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Show:		6.0
Picture:		6.0
Sound:		7.0
Extras:		4.0
Score:		6.0

Director(s):	Robert Ben Garant
Writer(s):	Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon
Starring:	Cedric Yarbrough • Niecy Nash • Robert Ben Garant • Keri Kenney • Joe Lo Truglio • Ian Roberts
Genre:	Comedy
Website:	http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/reno_911/index.jhtml
Release Date:	July 07, 2009

List Price:	$26.98
Amazon:

Even though the show debuted a full year and a half before The Office did, it’s fair to say that Reno 911 still operates in its shadow. They’re both mockumentary television shows that play on uncomfortable awkward tension, and they both deal with reckless, shocking incompetence in the workplace that almost completely defies imagination (and occasionally credibility). But whereas The Office plays on the awkward tension between the characters - primarily between the all normal characters and Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott and Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute - Reno plays on the awkward tension between the show itself and its audience. The result is frequently pretty funny, but never quite as engaging as its counterpart.

In the show’s sixth season, the Reno police department is doing essentially the exact same things that they’ve been doing for the previous five seasons. Led by the consistently short-shorted Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon), Deputy Jones (Cedric Yarbrough), Deputy Raineesha Williams (Niecy Nash), Deputy Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant), and Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney), along with newcomers Deputy Frank Rizzo (Joe Lo Truglia) and Sergeant Jack Declan (Ian Roberts) patrol the streets of Reno with the exact kind of bumbling ineptitude that one would expect of the modern-day Keystone Cops. Occasionally, there’s some kind of overarching plot to an episode, such as when Dangle hosts a murder mystery party (which is easily the highlight of the season); but for the most part they spend their days responding to calls from various residents, which gives the writers more than ample opportunity to insert amusing cameos from a variety of guest stars like Rainn Wilson, George Lopez, and Craig Robinson. All in all, this show feels more like a sketch comedy show than it does a sitcom, which is an asset, as they have the option of getting rid of ridiculous ideas sooner than they otherwise would be able to, and a liability as basing a sketch show around the same roster of characters can be more than a little tiresome.

So imagine, if you will, an Office in which absolutely every single character was as weird and loopy as Dwight Schrute, and no barometer for reality really exists. In a way that works, because The Office has always had a few moments where you’re just sort of forced to go ‘come on…' I’m positive I’m not the only one who has stopped to note that Michael Scott would have been fired many times over in reality. But on the other hand, it’s hard to stick with an ongoing show in which none of the characters have any real depth of feeling. Granted, if this show did abruptly take a turn for the serious, it would be excruciating, but it’s still hard to invest in a show where it doesn’t really matter if you saw the last one or not.

But all of that’s kind of irrelevant if the show’s funny. Is it? Most of the time, it is. It goes for those ‘laugh-because-you’re-shocked-buzzwords’ a little too much (‘Hitler’ and ‘rape’ being examples), and assumes that if a dick joke is funny once, it’s funny every time. It gets good mileage out of its guest stars, and never stays on long enough to wear out its welcome. Reno 911!’s certainly an amusing enough show that works perfectly if you’re looking to all but completely turn your brain off, even if it never fully comes together in the way that you might hope it would.

DVD Bonus Features

The first disc contains a number of extras, including: "Tupperware for Tampa Uncut", a deleted scene in which the department is pitched a plan to sell Tupperware to afford a trip to Tampa; "Profiles in Valor" for both Sgt. Declan and Dep. Rizzo, which are basically highlight reels of their best moments from the season; and two commercials produced by Craig Robinson’s character. Certain episodes also contain commentary by members of the cast; nothing too special there. They talk about how they shot scenes, how ridiculous they occasionally worry that the show can get, and each other’s breasts.