3 out of 5

Directors: Various TV shibbles

Playing as a cross between a spoof of reality TV and a spoof of COPS, Reno 911! finds a comfortable spot for many players from MTVs classic The State to stretch their brand of random humor. The show is incredibly watchable in long stretches – by not having to stick to too traditional of a show format, but maintaining an outlining structure, every actor has been able to create a role thats reliable for personality traits and mutable enough to be applied in various ridiculous scenarios. And when it finds a winning theme, some episodes are truly hilarious, approaching genius in their wandering structure. But, as much is improvised, occasionally some threads and bits go nowhere, or just go somewhere that seems like the best take out of a gaggle of random fill-ins. Its interesting, and adds this odd level of realism (because not everything is a straight-out punch line) but it leaves you wanting more belly laughs on occasion. Reno 911! is fulfilling for those whod been waiting to see a lot of these people back on TV doing funny things. Its also a smart concept, and so should be around long enough to give them more grounding for how to play the comedy.