"Police Squad"'s opening sequence was based on the 1950s show "M Squad", which starred Lee Marvin, and opened with footage of a police car roving through a dark urban setting with a big band playing a jazz song in the background.The Hank Simms voice-over and the show's organization into acts with an epilogue was homage to Quinn Martin police dramas including "The Fugitive", "The Streets of San Francisco", "Barnaby Jones", "The F.B.I.