Pamela Anderson fronted revamp, my worries were put aside. Which makes it even more appropriate, as the credits themselves were what I was concerned with.
The Naked Gun’s Tradition Of Crazy Credits Lives!
To some, a gag as simple as joke credits wouldn’t feel like a necessary inclusion in reviving this comedic institution. Of course, those are probably the people who only watched the first movie and never bothered to use their Paramount+ subscription to catch both sequels.
Were they to have seen the full smash, they’d realize that crazy credits are a staple of this saga. As you can read in my Naked Gun review, that subtle humor is quite inspiring - though if you're thinking too hard about any particular joke for more than four hours, consult a joke book.
I’m not just talking about fake names or positions in the crew here, either. At one point during The Naked Gun’s roll call, the credit for the “On Set Dresser” was followed by one for an “On Set Bureau - IKEA.” Another portion saw an entire eye chart included, with the message “You don’t need glasses” displayed at the very bottom.
It’s that level of Leslie Nielsen-style tomfoolery the previous pictures were known for, and to see that upheld warmed my heart. That fuzzy feeling was after the end credits kicked off with yet another deep cut tradition - one that reaches all the way back to the short-lived TV show Police Squad!
Police Squad’s Classic Freeze Frame Gag Got An Update
At the end of the episodes in the ABC series that gave way to The Naked Gun, we’d see Frank Drebin Sr. (Leslie Nielsen) and any other character standing with him seemingly left on a freeze frame. The big difference was that the rest of the scene carried on around them, while they stood as still as they could in the name of laughter.
To see what I’m talking about, you can literally watch all of the classic Epilogue gags in the reel below (since Police Squad isn’t available through subscription streaming):
Now I’m not going to spoil how The Naked Gun updates this gag, but as the credits start to roll, Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson engage in this time-tested punchline in some exciting ways. Not even the original trilogy used that old saw when closing things out, so to reach into the vault of deep cut traditions and bring this back really shows the love that was poured into this latest bite at the apple.
Reflecting on this with a friend of mine who’d also seen the film, my colleague was thinking up other traditions that should be brought back for potential Naked Gun sequels. So while I’ll still be watching out for the credits, I’m crossing my fingers that Andy Samberg (who approves of this reboot) and Jorma Taccone (whereabouts unknown) somehow show up as twin shoe-shine boys who double as informants.
Meanwhile, you need to be sure to really watch the credits for The Naked Gun, which is in theaters now! Oh, and there is a post-credits stinger that we need to talk about, but that can wait for another day.
