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Why was the Police Academy series so toned down after the first movie?

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (19392)
4 replies | jump to latest

The first Police Academy was R-rated, the second one was PG-13 (back when it was still in its infancy), while the rest were PG. The first Police Academy made money (it was domestically, the sixth highest grossing movie of 1984) despite the racial slurs, the nudity, and the blowjob gags. Bare in mind that this was the same year that another R-rated cop movie, Beverly Hills Cop grossed over $230 million (neck and neck with Ghostbusters). I mean Police Academy was pretty much Porky's or Animal House if you shifted the locale to a police academy. Did the studio simply feel that they could make more at the box office if they aimed for a broader audience rating?

[–] theWatcher74 (186) 4 years ago

I think maybe they realized that they had a big following with the under 18 crowd. Most of the humor was on a level that kids could appreciate it. PA did well with the R rating, but they thought they'd get an even bigger audience avoiding the R. That'd be my guess.

[–] seagal72 (1824) 4 years ago

There was an 'F-Bomb' in Police Academy 2 (which earned it a '15' certificate in the UK back in the day) but from III onwards, they all went 'PG' over here. The first three movies were huge in the UK at the time (and very popular with school kids like myself at the time)

[–] mitzibishi (1615) 3 years ago

I can 2nd that. Police Academy was pretty big in the UK on VHS, then ran on TV quite a lot.

In school it was a popular series amongst us kids. The dirty edge made it even better though, we were used to seeing the "Carry On" series sex comedies, which played constantly on TV, and Benny Hill so parents wouldnt be to afraid to let you see Police Academy at its dirtiest. Although the sex wasn't as blatant as somebody getting a blow job.

It may have got a few bums on seats in cinemas with the lower rating but on VHS it wouldnt make a difference. 15 or PG, if a kid wanted to see it they would find a way to get that VHS rented.

[–] millsey72 (9530) 2 years ago

Police Academy has nothing to do with Porkys or Animal House. I don't recall any police being main cast members in either of those 2 movies