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GOTTA LOVE THE SHORT SHORTS:
"RENO 911!" STARTS A LAUGH RIOT
June 17, 2005
Those short shorts always make me laugh.
Sure, there's plenty of other sight gags to giggle over when watching Comedy Central's riotous police comedy "Reno 911!" Not to mention all the droll one-liners and jocular storylines.
But it's those ridiculous, just-shy-of-pornographic shorts worn by Lieutenant Jim Dangle, the department's hapless leader, that repeatedly forces a smile. And it's not just the shorts that are funny. It's also the way Dangle wears them - unabashedly and with a lot of pride. In his mind, he remains a dignified man in uniform, even if said uniform is about a full leg too short in the pants.
"Reno 911!" now airing new episodes on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. but often shown in reruns throughout the week, has just kicked off its third season sitting comfortably as one of TV's funniest shows. It started as a "Cops" parody with videographers catching the exploits of seven of Reno's finest men and women in blue.
The show was instantly funny, but the original concept quickly expanded, allowing "Reno" to come into its own during year two when Dangle and company's adventures hit outlandish levels. Classics include the deputies unsuccessfully trying to move a Ten Commandments monument from in front of a city building, a desperate war of one-upmanship waged when the fire department schedules its pancake dinner on the same night reserved for the policeman's ball, and country crooner Kenny Rogers getting shot - yes, shot - while being protected by Deputy James Garcia at a book signing. Although, Rogers (played by himself) may have preferred the bullet to the incessant questioning he receives courtesy of Garcia, a massive fan of "The Gambler" TV movies who thinks Kenny should give up the music biz to focus on acting full time.
Yes, that's the kind of inspired lunacy offered up each week by "Reno 911!" (The explanation point is fitting, considering "Reno" is only a step or two removed from the Zucker brothers straight-faced-yet-supremely-silly flicks "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun.")
"Reno"'s cast are masters at the mystical art of the deadpan, even when the jokes are flying fast and furious. Thomas Lennon plays Dangle as a man who must always convey the utmost authority, even when laying out the rules for a perp scavenger hunt (i.e. arrest a suspect with an animal tattoo) that will pay off with tickets to a live execution. And Ben Garant, as Deputy Travis Junior, effortlessly tosses off lines like this little gem, offered to describe just why those tickets are so prized: "Getting two tickets to an execution is like getting two tickets to NASCAR, except you KNOW Jeff Gordon's gonna die." A bit dark? Sure. But it's also laugh-out-loud funny coming from Garant's mouth.
That sharp humor also makes "Reno 911!" a perfect fit on Comedy Central, also home to push-the-envelope comedies "South Park" and "Chappelle's Show." It's these cable shows that are mining comedy gold while network sitcoms flounder.
For that, Dangle can continue to wear those ridiculous shorts with his head held high for many seasons to come.
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