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The Movie: Although "Reno 911"'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 - in one episode, Dangle warns the other officers not to interfere with the "working cats" roaming the building, put there because "the exterminators had run out of ideas."), 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. By the time the fifth season of "Reno" rolls around, the budgets have gotten a little bigger (there's a few action scenes, or at least the "Reno 911" version of an action scene), but the characters are no less dim, having done their absolute best to learn absolutely nothing in the four seasons prior. That mixture of indifference and sheer obliviousness is still what powers the show in season 5. The storylines are a little uneven at times this season, but the series still remains sharply funny throughout most of the episodes. Some of the highlights include: "Did Garcia Steal Dangle's Husband?" (Weigel tries to sell her offspring to the highest bidder), "Junior Runs for Office" (Junior runs to be the Reno Commissioner of Dead Animal Removal), "Baghdad 911" (The Reno officers host visiting Iraqi officers, and Weigel and Dangle break up a stuffed-bunny coke ring, "Strong Sister" (Williams gets profiled by a magazine, and wants everyone to tell the reporter about how wonderful she is) and "The Parade" (the bizarre season finale/cliffhanger.) These are unrated versions of the episodes - they include both langugage and (on a few occasions) unblurred nudity. Season 5 58. 5- 1 501 16 Jan 08 Did Garcia Steal Dangle's Husband? (2) 59. 5- 2 502 23 Jan 08 Bounty Hunter Tommy Hawk 60. 5- 3 506 30 Jan 08 Super Knockers! 61. 5- 4 503 6 Feb 08 Mayor Hernandez 62. 5- 5 504 13 Feb 08 Coconut Nut Clusters! 63. 5- 6 505 20 Feb 08 Dangle's Secret Family 64. 5- 7 507 27 Feb 08 Undercover at Burger Cousin 65. 5- 8 508 5 Mar 08 The Wall 66. 5-66 515 22 May 08 Death Of A Pickle-Thrower 67. 5-10 512 29 May 08 Baghdad 911 68. 5-11 516 5 Jun 08 The Tanning Booth Incident 69. 5-12 511 12 Jun 08 Strong Sister 70. 5- 0 510 19 Jun 08 Wiegel's Dad Returns 71. 5-14 509 26 Jun 08 Junior Runs for Office 72. 5- 0 514 3 Jul 08 Undercover Acting Coach 73. 5-16 513 10 Jul 08 The Parade 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 7,9,10,15. We also get four deleted scenes and the goof featurette, "Cop Pscyhology: Inside the Minds of Reno's Deputies" Final Thoughts: While a few episodes are a little uneven, "Reno 911" still remains hilarious throughout much of the fifth season. The DVD set provides very good audio/video quality and a nice set of supplements. Recommended. |