Reno 911 The Complete First Season DVD with Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Birdsong, Ben Garant (Unrated) +Movie Reviews +Used DVD available for Swap

Bad Boys Bad Boys - What ya gonna do?

Brett D. Cullum | Houston, TX United States | 07/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RENO 911 is a hilarious spoof of COPS. Set in Reno it follows a rag tag group of inept police officers as they fumble and fall all over the place! It's a lot of fun, and surprisingly well done. Each episode is about 20 minutes of the whackiest footage you will see - shot on video exactly like COPS. My favorite character has to be Lt. Dangle with his "Daisy Duke" shorts and penchant for going undercover as a female prostitute (on his day off!). Amazingly all the lead actors play both the cops and the criminals for the most part! A wig and a well placed blur usually means someone in the cast is pulling double duty. It's like COPS meets SPINAL TAP! But surprisingly as the stories develop you grow to love this group of enforcement misfits! The DVD set shows you all of season one's episodes in order! Which is a great bonus since they aired somewhat out of order on Comedy Central initially. You noticed this the most with Clementine as her pregnancy didn't unfold in the correctly in the original airings. You get commentaries from the cast on the episodes - including some truly funny "hidden" commentaries which can be found by highlighting the push pins on the photos in the menus. It's a great set for a great show!"

The Biggest Little Comedy On TV!

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 07/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A camera crew follows the comings and goings of the Reno Sheriff's Department to create the TV series "Reno 911!" Leading the crack squad is Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon), who wears short-shorts while on duty and dresses up as a female hooker on his days off. Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney) is the offbeat officer who dreams of motherhood and tends to her pet cats. Deputy Clementine Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is the blonde bombshell who always gets her man! Deputy Raineesha Williams (Niecy Nash) never breaks a nail when apprehending criminals. Deputy S. Jones (Cedric Yarbrough) upholds the law, even when assigned to being a crossing guard. Deputy James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui) is the grizzled veteran of the squad, having recently celebrated his fifteenth year of service. Deputy Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant) has a better relationship with his canine partner than he does with the human members of the Sheriff's Department.

The first episode starts off with a bang at a birthday party, when everyone yells "Surprise!" and an officer is shot. Later on, Lt. Dangle rear ends a car, which causes the trunk to pop open, revealing several bags of marijuana. The squad really enjoys sitting around the campfire as the illegal marijuana is burned. In later episodes, a tear-gas grenade is used to destroy an old microwave oven, and an ice cream truck loaded with illegal fireworks is blown up. My favorite episode involves Lt. Dangle and Deputy Travis Junior on a drug stakeout. Lt. Dangle turns his attention away from the hotel room where the drug deal is supposed to take place, and discovers that Leonard Nimoy is staying in the next room. The officers decide to investigate this, only to discover that the man is a Leonard Nimoy look-alike who is in Reno for a Star Trek convention. While they're talking to him, the drug deal goes on in the next room. It turns violent, as the drug buyer kills the seller. As he's using a chainsaw to cut up his victim, the officers hear the noise and assume it's a leaf blower. The criminal leaves with his bloody chainsaw and the drugs, while the officers leave with free tickets to the Star Trek convention. "Reno 911!" is the funniest series on television today!"

Funny as you-know-what!

Tony R. Tucker | Crewe, VA United States | 06/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thank goodness I stumbled onto Reno 911! one night on Comedy Central. In just a few scenes I was absolutely hooked. My fear was that I had just seen their best episode, but as it turns out they are ALL funny!The premise is a reality-tv crew is following around seven members of the Reno Sheriff's Dept for a tv show called "Reno 911". Every cop is a unique character, and they are all some of the worst cops that have ever lived! Equal time is given for the actors to explore their characters. Three of the actors, Kerry Kenney (Officer Wiegel), Robert Ben Garant (Officer Junior), and Tom Lennon (Lt. Dangle) created the show and have worked together for over 15 years. What's refreshing is that the commentaries show a genuine friendship between cast members. They poke fun, compliment, and psychoanalyze each other. The commentary is uncensored and hilarious. There is also an easter egg to be found if you highlight the odd colored thumbtack on the bulletin board on disc one. Click it and you will watch the episode with the entire cast ad libbing the entire episode from memory. It's a riot and further illustrates how much they seem to be having a great time together.Depending on where you look, you can find this collection from $19.95 to $29.95. It would be a great deal even at $50. Too bad more series don't offer entire seasons for such a reasonable price. I sure hope this is only the first season of a long, long running series."

Crooks oughta thank this department!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 09/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is indeed the funniest possible spoof of COPS. Just as many other reviewers have noted, the Reno Nevada Sheriff's department never fails to fail in this series. This two DVD set has all the episodes of its first season and the laughs never stop. The cast does a superlative job of improvising their lines during long takes and then through editing the show is cut down and produced in a regular 30 minute time slot. I give the cast a lot of credit for working so damn hard to make us laugh.

The show makes fun of every group possible. Lieutenant Dangle is the closeted gay cop who nevertheless makes a pass at a woman from the FBI during Homeland Security training. Then there is Officer Wiegel, who is about as appealing as a mortuary. Race relations come up when Officer Jones asks why the black cops are on one side of the table during the morning briefings. Asians, Jews, and other groups are made fun of, too! (Nobody gets left out! GRIN)

My favorite actor is Niecy Nash who plays Dept. Raineesha Williams. Her ability to make me laugh just by her facial expression is awesome! Officer Williams makes sure to wear lots of makeup to give herself a clown-type appearance.

The two DVD set still deletes the swear words (most of the time) although this is no show for children! The commentaries are funny but often lack much insight into how the show gets done. There are deleted scenes and alternate takes, too. Unfortunately there are no cast credits in the packaging.

I highly recommend this DVD set for fans of very good comedy, improvisational comedy, and for people who aren't going to cringe when a show pokes fun at all groups of people. And, now that season two has just ended, wouldn't this be a great time to release season two on DVD? GRIN

"

Fresh, engaging and frequently hilarious

M. Packham | Perth, Western Australia Australia | 08/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm an Australian, and as such this show has never been shown nor has anybody ever heard of it in my fair country. Then again, we haven't seen Mr Show, The Wire, or Deadwood either. My American friend from Kansas City lent me this fine DVD and I was blown away by how addictive it was in its story about a varied and distinct group of police officers, obviously none of them too bright.

Central to the show is its mockumentary style and improvised dialogue. Standing out as particularly good is Thomas Lennon, who plays the gay Lt. Jim Dangle, a character straight out of the village people. His constant overtures to Deputy S. Jones verge on the realm of the unbearably awkward, especially when he invites Jones over to help him move and greets him in ultra-gay clothes, brandishing cocktail glasses, yelling "who wants margaritas!"

The other stand out in the show is Dt. Weigel, who takes "medication... doctor prescribed!" she's quick to add. She is an aloof, almost unhinged character, disliked by the whole force. She is in love with Lt. Dangle, who treats her overtures with caution and distance. It's hilarious to watch.

The best thing about this show is that it doesn't rely on set pieces to get its humour across; rather, it's about character. All of the characters involved are beautifully drawn and well acted, despite their dialogue being improvised. The complex web of relationships within the department provides plenty of intrigue and humour, and knowing exactly who these characters are it's funny to see them get involved in different situations.

It has a few hit and miss moments, and by the end of the series you feel like you've probably gotten the joke. However, this is a hilarious show, one to watch an episode at a time perhaps every couple of days. Great acting, very funny, very original.

"

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	Reno 911 - The Complete First Season Actors: Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Birdsong, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon (III) Directors: Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon (III), Michael Patrick Jann Genres: Comedy, Television UR 2004 5hr 37min Movie DVD
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