Reno 911! The Complete Fifth Season

DVD Review
Comedy Central
Paramount
Released: July 15, 2008

Paramount has made Reno 911! releases a yearly event, as they began with the first season in June 2004, and went all the way up to this release of the complete fifth season. Is this new release worth the price for fans though?

The show, for those who do not know, parodies the format of Cops, focusing on the sheriffs of Reno, Nevada. Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) leads a crew of law-enforcement “professionals” as they try to bust the big bad criminals out there. Needless to say, there is plenty of comedy to be had.

The series makes its return with a very strong fifth season, featuring some high-quality episodes with plenty of comedic entertainment to be had. You see everything, from funny in-car talks, to polygraph sessions, and more.

The fifth season also brings out some great characters, such as the male prostitute Terry, and much more.

Two of the bigger new characters include the new mayor of Reno, George Lopez, as well as Cindy, played by Wanru Tseng. Guest stars this season include the likes of Diedrich Bader, Ryan Stiles, Andrew Daly, and others. Needless to say, there is plenty of entertainment to be had. My personal favorite would be the parody of Dog the Bounty Hunter.

The set includes 16 episodes in total, and has been put on 3 DVDs, with 7 episodes on the first two discs, and 2 on the final disc.

The video quality is better than what you would see if you watched them on TV, as the full-frame transfers are very clear with nice vivid colors.

The audio is also well done, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Nothing over the top, but you get very clear, distortion-free dialogue and good sound effects.

As for the extras, you get some quality cast audio commentaries here with some of the episodes. You also get a feature called Cop Psychology: Inside the Minds of Reno’s Deputies, which has Andrew Daly doing examinations of the show’s characters in 10 short clips.

There are also 40 minutes of deleted footage spread over 4 scenes.

Reno 911! comes back extremely strong in the fifth season with some great new characters, and plenty of comedic content to be had. With nice extras to back it all up, you will not be disappointed in buying this one. Recommended!

Episodes: 8.5 High-quality comedic content here, fans will love these episodes.

Video: 8.0 Very good for a show that was on cable TV, very clear and vivid.

Audio: 7.5 Nice Dolby Digital 2.0 audio presents the dialogue well.

Special Features: 8.2 A very nice set of extras here with deleted content, audio commentaries, and a funny feature.

Final Score: 8.4