Retail Price:$19.99 Lowest Total Price:$16.47 You Save:$3.52 (18%) Merchant: Amazon More Details Below
Average Review: Sales Rank: 1,487
Actors: Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Birdsong, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon III Director: Ben Garant Rating: Features: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC Number of Discs: 2 Running Time: 337 minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Release Date: June 22, 2004 Theatrical Release Date: July 23, 2003 Studio: Comedy Central
All prices are subject to change. Shipping costs are for the most economical method available, and apply only within the United States. In some states, sales tax may be added.
DESCRIPTION
From the creators of the flamboyantly fabulous Viva Variety and when will that be released on DVD? comes Reno 911, Comedy Central's most arresting comedy series. Ride along with the cluelessly cracked squad of the Wahoe County Sheriff's Department, who cross the proverbial thin blue line with impunity. "That's how we do it in Reno," exults Lt. Dangle Thomas Lennon, after absent-mindedly rear-ending a car whose trunk pops open to reveal a cache of marijuana. Reno 911 has Cops's gritty documentary feel, and Police Squad's straight face in subverting cop show conventions. The hapless officers get no respect, not from the citizens they encounter, from their colleagues in the FBI, or even from themselves. Kerri Kenney-Silver's unfortunate Det. Wiegel is the squad's odd girl out. "She's like a bad casserole" is one of the more polite things said about her. In one episode, a misunderstanding leads to her being put under a suicide watch, and she so loves the attention, she doesn't bother to inform her brethren that she, in fact, did not try to kill herself. The forays into black comedy are about as subtle as a S.W.A.T. assault. In the first episode's opening moments, an officer answers a domestic disturbance call with guns blazing, only to discover it is a surprise birthday party for him.
But Reno 911 would have gotten old fast if it was just Police Academy-style mishaps and slapstick. What elevates this from being a one-joke series are the intimately observed characters' quirks and personal dramas. Dangle has a penchant for short shorts, and, in the first episode at least, comely male traffic offenders. Dangle is not exactly Capt. Furillo from Hill Street Blues in the compassion department. When the squad learns that unwed Deputy C. Johnson Wendy McLendon-Covey is pregnant, he jokingly searches for a phone book when considering who the father might be. "There's usually a phone book around here," he shrugs. "It would have been funnier." Comedy Central may be guilty of running these episodes into the ground, but for Reno 911's devoted following, and for rookies to the force, this boxed set of commercial-free episodes, some commentary-enhanced, is just the ticket. --Donald Liebenson
