Not to be confused with game wardens nor Abe Vigoda's character of Philip Fish.
Basic plot: Anthropomorphic fish precinct detectives fight crime. It doesn't get any more highbrow than this, folks. Ranked #45 by the book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, the highest ranking for any animated show in that book.
Compare Sharky And George, a French show with a similar premise.
Fish Police provides examples of:
- Amoral Attorney: Sharkster, played for slimy perfection by Tim Curry.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Codfather is arrested for "Suspected murder, resisting arrest and ticking me off."
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Detective Catfish (when dressing up as a woman).
- Bathtub Scene: Angel even offered Gil to come over and scrub her back...for starters...I don't think anyone cared that a fish was taking a bubble bath.
- Beauty Contest: The episode 'Beauty is only Fin Deep' is centered around it.
- Betty and Veronica: For Gil; Pearl (the Betty) and Angel (the Veronica)
- Brainless Beauty: Angel is actually aware of it and does not let it get in her way, but she's still pretty brainless.
- Buxom Beauty Standard Subverted with Gil since despite Angel's buxom figure he chooses to remain loyal to the less 'gifted' Pearl. Still doesn't stop him (or any guy in Fish City) from lusting after her.
- Chick Magnet: After saving their lives Gil is rewarded with kisses by several of the beauty contestants. The scene immediately following features another girl who wanted her turn.
- Angel is widely regarded as the most beautiful and desired girl in the city, yet clearly has her heart set on Gil.
- Da Chief: Chief Abalone.
- Deadpan Snarker: A lot of the characters classify, but Goldie the police secretary probably comes first. Her lines alone get a higher rating than Angel's persona, for one thing.
- Decomposite Character: Gil from the comics was defused into Gil (the protagonist) and Catfish (appearance-wise).
- Detective Animal
- Dumb Muscle: Mussels, Calamari's bodyguard. Huge imposing stature and physique, and an inversely proportional brain.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Every guy who has ever even seen Angel will give at least an appreciative look.
- Expy: Angel is pretty much a fish version of Jessica Rabbit. Given a Shout-Out in the first episode, when she makes reference to Jessica's "I'm not bad..." line.
- Film Noir: Has all the necessary ingredients. The Private Eye Monologue, a Femme Fatale, cynical characters, rampant crime, and a detective protagonist wearing a trenchcoat and a hat. The soundtrack is smoky jazz, the dialogue is practically all innuendo. It may be a colorful cartoon, but even the bright, technicolor art somehow manages a dark look.
- Flintstone Theming: Fish puns galore!
- Head-Turning Beauty: Angel again. If she's on screen, 90% of the time all eyes are suddenly on her.
- Hint Dropping: Subverted. Gil clearly gets Angel's hints at wanting a more intimate relationship, because being observant is his job, and because her idea of hinting is asking him to join her in a bath (for starters) and asking him to come into her apartment.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Tad, who is constantly anticipating everything Gil needs (even saying his requests word-for-word as he delivers them).
- In Name Only: So many ways:
- In the comics, Gil looked like this
◊. In the cartoon, he looked more like a fish version of Dick Tracy — hat, trench coat and all. Also, he's The Alcoholic in the comic, but not so much here. Finally, his name has two Ls in the comic. - Angel went from being a slender, shapely, smart piece of eye candy and taking a Face–Heel Turn to a buxom nitwit who's involved with the antagonists from the start.
- Even though the cartoon wasn't meant for kids, the tone is still Lighter and Softer by comparison.
- In the comics, Gil looked like this
- Just Friends: Inverted since it's the blonde bombshell Angel who's all too eager to move past friendship with Gil instead of vice versa since he is already seeing Pearl, not that he isn't tempted.
- Large Ham: Sharkster.
- Meaningful Name: Most characters are named after the species of marine life they're based on, but some do have more than surface level meaning. Det. Catfish is a Catfish, but his specialty is disguises, so he's basically always "catfishing" people.
- Mr. Fanservice: In-universe example with Inspector C. Bass, who gets wolf-whistled at by policewomen, and even Goldie flirts with him.
- Ms. Fanservice: Angel is basically Jessica Rabbit in fish form. Long flowing hair that sometimes obscures her face, Impossible Hourglass Figure, breasts that range from well above average to bigger than her head depending on the frame and action, and she's also a sultry lounge singer that gets the crowd plenty riled up with her singing.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: All of the female fish have breasts, with Angel taking the cake.
- Not Me This Time: Calamari insists that he is innocent of killing the Codfather, regardless of his numerous other crimes. He's right.
- Not What It Looks Like: During the beauty contest Pearl freaks Angel out by approaching her menacingly with a pair of scissors and a scowl. Angel thinks she's about to kill her over Gil. Instead Pearl uses them to trim Angel's bikini and make it look skimpier in order to help her win the contest.
- Really Gets Around: Suggested with Angel.
- Parental Bonus: Too many to count. Red light districts are visible and some characters deliberately use innuendo, implying that Gil and Pearl 'get busy' on her diner counter at the end of one episode.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Pearl helps Angel win the beauty contest, because that means she'll have to go touring the seas and away from Gil. Angel wins but concedes the victory to another contestant much to Pearl's annoyance.
- Sexy Secretary: Gil mentions Angel used to work for him.
- Sexophone: Whenever Angel shows up.
- Shout-Out: The episode The Codfather has some quite obvious Shout Outs, but there is also a definite Shout Out to Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run in The Two Gills, and a possible one to Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much in The Codfather again.
- Straw Feminist: Pearl about the beauty pageant. Though it would seem her anger is derived from the fact her sometimes other half was placed there to guard the scantily dressed girls (and consequentially putting him in close prozimity with Angel, her romantic rival).
- Stupid Sexy Friend: Even though he choose to just be friends with her Gil can't help but have frequent inappropriate inner monologues about Angel. Not helped by the fact that she encourages it quite deliberately.
- Tsundere: Pearl is either trying to clean the diner counter with Gil or giving him the cold shoulder.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Angel called Pearl her best friend.
- Water Is Air: Sometimes done straight, sometimes played with, depending on the Rule of Funny.
- Wretched Hive: Fish City.
