Hugh Wilson’s comedies favour misfits, strong personalities and broad laughter. We like the warmth he brings to an ensemble, though Police Academy shows how readily he could leave the performers to make up for thin writing.
Fi1m perspective
In Police Academy (1984), Michael Winslow’s vocal sound effects are more inventive than much of the writing around them. Wilson gives him room, trusting the actor playing Larvell Jones to provide the joke through sheer precision. We laughed at those noises because it was a pleasure to hear a human voice do something so unlikely. The film is patchy, but Wilson’s willingness to let the cast be funny makes it worth considering for anyone fond of broad comedy.
That interest in a collection of awkward personalities runs from the radio-station staff of WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982) to the police recruits. Wilson created the television series before making his feature debut with Police Academy, which he also co-wrote. Television gave him experience with large casts and physical comedy, and the film keeps its affection for people who do not fit in. He wants us to enjoy their company before we question their competence.
The trouble is that company is sometimes all we get. The screenplay, credited to Neal Israel, Pat Proft and Wilson, too often assumes that putting recruits up against authority supplies a finished joke. Vulgarity fills the gaps where a more particular situation might have helped, and the academy could have supplied more than an excuse to gather these people together. We do not need the recruits to behave better; we need their misbehaviour to be less interchangeable.
The move into features did not end his television work: he created Frank’s Place (1987–1988), with Tim Reid among his collaborators. The First Wives Club (1996) later put Hawn, Keaton and Midler at the centre of a star-led ensemble. In Blast from the Past (1999), starring Brendan Fraser, his interest in civility found room in a romantic comedy. That is worth remembering when the vulgarity of his debut threatens to define him. Try Police Academy for the performers, provided crude jokes are not an obstacle.
Biography
Hugh Wilson (1943–2018) was an American film director, screenwriter and television creator. He directed and co-wrote the screenplay for the comedy Police Academy (1984).
Wilson created the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982), on which he also wrote and directed episodes. He had earlier written for The Bob Newhart Show and The Tony Randall Show. His other directing credits include Guarding Tess (1994), The First Wives Club (1996) and Blast from the Past (1999).
A University of Florida graduate, Wilson began his career in advertising before moving into television writing at MTM Productions. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for writing on the series Frank's Place (1987–1988).
