Sunday Morning Movie Reviews is a weekly look at movies or television that piqued my interest or raised my ire. It is 98 per cent spoiler free. Meaning I won’t ever give anything away the trailers don’t (and often much less).
Angie Tribeca a glorious homage to the gag comedy of "Police Squad", "Naked Gun" and "Airplane"
Do you often find yourself quietly mumbling Airplane! quotes in the corner of your cell? When someone asks you to grab a seat, do you pick up a chair? Is Leslie Nielson at the top of your “If I had to bang one dead person…” list?
Well there’s a show that’s showing just for you, and I’m going to show it to you.
Written by Nancy and Steve Carrell (yes, that Steve Carrell (yes, that’s his wife)) Angie Tribeca stands as the spiritual successor to the short-lived comedy Police Show. The very show that spawned the Naked Gun films, and cemented Leslie Neilson into history as one of the funniest people alive. (You can still see his concrete covered body on the Hollywood walk of fame).
It stars Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation, The Office) as Angie Tribeca, a no-nonsense detective with no sense. Tribeca may play at being stoned-faced, but she’s definitely got a heart made of muscle and sinew.
Oh god. I have to stop this attempt at comedy. Seriously brain, give it a rest.
(3 hours later)
Jones is joined by Hayes MacArthur (She’s Out of My League) as her reluctant partner Jay Geils. The duo make a fantastically ridiculous pair-ody of the “tough cop" tropes permeating television. Their characters are the perfect vessel for the ridiculous gags that power the show. In the Tribeca universe, nothing is funny. No one ever laughs at anything (that should be laughed at). This of course makes it all the more hilarious. The show is a pure comedy that doesn’t rely on crude humour to get cheap laughs. It’s funny without having to beat the dead horse of dick and fart jokes. You read that right... or did you.
"Tanner: How'd he die?
Monica: His brain and heart stopped. After that, he had no chance."
But just saying this show is funny is like saying Germans are organized. It’s almost too funny. My normal inclination is to binge-watch a show until it’s done. But you can’t do that with Tribeca. It’s exhausting to watch. It’s so funny it burns out all the nerves in your brain that process funny. Really. After a few episodes you’ll be dusting off Ol' Yeller just to balance yourself out. I can easily see them using this show in gulags and Guantanamos, playing it on repeat until prisoners faces melt into Joker-esque grimaces.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed in moderation.
Aside from its brilliant writing and stellar cast, the show treats viewers to a parade of famous funny-people. In episode 2 “The Wedding Planner Did it” James Franco plays Tribeca’s former love interest and partner: Sgt. Pepper. Bill Murray makes an appearance in a role I won’t spoil. As does Maya Rudolph, Jeff Dunham and John Hamm, just to name a few. Now some of these actors may just be on the show because they owe comedy godfather Carrell, others came for the cash, but I believe most come on because they know how damn funny and unique the show is. There is literally nothing else on the air like it.
"Mrs. Parsons: I just really hope you catch the animal that did this.
Angie: Thank you, ma'am, but we think it was a human who did it."
There is one thing I don’t like about it though: the mock ads they pepper throughout the series. I understand the joke. They poke fun at the deluge of advertising often seen on television. But the problem is they use real advertisers to do this, and I have to assume they're still getting paid for the promos. It's like if you make fun of people who eat lots of cheese, by eating a ton of cheese to mock them. It doesn’t make you better than those cheese eaters. It might just make you worse, since you don’t even like cheese all that much.
For that reason the show loses a point, and I give it a solid 9/10. Definitely give this one a watch if you feel like giggling uncontrollably for a few hours.
If you’re in the US, Season 3 of the show is set to air sometime this year, on TBS. My brethren North of the border will be getting season 1 in March on the Comedy Network.