| Johnny | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creator | The ZAZ |
| Portrayer | William Duell |
| First Appearence | A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise) |
| Information | |
| Born | Unknown Unknown |
| Age | Unknown |
| Episodes | 6 |
| Films | none |
Johnny is a fictional supporting character from the 1982 television series Police Squad!. He appears in all episodes in the series, serving as Frank Drebin's informant.
Little is known about Johnny himself, but in the modern day, he works as a humble shoeshiner, polishing off shoes a few dollars at a time. He is shabbily-dressed, and tends to happily accept rather small bribes.
Despite his apparent low status, Johnny is exceptionally knowledgeable. Though he tends to be reticent to share information (typically answering requests with a grumpy response along the lines of "How should I know?"), once bribed with a few dollars, he will happily provide detailed information on virtually any topic. These topics have included:
- Details about the criminal underworld, and the histories of various criminals and organizations, including crimes currently in progress.
- The theological circumstances of life after death, varying depending on "anthropomorphic deity or existential entity."
- The procedure for safely performing coronary bypass surgery on a patient with a history of brachycardia.
- Baseball management, including the ideal numbers for a pitching rotation, the details of local baseball players, and the recent history of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Psychology, including the concept of the "Cinderella Complex" of women feeling burnt out and needing to be assuaged by male partners, and how to manage it successfully.
- Firefighting, including the details of local buildings and notable fire hazards inside them, and how to successfully carry out a rescue operation.
- The history, inspirations, and likely success of 2 Tone ska, with him predicting it will never become particularly popular.
Additionally, Johnny tends to carry items in his coat, such as tickets, lists of known baseball players, and youth cream.
Though Drebin is the main person Johnny interacts with, a recurring gag is that once Drebin is done speaking to him, another person will step up, including a priest, a firefighter, a surgeon, psychologist Joyce Brothers, TV personality Dick Clark, and Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.