Car 54, Where Are You? Who's for Swordfish? (1961–1963) watch online HD

Poor Captain Block.

By the end of the show he tells his men to leave because it might hurt the morale of the squad of they see their captain crying! The squad - thanks to Toody and Muldoon, of course, - drives the captain nuts by changing everyone's schedule.....just so Francis and Gunther get get their once-in-a-lifetime chance to catch a swordfish.

To me, the funniest bit in the episode wasn't at the police station but at some intersection somewhere Toody pulls over a guy for running a stoplight and tries NOT to give the guy a ticket! That part is really good and Ralph Stantley, who plays the driver, "Harold Conroy," is excellent.

The first episode of the brilliant American sitcom 'Car 54 Where Are You?' which did for the N.Y.P.D. what 'Sergeant Bilko' did for the Army.

Incompetent cops Toody and Muldoon spend their free days fishing without much success. They fantasise about going to sea in an expensive boat and catching a swordfish. O'Hara, one of their colleagues at the 53rd Precinct, has just such a boat, or rather his brother-in-law has, so they ask him to let them come along on their next trip. He flatly refuses. To get him to change his mind, they embark on a campaign of 'niceness' - filling in his police reports, sending him flowers ( causing his wife to suspect him of having an affair ) and sucking up to him in general. Irritated and annoyed, O'Hara relents.

But then they cannot get time off work to go on their proposed fishing trip, hence they ask other cops to rearrange their assigned schedules. Soon the duty roster board resembles a snakes and ladders game as the changes are incorporated.

When the matter finally appears settled, more trouble looms. Toody and Muldoon nab a quick-tempered motorist, Conroy, for jumping a red light. He admits his guilt, and asks for a ticket so he can go on his way. But if they comply with his request, they will have to go to court the next day and won't be free to go fishing, so they refuse. The driver insists they and no-one else give him a ticket. A fierce row develops. Bystanders look on in bemusement, as more and more cops join the fray...

This was Nat Hiken's follow-up to the massively successful 'The Phil Silvers Show', and is every bit as good, and occasionally better. 'Toody' is portrayed by 'Bilko' semi-regular Joe E.Ross, who looks like Ernest Borgnine on a bad day. The character is not far removed from the one he played on that earlier show - 'Private Ritzik'. As well as exclaiming "oooh! oooh!" every time he has an idea, he also has a domineering wife ( Beatrice Pons played both 'Emma Ritzik' and 'Lucille Toody' ) . Tall, gangling Fred Gwynne, a.k.a. 'Muldoon', was in two episodes of 'Bilko' as 'Private Honergan', but is more famous as 'Herman' from 'The Munsters'.

This script, like the best of 'Bilko', begins with a basic premise. Lesser writers might have stretched it to fill the entire half-hour, but Hiken gets it over with quickly and moves on, making all kind of unexpected detours, resulting in comedic chaos. Superb dialogue throughout.

Funniest moment - the angry confrontation between Toody, Muldoon and the motorist must rank as one of the funniest scenes in any show and surely must have inspired John Cleese to create the legendary 'Fire Drill' sequence in 'Fawlty Towers'! As the last cop joins in the mêlée, he comments: "A good thing he wasn't speeding or we'd have had to call in The National Guard!".

A sheer delight!

HAVING previously written a review/overview of the now Classic TV Series; getting a chance to watch and keep a copy of the 'pilot' , while knowing what it is and its importance to success to the entire run. The previously posted write-up; being a combo of the ½ dozen episodes we have on video, combined with our oft rosy recollections from the original run on NBC Sunday evenings, that do justice in bringing out the overall feeling generated.

LUXURY is the only term which describes the opportunity to get up close and personal with the installment; being afforded the opportunity to put it under a high-powered microscope. Dissection and analysis of any and all aspects of the half-hour kick-off are rendered possible and reality; at once becoming both boon and bane to the comedy.

WHEREAS the excessive analysis and opinionating can be a real counter-productive endeavor, especially in comedy; much like the Science & Study of Biology, a certain amount of dissection is found to be necessary and proper. (After all, Schultz, a analyzing why we laugh is a determent to laughing at all.) AS for the pilot episode, "Car 54, Where Are You?: Who's for Swordfish? (#1.1)" Original airing 9/17/1961, we must say that if we didn't know we were watching the premiere installment, we wouldn't have known. It was so well crafted as a kick-off that it appeared to have all the attributes of what would have been "just another weekly episode"; albeit, of a well established and rollin' along, hittin' on all cylinders.

THIS, we believe, is a credit to the creative team of Mr. Nat Hiken (Creator/Writer) and Terry Ryan (Co-Creator/Writer); for they knew both what the wanted to do and what had to be done in order to make the Pilot (and in turn the Series)succeed. The Production walked a fine line in both establishing the characters; as if they'd actually been partners for years (as in the premise of the storyline) and still maintaining an amusing, yet grabbing, pilot story.

OUR STORY…………………….Long time partners on the job, off-duty New York City Cops, Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne) are spending their day off fishing. Although they have "Champagne Tastes and Beer Pockets", being only able to afford a row boat rental; they dream of going out for the day on the Atlantic is a Luxury Cabin Cruiser. Finding out that a fellow Cop at their 53rd Precinct has a brother-in-law who owns one big boat and goes out fishing regularly. The show's 30 minute span was taken up with all of the conniving, the work schedule switching and the seemingly successful conclusion.

PLAIN, simple and masterfully done; this was it, the first episode. In addition to this simply presented, yet brilliant rendered story plot line; there was only one other task that Mr. Hiken & Company had to do.

AND that was to at least begin to establish the character and the relationships of the various players who would be regular members of the CAR 54 Reparatory Company. Judging from the end results, they succeeded brilliantly. We are treated to top notch, seemingly well established characters as: Captain Block (Paul Reed), Officer Anderson (Nipsey Russell), Off. Nicholson (our friend, Hank Garrett), Off. Nelson (Jim Gomley), Off. Steinmetz (Joe Warren), Off. Wallace (Frederick O'Neal), Off. Reilly (Duke Farley) and many others.

THE HIKEN COMINE managed their second TV Series Success; coming on the heels of Phil Silvers as SGT. BILKO. Many thought that in many ways, CAR 54 trumped BILKO; although the earlier series had a much longer run.

ME buddy Schultz and I tend to prefer CAR 54; for after all the overall length of the series isn't everything. We like to think of it as being "Quality", rather than "Quantity!" Ain't that right, Schultz?

POODLE SCHNITZ!!