DVD Review: Car 54, Where Are You? (The Complete Second Season)

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There ought to be felony charges against the network executive that killed Car 54, Where Are You? How did such a great comedy get snuffed before reaching 100 episodes? There’s such a rich texture to the comical exploits at the 53rd Precinct. Creator Nat Hiken had already suffered the beancounter axe when they canceled The Phil Silvers Show: Sgt. Bilko after four seasons. The beancounter declared that they had enough for a syndication package so why make more? Luckily Hiken was ready to launch Car 54. He found humor in another group of men in uniform. But somehow he didn’t rack up the same ratings with cops as soldiers. Car 54, Where Are You?: The Complete Second Season has 30 episodes that should have been the start of a long run.

The main characters are squad car buddies Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Officer Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne). They were a perfect Mutt and Jeff team. Toody is the short and squat doofus while Muldoon is an educated giant with wavering self confidence. It was a man-child and an overgrown child stuffed into patrol car 54. Adding to the dysfunction was a squad room full of characters including the irritating Officer Leo Schnauser (Al Lewis), the flustered Captain Martin Block (Paul Reed) and the dignified Officer Omar Anderson (Ossie Davis). The biggest character was the actual Bronx since the series was shot in New York City. This wasn’t a soundstage in Hollywood.

“Hail to the Chief” has Toody and Muldoon selected to drive President John F. Kennedy from the airport to the United Nations. Muldoon can’t take the pressure of such a high profile assignment. “One Sleepy People “ gets things tangled when Muldoon needs to sleep at Toody’s apartment. While watching a movie, Muldoon and Toody’s wife (Beatrice Pons) fear they’re on a collision course to a torrid romance. Can it happen? “Schnauser’s Last Ride” explains why he’s no longer riding a horse around the town. “Toody & Muldoon Sing Along with Mitch” brings a group of singing cops to the attention of Mitch Miller. Guess which cop is holding the group back from sounding good? “Occupancy, August 1st” moves a woman into her promised apartment. Trouble is that building is still under construction. She doesn’t care. This is features Charles Nelson Reilly (Match Game) in a guest star bit. “Remember St. Petersburg” lets Larry Storch (F Troop) scam Toody into believing he’s Russian royalty. Storch returns as Charlie the Drunk in “That’s Show Business.” The cops back a play except they don’t know it’s about police brutality. “Toody Undercover” sneaks him into a mobster gang that involves Bruce Gordon (The Untouchables).

“I Hate Captain Block” makes Toody babysit the Captain’s parrot. The bird learns a new phrase that will cause trouble. “A Star is Born in the Bronx” hatches Sylvia Schnauser (Facts of Life‘s Charlotte Rae) into TV stardom when she’s asked to do an ad. Old Late Night with David Letterman announcer Bill Wendell is part of the production. Raging Bull fans will get to glimpse Jake LaMotta in “The White Elephant.” “Toody & Muldoon Meet the Russians” makes them tour guides to Soviets wanting to expose the real America. They can’t resist the charms of the Bronx. “The Star Boarder” has a priest played by Tom Bosley (Happy Days) move in with Toody and his wife. Turns out he’s really a con artist passing fake money around town. This was years before Bosley would put on the collar for the Father Dowling Mysteries.

“Here Comes Charlie” lets the boys sober up Charlie the Drunk (Storch) and find him a real job. Trouble is the guy keeps having workplace accidents that makes him fall off the wagon. Storch hits his comic zone when he gets drunk by merely talking about the booze served at bars. “Joan Crawford Didn’t Say No” features a bit part from Hal Linden. Nearly 15 years later, Linden would star in Barney Miller, the next great cop comedy.

How can Car 54, Where Are You? The Complete Second Season be the end of this show? It had a great cast and fun scripts. How could it have not been a hit? Hate to think that the most obvious reason Car 54 score lower than Sgt. Bilko was it dared to show black police officers working the beat. This was 1962 when the South was still fighting desegregation. Showing Ossie Davis, Godfrey Cambridge and Nipsey Russell as uniformed police working with white officers might have just been too much in a world where the cops were all white for them. It could have also been too New York City for people in Iowa? All that really matters is that Car 54 deserved a longer run.

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The black and white transfers are crisp. They bring out the details when they’re working around New York City. The prints feature the sponsors spots for when it ran on the network. The audio is mono. The levels are fine.

Joe E. Ross’ Stand Up Comedy Comedy Comeback (11:19)
is his demo of material for his tour after the series went off the air. Ross was known for being raunchy. His new jokes are more family friendly in order to appear to the TV crowd instead of shocking them. Ross jokes with the crowd that he still think he’s a cop.

Car 54, Where Are You? The Complete Second Season wraps up a truly brilliant, but canceled sitcom. The show really gets the humor in urban law enforcement with Ross and Gwynne’s schtick. This is up there with Sgt. Bilko. Ross would once more play a copy on Hong Kong Phooey. Gwynne and Lewis would reunite in The Munsters.

Shanachie Entertainment Corp. presents Car 54, Where Are You? The Complete Second Season. Starring: Joe E. Ross, Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Charlotte Rae and Larry Storch. Boxset Contents: 30 episodes on 4 DVDs. Released on DVD: April 24, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.