Reno 911! by Michael Yarish/Comedy Central
The when: Wednesdays at 10:30 pm/ET, with Season 5 premiering Jan. 16, on Comedy Central.
Why watch?: If you already think COPS is funny, check out this spoof that shows us what police officers' lives might look like if they also happened to be sketch actors with brilliant comedic timing. The bumbling-police-squad show has covered all the ground you'd expect from a faux TV cop doc — from slippery criminals to DUIs — without resorting to the tired gags of its Police Academy cousin. Thankfully not based on real events, these officers interpret the law the best way they know how: poorly. All the more fun for us! While the squad succeeds more at getting into mischief with perps like roller-skating male prostitutes than getting them into handcuffs, therein lies the show's charm — no matter how much respect you have for real officers, it's always fun to see fake ones really muck things up.
Who's who: Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon; see our brand-new Q&A), the head law enforcer in the way-too-short shorts, tries to ensure that his fellow officers keep it real. As for his policing... the jury's still out. The rest of the deputies include basketcase and new mom Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney-Silver), dunderhead Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant), attitude-clad Raineesha "Ray-Ray" Williams (Niecy Nash), self-proclaimed man-meat S. "Jonesie" Jones (Cedric Yarbrough), equal-opportunity offender James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui), seductress Clementine Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and good-intentioned Cheresa Kimball (Mary Birdsong).
What's next: The officers deal with unprecedented personal drama while keeping the streets of Reno no safer than ever. The premiere picks up where last season's finale left us, with the mystery of who Wiegel's baby's daddy is and whether Garcia really stole Dangle's husband-to-be at the altar. Christina Applegate, George Lopez and Diedrich Bader are just some of the guest faces showing up at the precinct this season. And, of course, expect more well-meaning sheriff's office PSAs and dreadful community outreach efforts.
Say what?!: Lennon and Garant are not only actors and writers for this mostly improvised comedy, their scribe talents have also been at work behind recent films Herbie: Fully Loaded, Night at the Museum and Balls of Fury.
What do you say? In its fifth season, is Reno getting better with age or is it time to retire its badge? Do you like the turn the show has made in getting more involved in its characters' lives? — Sandra Kofler
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