Charles Davis

The Vista

11-18-04

Just when you’re about to give up on television for good, on the phone with a Fox receptionist demanding the last half hour of your life back after being exposed to the latest plot “twist” in The O.C. or clone North Shore, there comes along a show of such genius that for at least 30 minutes every week you can count on watching something other than 24 hour news/spin channels and Carson Daly. I was in the act of writing my local congressmen, demanding Rupert Murdoch’s immediate detention in Guantanomo Bay for undermining the nation’s intelligence, when the first episode of Comedy Central’s Reno 911 came on. Now Comedy Central is very much hit or miss – the same network responsible for Dave Chappelle and Strangers With Candy has also brought us the truly horrible Colin Quinn and Jeff Foxworthy. But this particular law enforcement satire is a sure winner. Set in the bizarre world that is Reno, Nevada, this diverse group of quirky, corrupt, and thoroughly dysfunctional law enforcement officials have won over critics and viewers alike, and recently finished their second season.

Thankfully you can now get the entire first season of this boundary-pushing hit show on DVD, complete with audio commentary from the cast and uncensored extras for a mere 20 dollars. Fans of more eccentric humor will fall in love with this show, if they haven’t already, as it delivers a hilarious, distinctly American brand of outrageous and bizarre, confiscated-marijuana laced humor reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch melded with an episode of Cops on acid.

And unlike the stale humor of primetime network shows, the writers of aren’t afraid to address touchy, normally off-limit subjects, like in this characteristic comment from the neurotic Officer Weigel, who describes fellow officer Raneesha Wiliams as a “loud-mouth, back-stabbing Jew – I wanna say Jew – but I think she’s in fact very openly Catholic, which I have a problem with too.” The episodes tackle the typical dilemmas cops would face in Reno, ranging from crack-addicted prostitutes, toothless and unruly trailer park residents, rollerblading gigolos, and other shady criminals.

Despite their insensitive tendencies, the cast of Reno 911 is an eminently likeable group. Yeah, they’re corrupt as hell, but not in an LAPD violent way. Through the first season we see the officers as they form and break off love triangles, have incredibly creepy conversations with their dead mother in a graveyard, cheat on their Homeland Security exams, and continually verbally and physically abuse a poor, unfortunate milkshake man.

Now Reno 911 isn’t for everybody. If you’re James Dobson or Jerry Falwell, than you probably wouldn’t like the out-of-the-closet, cross-dressing, drunk-driving Lt. Dangle and his rather unique short-shorts, or Officer Johnson and her 1960s, anything goes outlook on sex and drugs. But if you like comedy that isn’t afraid to make fun of anything and everyone, that’s fresh and cleverly written, than be sure catch the irreverent brand of humor only to be found on the first season of Reno 911.