InsidePulse DVD Review – Reno 911: The Complete Second Season

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Credit: DVDtown.com

Cast

Cedric Yarbrough …. Deputy S. Jones
Niecy Nash …. Deputy Raineesha Williams
Ben Garant …. Deputy Travis Junior
Thomas Lennon…. Lieutenant Jim Dangle
Carlos Alazraqui …. Deputy James Garcia
Wendi McLendon-Covey …. Deputy Clementine Johnson
Kerri Kenney …. Deputy Trudy Wiegel

The Show

With Reality TV and Dramas take up most of network television every night, the Sitcom is really at an all time low. What was once a mighty genre for television from the days of All in the Family to Seinfeld the Sitcom was a TV staple that seemed it would never die. Perhaps this was because they were the easiest type of show to produce. It’s easier to laugh at someone than it is to really pull them in with a truly dramatic situation. Only a few shows throughout TV history were really able to be successfully dramatic the way films are on a regular basis. Now with engrossing shows such as The Sopranos, C.S.I., The Shield and Lost, who’s got time for half hour of goofy laughs? While it’s not necessarily dead now, the Situation Comedy has seen better days.

The best sitcoms still on TV avoid the ABC network’s T.G.I.F. mold. Whether it be Arrested Development or The Office the best shows are unconventional and keep you laughing with some of the best irreverent humor in years. Also trying to keep you laughing are the shows from cable channel Comedy Central. From The Daily Show to The Dave Chappell Show the C.C. is turning out hits one after another because there are audiences still out there wanting to laugh at good television. One of their best shows is Reno 911. By merging the Sitcom with another TV staple, Cops, the show is able to pull out some big laughs with their cast of newcomers and veterans of cult TV legend The State.

While the show’s first season was pretty funny, the second season has moments of absolute hilarity. While each episode has a semblance of a storyline, the show’s real strength lies in little interludes where the “officers” try and restore law and order to preposterous circumstances. One such segment involves Deputy James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui) who is called out on a 911 call. Upon arriving on the scene Officer Garcia finds a man in the midst of depression, stating his dog has cancer. The solemn man states he’s called the police because he doesn’t have the money to put the dig down properly and he didn’t know what else to do. Wanting to help the man, Officer Garcia volunteers to shoot the dog, much to the dismay of the real owner who comes running out her house after Garcia has done the deed. It’s funnier then I’m describing it here as Garcia tried to run from the situation as fast as possible. Other funny interludes include a practical joke in which an officer wakes up with a dead hooker in his bed only to find out it’s a surprise party and another in which a disturbance call with a garage band turns into the Reno Sheriff’s Department doing their own rendition of Heart’s rock classic Barracuda.

Jokes are often hit or miss but for the most part each episode keeps the laughs rolling. Highlights include the season’s fifth episode in which a former inmate has become a televangelist, and wants to do a show from the local prison to celebrate the anniversary of his moment of clarity in prison. The officers accommodate the man to the point of only arresting criminals that will look or sound good on television. One lineup has the cops trying out singers with each doing a rendition of Amazing Grace. The punch-line comes with two of the crooks looking shocked as they “Get to go on the next round and stay arrested!” This episode works as one of the best of the season because the interludes are interwoven with the main plot to make a semi-cohesive story.

Another highlight consists of the three part finale. Officers Garcia and Jones (Cedric Yarbrough) attempted to arrest a man in a milkshake mascot costume go on a labyrinth of a chase on foot through the streets of Reno, into the desert, through a lake, and finally to a remote stretch of highway. The two catch up to the man, only to call a truce, amazed at the man’s resilience. The man claims his secret lies in his foam rubber costume that acts as a shock absorber. Trying the costume out, the officers gleefully beat down the man to the best of their ability, but immediately flee the scene when the man is accidentally run over by a tractor trailer. Of course someone is watching this happen and tapes the incident, making the officers look like complete villains. The rest of the episodes consist of a power hungry D.A. breaking down each officer on the force and making them turn on each other with very funny results.

Making fun of everything from Rodney King to Kenny Rogers, Reno 911 takes its faux-reality premise and runs with it. Most of the jokes work due to the deadpan performances of it cast. Each cast member treats the ridiculous situations with the utmost sincerity and seriousness even with people lighting themselves on fire with hundred of M80’s or a deputy getting married accidentally to an illegal immigrant during a sting operation.

Each of the cast plays their archetype excellently. Jones’ deputy is constantly worried about his masculinity and is shocked when confronted about whether he is not “black” enough. Thomas Lennon’s Lieutenant Jim Dangle is not shy about his homosexuality. A funny running joke involves with Police Department bicycle getting stolen. Kerri Kenney’s Deputy Trudy Wiegel is seemingly mentally retarded. Her funniest episode involves the rest of the department trying to figure out whether she’s dating a serial killer or not who may or may not be mentally retarded himself. Deputy Raineesha Williams (Niecy Nash) is the black militant of the group, even joining the Black Muslims at one point in the season, telling bystander to kill “The White Devil” and then asking for donations. Carlos Alazraqui’s Deputy James Garcia is completely obsessed with Kenny Rogers for some reason. Ben Garant’s Deputy Travis Junior is the redneck of the bunch, and is very convincing. A funny sequence has him going into a massage parlor on a stakeout only to end up getting the crap kicked out of him. Finally Wendi McLendon-Covey’s Deputy Clementine Johnson is the free spirt and um…slutty one of the group. The show also employs an impressive array of guest stars in its lineup as well as the cast playing multiple characters by just adding those Cops-style blurs in front of their faces.

While low brow and often politically incorrect, Reno 911 Season 2 is a funny diversion for viewers looking to get a few laughs in until Dave Chappell and Arrested Development comes back to TV. While not always a homerun, each episode provides at least a few chuckles along with some good belly laughs in a few episodes. While not a typical sitcom, the funniest shows going right now are the one’s without the laugh tracks, and I think this can be included in that small group.

Score: 7.5/10

The DVD:

The Video

The transfer on this DVD is pretty nice. The show is presented in a 4:3 Fullscreen which is the show’s original format for broadcast. I do wish that a more high definition 16×9 format would be used, but the show looks just fine.

Score: 8.0/10

The Audio

The Dolby digital stereo track is just fine. There’s no degradation from its original broadcast. The slide whistle from the cast’s rendition of Barracuda comes in loud and clear.

Score: 8.0/10

SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast Commentaries on Select Episodes, A Two Part Drug Prevention Seminar from the Aspen Comedy Festival. Deleted Alternate

Cammentaries – Like the episodes themselves, some of the commentaries here are better than others. The one on Episode 11 of the set with Cedric Yarbrough and Niecy Nash is the worst of the tracks, but others fair much better. A commentary with Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant fairs much better as they give inside info on get stars, trick shots, and other funny anecdotes.

Two Part Drug Prevention Seminar from the Aspen Comedy Festival – A very funny live performance by the cast here. The funniest segment involves a blind fold and a cast member having thirty seconds to find drugs in the orifice of a volunteer from the audience.

Deleted/Alternate Scenes – Over ninety minutes of deleted and alternate scenes is a pretty impressive collection of funny outtakes and the like.

Score: 8.0/10

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.