There are a lot of cop shows. Some play into how stressful and dangerous the job can be. Some play into how mentally taxing and difficult the job can be, and others play into how utterly ridiculous it can sometimes be. Reno 911 is a prime example of that last category, and the following PSA about releasing sex dungeon prisoners is a good reminder of that hilarious tone.
Reno 911 ran from 2003 to 2009, but it's also one of those shows that seems like it'll never truly be over. There's always talk of more episodes or another movie. They're just familiar characters who sometimes drift away for awhile. Fortunately for all of us that love good comedy, Comedy Central is giving Reno 911 a marathon on New Year's Eve, and to celebrate, the cast filmed the above sketch, as well as some other hilarious videos to advertise the block.
The reason Reno 911 works so well is the same reason the video in this article works so well. No one involved here is a good cop, but most of them try their best through the confusion and incompetence they're saddled with. The result is a weird form of logic in which they interpret their jobs the best way they can. For example: if they're not going to be able to catch people running sex dungeons, why not politely ask them to let their victims go, while offering some statistics to make it clear there probably won't be any consequences. They're not committing to letting the criminals walk free. They're just very practical about their chances of fixing the situation and what the best outcomes in the real world might be.
The Reno 911 marathon starts at 9 AM ET on December 31st and runs through 4:30 AM ET on January 1st, which means you can either watch bland musical performances of new flavor of the month bands, or you can hang out with your old friends Lt. Jim Dangle and company as they make you laugh with their shenanigans. Pick your poison. Or, actually, option number three: you can go out with your friends, have a night on the town and then just DVR the entire marathon. I have no idea how much recording space you have left, but maybe get rid of a few old episodes of Forensic Files and make room.
You can check out another of the Reno 911 PSAs here.
