Funky Squad

Funky Squad is a hilarious take-off on the Mod Squad. This group of 'cool' ('70s cool) detectives use their street sense and their ability to speak the language of the young generation to tackle some of Melbourne's toughest crimes. Their 'with-it' attitudes are exaggerated by all the other characters who are completely straight-lace. Pancho, the member who doesn't speak, invariably gets asked, 'hey, why don't you ever say anything', to which Stix, the member who has a 'afro', replies,'you wouldn't say too much either if you'd taken a bullet in the tongue!' Anyway, I thought that it was hilarious, and worth watching. Too bad that there weren't more episodes!

It has been seven years since Funky Squad graced the screens of the ABC and there hasn't been enough said about its' value as a monument to the kitsch cop show days.

It was great to see the 70's taken out the back and beaten like a maligned step-son. The pitiless parody of the mannerisms, fashion, clunky procedures and banal catchphrases of legitimate 70's police dramas was the triumph that typifies this show.

Originally the Squad was a short interlude on morning radio in Australia, but its' move to TV was somewhat less successful. That lack of ratings was primarily put down to the fact that the show didn't have a laugh track and hence the robotic audiences of the day weren't able to laugh at the gags because they weren't adequately prompted to.

However, one of the greatest portions of the show were the ad-breaks. Original 70's ads for long bombed-out products were woven in giving a true insight into the advertising world of the day (sexist, arrogant, misogynist, corny, buxom; sorely missed). A revelation for some to see soft drinks in "press-stud" cans.

The acting was worse than an evening with Matt LeBlanc, but it was supposed to be. The writing was tight, but it had to contain so many stereotypical 70's sayings that it couldn't sound original. No matter, it gave pleasure to people who always had a soft spot for those days. (even those of us who were still being fed rusks when they ended)

It probably won't be seen again because it just didn't hit the spot with the proletariat - not enough pies in the face to please Joe six-pack. Maybe it can be revived in a more enlightened time, and I'll bet there's a crate of fresh scripts sitting in the garage of one of the writing team.

Like a big girl's wedding dress - it was great on the day, but it will only come out of the closet for occasional airings.