Sunday, August 10, 2008

Reno 911: The Complete Fifth Season


For its first few seasons "Reno 911" was a show that was consistently at the top of my "must watch" list. The antics of the inept members of the Reno Sheriff's Department seemed to deliver an endless supply of great gags and hilariously inappropriately funny moments. But now in its fifth season, the humor well seems to have dried up, probably due to its writers returning to it far too often for the same joke. Yeah, the entire Sheriff's Department of Reno, Nevada, is full of idiots; we get it. While it was funny for a couple of years, they had better think of something new if they're going to bother to return for a sixth season.

"Reno 911," a blatant parody of Fox's long-running "Cops," first appeared on the cable channel Comedy Central back in the summer of 2003. Created by Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney, and Ben Garant, "Reno 911" garnered a considerable amount of interest from comedy fans. Which is not surprising considering this was a show from three of the founding members of the group responsible for the greatest sketch comedy show of all time, "The State." In addition to creating the show and writing the basic plot outlines (most of the script is improvised), the three comedians also star as Deputies Travis Junior (Garant) and Trudy Wiegel (Kenney), and Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Lennon). Five other deputies round out the cast, but the majority of the show rests upon the shoulders of the three creators, who appear in most of the scenes. Of the remaining regular cast, the true standout is Cedric Yarbrough as Jones, the force's lone black male deputy. His comedic timing is impeccable as proven in the Season Three episode "…and the Instillation is Free."

The best part of "Reno 911" has always been the actors and comedians who are cast as criminals, suspects, or victims. Easily the best and most beloved recurring character/cast member is Terry, the moronic male hooker who talks like a Valley girl... er, boy… er, girl? And is portrayed to perfection by Nick Swardson, one of the best comedians working today. Terry is constantly getting caught attempting to solicit sex, and while the locations may change one thing does not: Terry's always on skates. In addition to Swardson, several other "name" jokesters have appeared on the show: dork god Patton Oswalt, the great Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, VH1's Michael Ian Black, Brian Posehn, George Lopez, and many more. Even the gambler himself, Kenny Rodgers, showed up for a couple of episodes in an early season.

For its first few seasons "Reno 911" was a show that was consistently at the top of my "must watch" list. The antics of the inept members of the Reno Sheriff's Department seemed to deliver an endless supply of great gags and hilariously inappropriately funny moments. But now in its fifth season, the humor well seems to have dried up, probably due to its writers returning to it far too often for the same joke. Yeah, the entire Sheriff's Department of Reno, Nevada, is full of idiots; we get it. While it was funny for a couple of years, they had better think of something new if they're going to bother to return for a sixth season.

"Reno 911," a blatant parody of Fox's long-running "Cops," first appeared on the cable channel Comedy Central back in the summer of 2003. Created by Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney, and Ben Garant, "Reno 911" garnered a considerable amount of interest from comedy fans. Which is not surprising considering this was a show from three of the founding members of the group responsible for the greatest sketch comedy show of all time, "The State." In addition to creating the show and writing the basic plot outlines (most of the script is improvised), the three comedians also star as Deputies Travis Junior (Garant) and Trudy Wiegel (Kenney), and Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Lennon). Five other deputies round out the cast, but the majority of the show rests upon the shoulders of the three creators, who appear in most of the scenes. Of the remaining regular cast, the true standout is Cedric Yarbrough as Jones, the force's lone black male deputy. His comedic timing is impeccable as proven in the Season Three episode "…and the Instillation is Free."

The best part of "Reno 911" has always been the actors and comedians who are cast as criminals, suspects, or victims. Easily the best and most beloved recurring character/cast member is Terry, the moronic male hooker who talks like a Valley girl... er, boy… er, girl? And is portrayed to perfection by Nick Swardson, one of the best comedians working today. Terry is constantly getting caught attempting to solicit sex, and while the locations may change one thing does not: Terry's always on skates. In addition to Swardson, several other "name" jokesters have appeared on the show: dork god Patton Oswalt, the great Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, VH1's Michael Ian Black, Brian Posehn, George Lopez, and many more. Even the gambler himself, Kenny Rodgers, showed up for a couple of episodes in an early season.

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