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The Movie: While the series. Although the show's off-beat sense of humor may take a little while for some to get used to, the show is often a wickedly funny take on "COPS", coming up with material (mostly improv) that's often subtle (some of the show's most deeply hilarous bits are the most minor ones), utterly unpredictable and delivered with incredibly brilliant throwaway style by the cast. Characters include Deputy Raineesha Williams (Niecy Nash), Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney), Deputy James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui), Deputy S. Jones (Cedric Yarbrough) ,Deputy Travis Junior (Ben Garant), Deputy C. Johnson (Wendy McLendon-Covey) and Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon). The best moments of the first season took near-brilliant plots and ran with them. In one episode, the staff of the Reno police department found out that they've been awarded two tickets to a local execution. The officers decide to give them out via their traditional way: a scavenger hunt where the officers must seek out certain criminals to bust for points. The second season continued to expand upon the antics of the force, with performances that are even funnier because the cast has gotten further into their roles throughout the first season. There are definitely quite a few highlights throughout the season, such as: the first episode, where Dangle makes everyone attend a party for his promotion, only to later realize he didn't read the entire letter regarding his promotion; an episode where the deputies spend essentially the whole episode planning ways to get rid of a ten commandments momument the city says must be moved; an episode where the deputies in Reno are assigned traffic control for a presidential visit and finally, the DA investigates the sheriff's department when it appears two of the officers are responsible for the death of a guy wearing a milkshake outfit. The third season starts off where the second season ended, with the deputies being put behind bars after the conclusion of last season. Although they get out of prison and find their way into different jobs (Trudy opens a Bed and Breakfast and Dangle tries out for "American Idol"), they quickly find that the one who put them behind bars is after them. After a couple of episodes, the group finds themselves back behind-the-badge and training a series of officers who manage better than they do, eventually settling on Kimball (Mary Birdsong). The third season of the show shows no signs of slowing, as the best episodes of the series come up with some incredibly inspired situations for the characters. Some of the highlights include: "Eddie's Getaway" (Eddie McClintock - voiced by Jeff Foxworthy - upsets officers as the speeder keeps outrunning every member of the force),"The Prefect of Wanganui" (the officers escort a visiting dignitary from New Zealand and don't exactly do well at career day), "...And the Installation is Free" (Jones becomes a local celebrity after his voice is on a radio spot, but is horrified to find out that the TV ad version has him replaced by an animated turtle), "The Hummer" (with sudden extra funding, the department buys a Hummer; Dangle also finds that he may have a long-lost son) and "Crime Scene Idiots" (the deputies play guards when the cast of "C.S.I." films in town) Season 3 31. 3- 1 14 Jun 05 Reno S.D. In & Out of Jail 32. 3- 2 21 Jun 05 American Dangle 33. 3- 3 28 Jun 05 Cop School 34. 3- 4 5 Jul 05 SARS 35. 3- 5 12 Jul 05 Eddie's Getaway 36. 3- 6 19 Jul 05 The Prefect of Wanganui 37. 3- 7 26 Jul 05 ...And the Installation Is Free 38. 3- 8 2 Aug 05 The Hot Tub King 39. 3- 9 9 Aug 05 Garcia's Girlfriend 40. 3-10 16 Aug 05 The Hummer 41. 3-11 23 Aug 05 Crime Scene Idiots 42. 3-12 30 Aug 05 The One That Got Away 43. 3-13 6 Sep 05 Craig's Question The DVD VIDEO: "Reno 911" is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame during these third season episodes, which is the show's original aspect ratio. The show looked terrific on this DVD set, with excellent sharpness and detail. The picture maintained fine definition and clarity, with no softness, even in some of the dimly-lit moments. Light shimmering did show up on a few occasions, but no compression artifacts were visible. Colors remained vibrant and bold throughout, with no smearing or other faults. SOUND: The show's 2.0 audio is pretty satisfactory, with fine audio quality - dialogue remains clear and clean throughout, while music and sound effects sounded well-recorded. EXTRAS: Commentaries from the cast and crew are available on episodes 5,6,7,10 and 13. Each disc also has about outtakes/extended scenes - between the two DVDs there's a total of 51 minutes worth. Final Thoughts: The third season of "Reno" once again shows why this is one of the most underappreciated shows on TV, with plenty of terrific episodes. The DVD set provides very good audio/video quality and a nice set of supplements. Highly recommended. |