How to watch

The Naked Gun Watch Order in the correct order

How to watch The Naked Gun in order

Last updated: July 8 2026

Written by: ChronoBob

The Naked Gun franchise turns police work into glorious absurdity, building from a short-lived TV series into one of the funniest spoof runs ever made. If you want to catch every joke and legacy callback, there is a clear order to follow.

Created by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker team, the Naked Gun universe is built around Leslie Nielsen's straight-faced brilliance as the hopelessly incompetent Frank Drebin. It began with Police Squad!, a cult television series that lasted only a handful of episodes before becoming the template for the feature films. Those movies then turned Drebin into a comedy icon, and decades later the franchise continued with a legacy sequel built around a new generation. Because the humor relies on recurring characters, escalating self-parody, and the franchise's own internal history, order matters more here than it might in most spoof series.

🕐 Release Order

Release order is the best way to watch The Naked Gun because it preserves the leap from television cult favorite to hit movie trilogy, then closes with the modern legacy sequel.

  1. Police Squad! (1982)
  2. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
  3. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
  4. Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)
  5. The Naked Gun (2025)

Chronology is almost the same as release order, since the later movies simply continue Drebin's chaotic career. The only real wrinkle is that the 2025 film functions as a legacy continuation rather than a direct same-era sequel.

📖 Story Chronology

Chronological viewing starts with Drebin on television, follows his movie cases through the original trilogy, and then moves into the next-generation continuation.

  1. Police Squad! (1982) — Frank Drebin's deadpan investigations establish the franchise's comic style
  2. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) — Drebin stumbles through a major assassination plot
  3. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) — Drebin blunders into environmental and political chaos
  4. Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) — Drebin comes out of retirement for one more undercover disaster
  5. The Naked Gun (2025) — a legacy sequel carries the franchise's absurd detective formula into a new era

Which Order Should You Choose?

Choose release order, but if you are a completionist start with Police Squad! even though many people discover the franchise through the 1988 movie. The series is brief, but it shows where the joke style came from and makes the first film's title even funnier. After that, watch the original trilogy in sequence because the escalating silliness is part of the charm. The 2025 legacy sequel is best saved for last, since it is designed to play off your memory of the Leslie Nielsen era rather than replace it.

🔗 Related Guides

  • Austin Powers Watch OrderGuide
  • Beverly Hills Cop Watch OrderGuide
  • Ghostbusters Watch OrderGuide

Did we miss anything? Let us know and we'll keep this guide up to date!