catchphrase / said by James
A bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free
What does "A bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free" mean on Small Town Murder?
James's stock description of small-town law enforcement, used in the show's regular disclaimer about who the comedy is aimed at: an incompetent police force that bungles the case and lets a killer walk free. The hosts mock the force rather than the victims, and James rings the changes on the wording from episode to episode.
- Kind
- catchphrase
- Usually said by
- James
- First heard
- Episode 22, 14 June 2017
The story behind the phrase
Where did "A bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free" come from?
The earliest use in the transcripts is episode 22, where a guest-hosted opening explains the show's approach. James says they make fun of idiot murderers and "maybe a small town bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free or kill more".
It belongs to the show's disclaimer about who the jokes are aimed at. The mockery goes at small towns, killers and the police who bungle a case, and never at victims or their families, because as James says they are "assholes" but "not scumbags".
How is "A bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free" used now?
The disclaimer has stayed in the openings ever since, with James changing the details each time. The force lets a killer go for "five years" in episode 137, "a decade" in episode 417, or simply fails to do its job so that "more people get killed" in episode 719. Jimmie sometimes chips in, and the line sits alongside the "we're all from somewhere" defence.
When was "A bumbling police force that lets a murderer go free" first said?
It was first heard in episode 22, "A Deadly Massacre", on 14 June 2017, at about 0:03:30.
"Uh we make fun of idiot murderers who screw up, maybe a small town bumbling police force that lets a murder."
In the opening disclaimer James says the show makes fun of 'a small town bumbling police force that lets a murder - lets a murderer go free'. The stutter and the way he rattles it off make it sound like an established part of the pitch rather than a line coined there; earlier episodes have the bare 'bumbling police force', but this is the first time the lets-a-murderer-go clause is attached.
Heard in these episodes
Found by searching the transcripts; speech recognition can miss a use.
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