In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, “The Naked Gun” movies starring Leslie Nielsen were wildly popular and the height of absurdist comedy. The franchise gets revived this week with a new installment and cast, and a new director, Akiva Schaffer, of comedy troupe the Lonely Island.

In the dog days of summer, there’s nothing better than a silly, lightweight comedy, especially of the variety provided by Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker — the original force behind “The Naked Gun” movies — or the trio that is the Lonely Island (which also features Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg). So maybe the new “The Naked Gun” might inspire a stroll through the best of each trio.

A fun connection between Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (also known as ZAZ) and the Lonely Island is that they’re comedy collaborators who started out as childhood friends — ZAZ in Wisconsin and the Lonely Island from Berkeley, California. ZAZ’s breakout hit is the 1980 stone-cold classic “Airplane!” starring Leslie Nielsen, a parody of the disaster films that were so popular in the 1970s. The film established their slapstick, absurdist tone, predicated on wordplay, utter silliness and naughty humor. Stream “Airplane!” on Paramount, Kanopy, Peacock.

They followed that up with 1984’s “Top Secret!” another barn burner of a comedy about a spy mission in Germany led by an American rock star, played by Val Kilmer in his first film role. Rent “Top Secret!” on iTunes or Amazon.

Then 1988 brought “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” based on the ZAZ TV series “Police Squad!” from 1982, a parody of the Lee Marvin series “M Squad.” The film yielded two sequels, “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear” in 1991, and “Naked Gun 33 1 /3: The Final Insult” — only David Zucker had a writing credit on that film of the ZAZ trio. All of the “Naked Gun” films are streaming on Paramount+.

As for the director of the new film, Schaffer and the Lonely Island got their start on “Saturday Night Live” in 2005, and went viral with their digital short “Lazy Sunday.” He directed dozens of digital shorts in their tenure at the show, and began expanding into feature films in 2007 with “Hot Rod,” starring Samberg as an aspiring stuntman and Taccone as one of his friends. Originally written for Will Ferrell by Pam Brady, the film featured the Lonely Island sensibility on the big screen. While it wasn’t a success, it has become a cult hit. Stream it on Kanopy or Paramount+.

Schaffer also went on to direct “The Watch” in 2012, written by Jared Stern, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg, starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaugh, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade as a neighborhood watch group who discover extraterrestrial activity. Stream it on Starz or rent it elsewhere.

Schaffer reunited with Samberg and Taccone for their 2016 mockumentary “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” (based on music docs like “Never Say Never” about Justin Bieber). Samberg plays Conner4Real while Taccone is his DJ and Schaffer his lyricist. It’s another cult comedy from the trio, stream it on Netflix or Peacock. Schaffer also directed the 2022 animated comedy “Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers,” streaming on Disney+, and has directed episodes of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which starred Samberg (streaming on Peacock and Netflix) and episodes of the sketch comedy show “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” another "SNL" alum with an absurdist bent.

So that’s how to get up to speed with everything about the new “The Naked Gun,” prior to the film’s release. We could all use a laugh right now.

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