If there’s one thing I like about being lazy on a Friday night, it’s that “COPS” is on TV. Man, I love that show. And when Comedy Central’s “Reno 911”, a mock-take on the classic TV reality show first aired, I was hooked. It’s funny, irreverent, borderline uncomfortable sometimes, and honestly, not liking a show like this is just un-American.
The 3-disc DVD set of the show comes with every episode of the season, with several episodes coming with cast commentary from Reno’s finest. The show, which premiered in 2003, stars Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Cedric Yarbrough, Carlos Alazraqui, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, and Mary Birdsong as the moderately dysfunctional and probably mentally ill Reno, Nevada sheriff department.
Beyond the commentary, Disc 1 has “Comedy Central Quickies”, a few snippets from episodes from “Lil’ Bush”, “South Park” (a pretty funny one actually about the internet), “The Daily Show”, and “The Colbert Report”. However, Disc 3 is where the juicy stuff is, with with four extended scenes and the hilarious “Cop Psychology” segment featuring the mock-psych evaluation footage of our hapless law enforcement officers. That was probably my favorite part of all the features, to be honest. I enjoyed the extended scenes and the uncensored language, which despite what it said on the DVD cover was an unexpected surprise, but hands down the episodes themselves and “Cop Psychology” were my favorites. I have to say that out of all the characters, Garcia and Dangle, played by Carlos Alazraqui and Thomas Lennon respectively, are probably my favorites, although season 3 addition Kimball (played by Mary Birdsong) is also a favorite.
All in all I enjoyed this DVD set. It’s a great show that I think not enough people wholeheartedly like, and while the set’s not brimming with extra stuff its’ not really necessary because the episodes more or less just speak for themselves. Even if you’re just a moderate “Reno 911” fan I’d definitely recommend checking this out, or any of the seasons on DVD for that matter.
By Costa Koutsoutis
