"RENO 911! The Complete First Season" on DVD

I hadn’t seen “RENO 911!” until I watched it on DVD, and I was immediately delighted by this hilarious spoof of reality TV shows such as “Cops.” In fact, I often laughed until there were tears in my eyes. However, in spite of how funny, unpredictable, and thoroughly entertaining “RENO 911!” is, I can see that this series won’t please everyone, especially since its humor can be in bad taste and is politically incorrect. The two-disc DVD set is not rated, but carries the parental advisory that follows. Explicit Content Warning: This program is recommended for mature audiences only. It contains adult language and situations.

The uncensored special features include audio commentaries and alternate/deleted scenes. For me, the best part of “RENO 911! The Complete First Season” is the entertainment value of the episodes. If you’re short on time, you won’t be missing that much by skipping the special features. The special feature I enjoyed the most was hidden as a DVD Easter egg which contained an audio commentary where the cast of “RENO 911!” attempted to recreate from memory the vocal performances and sound effects in episode 2. This commentary track is worth watching—at least for a while—especially if you are in a very, very silly mood. For me, it was a guilty pleasure. But I have to admit I tired of it after a while. However, I’m really not complaining, since it still put a smile on my face. I have more about how to find it below.

The Easter egg is very easy to find. It is on the main menu for disc 1. When you are at the main menu, you’ll find what looks like a snapshot photo labeled “Episode 2,” and you’ll see what looks like a blue dot. Highlight the dot by using the arrow keys on your remote. When the dot is highlighted, it turns a bright red. Then, all you do is press the Enter button (or equivalent) on your remote and the audio commentary will play.

The DVDs are worth watching for their entertainment value alone, but fans of the show might find the special features more interesting than I did. At least for me—possibly because so much of the humor in this series is so darn silly—I doubt that I’ll want to watch these DVDs repeatedly. I’d recommend this DVD as a rental, but with the following caveat. The humor is “RENO 911!” is definitely for grownups and is not for those who are easily offended by politically incorrect, tasteless humor.