Kevin Reilly, head of TBS and TNT, has decided to take a new approach to cable networks with the premiere of Angie Tribeca. With the release of the pilot today at 9 pm began The Live 25 Hour Angie Tribeca Binge-A-Thon. For the next 25 hours TBS will air the ten episode season, on repeat, commercial free with interviews and comedy from the cast as well as celebrity guest appearances hosted by Deon Cole.
Angie Tribeca is the brainchild of Steve and Nancy Carell. It is a wacky, zany half-hour comedy subsisting entirely on slapstick jokes and a bare bones plot. The show parodies police procedurals, relying heavily on every known procedural trope and stereotype, in the same form of the 1982 show Police Squad!
Angie Tribeca walks a thin line. The point of the show is over the top humor. But tongue in cheek hilarity could easily topple over into lazy stupidity. The Carell’s know what they are doing and balance the show well. They also created characters cemented in cliches. Angie Tribeca (Rashida Jones) is a hard ass, lone wolf. However, Angie’s new partner, Jay Geils (Hayes MacArthur) breaks her steely hard shell. Lieutenant Chet Atkins (Jere Burns) is temperamental and exasperated by everything.
Rashida Jones, who stars as our title character Angie Tribeca, does an amazing job. Jones is a great actress, who plays off stupid comedy with a serious demeanor. She lets the jokes do their thing. Sometimes, I think, when the content is over the top the actors work over the top as well diluting the original product. But as Angie Tribeca, Jones gives the impression that this world Tribeca lives in is real and valid.
Angie Tribeca is a funny show. It’s kind of odd and, for me, hard to get used to. I found myself waiting for the straight man and a break in the jokes. But as I continued through the Binge-A-Thon, I found myself laughing more and more as I understood what Angie Tribeca was.
It’s a good show to drop in on as the plot is thin, used predominantly to carry the jokes and it’s different than anything else television has to offer right now. Angie Tribeca took a leap, both in its form of release and comedy brand, and landed beautifully.
Rating 8 out of 10
